Cook ajapsandali for quick use for 25-50 minutes (depending on the use of a saucepan, slow cooker or microwave), for harvesting ajapsandali for the winter – 40 minutes.
How to cook ajapsandali
Products
Eggplant – half a kilo (4-5 pieces of medium size)
Onions – 3 heads
Potatoes – 3 potatoes of medium size
Tomatoes – half a kilo (6-7 pieces of medium size)
Vegetable oil – 1/4 cup
Garlic – 3 teeth
Fresh parsley, cilantro, thyme and dill – only 100 grams
Salt – 2 tablespoons
Bulgarian pepper – 2 pieces
Food preparation
1. Peel the onion and cut into thin half rings.
2. Eggplant? if the fruits are large, peel (young eggplants do not need to cut the peel) and cut into large longitudinal strips.
3. Wash the tomatoes and cut the stalk, finely chop or scroll through a meat grinder.
4. Peel the bell pepper from the stalk and seed box, cut lengthwise into 8-10 parts.
5. Peel and finely chop the garlic.
6. Wash the greens, dry, shaking over the sink, and chop finely.
7. Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes with a side of 3 centimeters.
How to cook ajapsandali in a saucepan
1. Pour vegetable oil into a saucepan and put on fire.
2. Hold the pan with oil over the fire for 30 seconds, then add the onion; fry the onion for 5 minutes until golden brown.
3. Add eggplant, potatoes and peppers to the onion.
4. Cover the pot with vegetables with a lid and cook for 20 minutes with regular stirring.
5. Add tomatoes, cook ajapsandali for half an hour.
6. Remove ajapsandali from heat, add chopped greens, pepper and salt, mix.
7. Before serving ajapsandali, insist for 10 minutes under the lid.
How to cook ajapsandali in the microwave
1. Put the onion in a deep dish for microwave ovens, pour vegetable oil (2 tablespoons) and fry for 1.5 minutes at a power of 1000 watts.
2. Add eggplants, potatoes, peppers and tomatoes, cook for another 5 minutes, then stir and cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Add greens, salt and pepper, and cook in the microwave at the same power for another 10 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
How to cook ajapsandali in a multicooker
1. Set the multicooker to the “Frying” mode, heat for 1 minute, pour in the oil and put the onion. 2. Fry the onion for 3 minutes with constant stirring.
3. Pour potatoes, eggplant, bell pepper into the multicooker, mix and close the multicooker lid.
4. Set the multicooker to the “Cooking” mode, cook ajapsandali for 40 minutes.
5. Add salt and pepper, herbs to ajapsandali, mix and cook for another 5 minutes, then leave for another 10 minutes.
Tasty Facts
– The name of the dish means “you are delicious” in translation.
– In the original Caucasian recipe for ajapsandali, all vegetables are fried separately from each other, and then lean back on a sieve to drain excess oil. In addition, Georgian ajapsandali does not include potatoes. Relatives of the dish – vegetable stew, sauté.
– Fresh herbs in the ajapsandali recipe can be replaced with dried ones. It is allowed to add dried cilantro, parsley, dill, thyme, rosemary and basil.
– The most suitable for cooking ajapsandali is a cauldron or a thick-walled saucepan, in which onions and vegetables are equally well fried.
Ajapsandali is served hot as a side dish or cold as an appetizer.
– To make ajapsandali spicier, you can add adjika, hot peppers or tomato paste.
– Ajapsandali is served with sauce – dense kefir with chopped garlic.
– Ajapsandali can be steamed – by placing a saucepan with vegetables over a larger saucepan into which water is poured.
– It is allowed to add meat to ajapsandali – then it is necessary to cook the dish for 1.5-2 hours, and monitor the liquid level during cooking.
– Ajapsandali can be prepared for the winter – according to the principle of boiling eggplant caviar. It is enough to cook the dish for half an hour, while cooking pour in twice as much oil, and when pouring, use only sterilized lids and jars.