The 8 best recipes for making satsebeli sauce at home for the winter

With the arrival of cold weather, winter, and frost, fresh fruits and vegetables become increasingly scarce. Store shelves, once groaning with an abundance of imported and domestic seasonal produce, are now thinned out. And yet, we crave tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet peppers. Satsebeli sauce, a Georgian dish, is an excellent alternative to store-bought ketchup. It pairs beautifully with meat dishes, especially poultry. There are many satsebeli sauce recipes for the winter.

Features of the dish

Georgian cuisine is distinguished by its contrasting ingredients, spices, and flavors. Meat is the foundation of the Georgian diet. To better digest meat dishes, Georgians eat them with copious amounts of fresh herbs and sauces—as accompaniments to the main course. Their sauces are spicy, based on hot peppers and garlic. Satsebeli sauce is widely known not only in Georgia but also abroad. You can find this dish on the menu of any restaurant and enjoy it.

While Georgians serve this sauce with turkey, chicken, or chicken tabaka, in the rest of the civilized world it's paired with fish, rice, potatoes, cheese, vegetables, and bread. The recipe for satsebeli is also used in the food industry. You've likely seen jars of the sauce from various brands on store shelves. It can also be made at home.

Health benefits of satsebeli sauce

This vegetable dressing requires only fresh, home-grown vegetables and fragrant, aromatic herbs. These include tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic, cilantro, basil, parsley, ground walnuts, and freshly squeezed grape or blackberry juice. Experienced artisans experiment with adding onions, cherry plums, nettles, and barberries.

Each ingredient has its own nutritional value and beneficial effect on the body.

For example:

• Walnuts and grape juice are rich in phosphorus, iron, and Omega-3, so the product will be beneficial for people with diabetes and endocrine diseases;
• Onions and garlic are products that actively fight bacteria and viruses in the human body;
• Cilantro, like carrots, is a storehouse of carotene, which has a beneficial effect on the immune system and thereby increases the performance of the entire body.

Prepare the necessary ingredients

To prepare satsebeli according to the classic recipe, the following products are used:

• chicken broth;
• grape, pomegranate and blackberry juice;
• ground walnuts;
• saffron;
• cilantro;
• ground red pepper.

The recipe has been subject to modifications and transformations. Tomatoes, tomato juice, bell peppers, basil, khmeli-suneli, and even cherry plums are now used in the preparation process. To ensure the dish is truly delicious and retains the maximum beneficial properties of the vegetables and herbs, careful consideration must be given to the selection of ingredients.

Which vegetables to choose and how to prepare them properly?

The flavor of the sauce directly depends on the ripeness of each ingredient. It's best to choose sweet, bright red tomatoes. A bitter tomato can retain its bitterness in the finished dish. Juicy, fleshy red bell peppers are best for this dish. Hot peppers should be the same color.

Once you have all the ingredients, rinse the peppers and tomatoes under running water. Cut the tomato into medium-sized pieces. Make sure these pieces fit into the grinder. Remove the green stem from the bell pepper and core it. Follow the same steps with the hot pepper.

Options for making your own sauce at home

The debate over the proper way to prepare satsebeli sauce continues. Some believe in following the classic recipe. Others prefer experimenting with ingredients and flavors. Some prefer to make the sauce at home, while others prefer to buy it ready-made at the supermarket.

The truth is, there's no universal recipe that will please everyone. Every professional cook, homemaker, or amateur has their own unique take on the dish. Adding new ingredients won't ruin the dish's flavor; on the contrary, it will add new notes to the symphony of flavors. Below, we'll explore the basic methods for preparing satsebeli at home.

The classic way

The classic recipe for this dish differs from the one we're used to. Key features include the following:

• walnuts, grape juice, pomegranate, blackberries are the main components of the dish;
• Be sure to add chicken broth. If served with fish, use fish broth;
• cilantro, garlic, saffron, and pepper are essential ingredients, as without them, satsebeli will lose its piquant taste;
• vinegar (sometimes mint is added instead) – gives a slightly sour taste;
• If the sauce is prepared from fresh vegetables, its shelf life is short - a few days;
• To preserve vegetables in airtight jars, simmer them over low heat until they begin to simmer. This increases the shelf life of the finished product by at least half.

From tomatoes

Ingredients required:

• 300 grams of sweet pepper;
• a kilogram of tomatoes;
• head of garlic;
• spices – cilantro, parsley, dill;
• hot pepper;
• salt, sugar.

Before beginning, wash all vegetables thoroughly. Drop the tomatoes and peppers into boiling water for a couple of minutes. Then remove, cut into several pieces, and refrigerate for 60 minutes. Boil the bell peppers, cut into pieces and peeled, for 10 minutes, then remove and peel.

The water with the tomatoes has come to a boil, but don't rush to remove them from the heat. They should cook for 10-15 minutes. You can place the cooked vegetables in a sieve and mash them, or blend them in a blender. Then, pour the finished tomato mixture into a metal bowl, add spices to taste, and stir slowly over high heat for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat and leave the pan on the stove for an hour.

With the addition of cherry plum

The main ingredient of this type of satsebeli is not tomatoes or tomato paste, but cherry plum. To make it, take:

• a kilogram of cherry plum;
• 80 grams of sugar;
• hot pepper pod;
• a clove of garlic;
• herbs.

Place the fruit in boiling water. Next, puree the fruit until smooth. Then, simmer the mixture for 20 minutes. Add the sugar, garlic, and pepper immediately, and the herbs at the end.

Recipe with nuts

You can also make this dish with nuts.

The recipe is as follows:

• 200 grams of walnuts;
• onion head;
• a clove of garlic;
• mint and cilantro;
• ground pepper;
• vinegar, salt;
• chicken broth.

Chop the onion and garlic, and finely chop the herbs. Place all of this and the shelled walnuts in a blender and blend until smooth. Stir in the prepared chicken broth until the desired consistency is reached.

Grape sauce

The grape sauce is prepared according to the following recipe:

• 0.5 kilograms of grapes;
• 300 grams of walnuts;
• fresh adjika;
• cilantro, garlic;
• salt.

To make this sauce, you'll need the main ingredient: grapes. Wash the berries thoroughly and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Then, strain them through a sieve or blend them. Finely chop the garlic and herbs. Also, in a blender, combine the adjika, nuts, garlic, and herbs. Add the grape puree to this mixture and dilute with water.

With the addition of greens and dogwood

Greens and dogwood will add a piquant and charming sourness to the dish.

The ingredients are as follows:

• half a kilogram of dogwood;
• cilantro, pepper;
• hot pepper;
• vinegar;
• khmeli-suneli;
• garlic;
• olive oil;
• salt, sugar.

Cook the dogwood berries until soft. Finely chop the hot pepper, garlic, and herbs, and season with vinegar and olive oil. Place the grated dogwood and other ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.

From red currants

There is also a recipe for cooking with black currant.

To do this you will need:

• a kilogram of tomatoes;
• 200 grams of sweet pepper;
• 100 grams of currants;
• dill, cilantro, parsley;
• garlic;
• hot pepper;
• salt, sugar.

Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and peel them. Wash the currants and carefully press them through a sieve. Prepare the pepper by cutting it into pieces and removing the core. Finely chop the garlic and a bunch of herbs. Transfer all ingredients to a blender and puree. Then simmer for 50 minutes, stirring slowly. Add salt and sugar to taste.

Georgian

Making authentic Georgian satsebeli isn't difficult. Follow the step-by-step instructions, and you'll have a delicious sauce.

1. Grind the garlic and hot pepper in a meat grinder.
2. Add 2 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons of salt, and ground black pepper. Then simmer the mixture for 15 minutes.
3. Add parsley, dill and basil and cook the mixture for 5 minutes.
4. Pour a glass of vinegar and a glass of tomato juice.
5. Boil for 5 minutes.

How to store blanks

Fresh vegetable satsebeli should not be stored longer than 5 days. To extend the sauce's shelf life, store it in sterilized containers. Jars must be properly prepared for sterilization. First, rinse each glass container with boiling water, then steam it for a couple of minutes.

Pour the prepared mixture into jars, sealing them tightly. It's best to turn each jar upside down, cover with something warm, and leave it there for a few days. Store the finished preserves in a cool place away from sunlight.