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Tkemali
Sour plum sauce from western Georgia
Tkemali is Georgia's table sauce, made in Samegrelo, Guria and Imereti from sour cherry plums. Green tkemali comes from unripe plums in late spring; the red one is made at the end of summer, when the plums colour and every family cooks a big pot to bottle for the winter. It goes with almost everything: boiled potatoes, beans, fried courgettes, mchadi and cheese. Traditionally it is flavoured with ombalo (pennyroyal), which is hard to buy, so dried mint stands in here. A common mistake is boiling the herbs and garlic for too long, which turns the sauce dull and brown; they go in only for the last few minutes. Chef's tip: if your plums are sweet supermarket ones, add a squeeze of lemon; tkemali should be properly sour.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 2 ¼ lb sour cherry plums or sour red plums and ¾ cup water in a pan, cover and simmer over a medium-low heat for 15–20 minutes, until the skins split and the flesh has collapsed around the stones.
20 minStep 2: Push everything through a sieve or a food mill into a bowl, pressing hard; throw away the stones and skins.
Step 3: Blitz 5 cloves garlic, 1 oz coriander leaves, ½ oz dill and 1 fresh red chilli to a fine green paste in a small food processor.
Step 4: Return the plum purée to the pan with 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp dried mint, 1 ½ tsp salt and 2 tsp sugar. Simmer, stirring often, for 5–8 minutes, until it thickens to the texture of ketchup and coats a spoon. It spits, so keep the heat low.
8 minStep 5: Stir in the green paste and simmer for just 2 minutes more. Taste: it should be sour, salty and garlicky. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice if needed.
2 minStep 6: Pour into clean jars, cool and keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks, or pour into sterilised bottles with a film of oil on top to keep for longer.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 45 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 10 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tkemali take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of dried mint?
- Fresh coriander, same amount (different but just as fresh).
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