The spicy aroma of Georgian dishes is hard not to recognize. It reminds of Georgia even to those who have never been to it and does not represent all the beauty of the mountainous country.

Ajapsandal - the word itself sounds like a mysterious oriental tale. A simple and incredibly tasty dish for more than one hundred years. It is prepared by Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Ossetians.

• Amazing. Each Georgian woman has her own recipe, inherited from her mother and grandmother. But this dish is obtained even by an inexperienced hostess who is not familiar with Georgian cuisine.
• Universal. They cook on the stove, in the oven, in a slow cooker, on the grill, on the grill and just on the fire. There are a lot of variations - from a light vegetable stew to a hearty dish with potatoes and meat. Eat hot, cold, rolled up in jars for the winter.
• Useful. Ajapsandal is the perfect combination of fresh summer vegetables, herbs and spices. They are prepared in such a way as to preserve vitamins and beneficial properties.

Classic recipe

For ajapsandali, only fresh and young vegetables are needed.

• 2 medium eggplant
• 4 multi-colored bell peppers
• 3-4 small tomatoes
• 2 medium onions
• 1 bunch of aromatic cilantro
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 hot pepper
• 1 st. l. table salt
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp hops-suneli
• 180 ml vegetable oil

To prepare a dish without skill, 1 hour is enough.

1. Let's take care of vegetables

Fresh, washed, they are ready to give us a unique taste.

• Cut the "blue ones" into circles 1 cm thick. Cut the circles in half. No need to clean. Salt, leave for a quarter of an hour in a bowl. During this time, the bitterness and excess liquid will go away.
• The peeled onion is cut into half rings.
• Multi-colored paprika - thin straws.
• Wash eggplant and squeeze lightly. At this stage, the main thing is not to overdo it. If squeezed too hard, they will become soft and tasteless.

1. We make frying

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan, fry the eggplant slices. Once they turn golden, remove from heat. You can not overcook, the taste will be hopelessly spoiled. Remaining oil will drip off in a colander.

• Saute onion and pepper in hot oil. After adding paprika, keep on fire for no more than 5 minutes.
• Peel the skins from the tomatoes, previously doused with boiling water. Mash with a fork or grind with a blender.
• Chop the delicious-smelling cilantro.
• Add coriander and suneli hops to the roast. Send tomato puree there. Put chopped garlic and herbs on top.

1. We collect ajapsandali

In a deep bowl, alternate 2 layers:

1. eggplant
2. frying.

The top should be roasted, thickly sprinkled with herbs. In addition to cilantro, basil is often used.

There is never too much Ajapsandal. Usually a large portion is prepared at once, so that later it can be reheated as needed or used as a cold appetizer.

Vegetable miracle of Georgia goes well with any kind of meat.

Ajapsandal with potatoes

Hearty and at the same time light, with a rich vegetable taste. The bright colors are pleasing to the eye, and the fragrance leaves no time for reflection. More to the table!

Medium-sized diced potatoes, boil for 2 minutes after boiling. Fry in a pan until done. Add to vegetables prepared according to the classic recipe.

Ajapsandali with meat

Ajapsandali is cooked with various types of meat: from pork to lamb. Processing options differ from recipe to recipe. It is pre-boiled, fried or stewed. Then prepare vegetables according to the basic recipe. If you decide to cook sandalwood with beef, it is better to marinate it first so that it does not turn out tough.

If you do not like stew, but prefer the option with a fried crust, it is better to drain the juice that will be released when marinated meat is fried.

It is not customary to put a lot of meat in ajapsandali. If it dominates, the taste of vegetables will not be revealed. Good ratio 1:3.

Ajapsandal on the grill and grill

The original version of the legendary Georgian snack is obtained on the grill, grill and even a fire.

Bake vegetables on skewers or on the grill. Peel them from the skin, chop, mix with oil, spices, herbs, garlic. A little trick: in order not to spend a lot of time peeling baked eggplants, peppers and tomatoes, they need to be briefly put in cold water.

Mushrooms are sometimes added to spicy stew.

Very tasty, smoky ajapsandal is cooked on the grill in a thick-walled cauldron.

A shish kebab with a fragrant appetizer and wine is the perfect combination. And outdoors in the company of friends and family is a real holiday.

Ajapsandal in a slow cooker and oven

Spicy warm vegetable salad is great in a slow cooker. Well, not every day you manage to cook food in nature.

The multicooker saves time. Cooking Georgian stew on the stove takes a little longer. Therefore, if the guests, as they say, are on the doorstep, feel free to start washing and peeling fresh vegetables. Have time!

In order for ajapsandali to acquire a unique taste, it is better to fry them in a slow cooker or in a frying pan.

Georgian appetizers are also made in the oven. Fried foods are placed in a cauldron and sent to the oven to languish and tease everyone with breathtaking smells.

The main trick is not to digest vegetables. Otherwise, you won’t get an appetizing look or amazing taste. After frying, the cooking time in a slow cooker is no more than 20-30 minutes. Leaving the dish on heating for half an hour, you give it the opportunity to brew. The taste will be richer and spicier.

Ajapsandali for the winter

In winter, seasonal products are expensive. Moreover, they are completely imported, and the attitude towards them is ambiguous. They do not have the same taste as the usual fresh eggplant and peppers. If you don’t want to part with your favorite dish for a long time, you urgently need to roll the aroma and colors of summer into jars.

When harvesting ajapsandal for the winter, add 50 ml of vinegar for every half kilogram of eggplant.

An amazing bright and fragrant dish will never get bored. A variety of recipes and cooking methods allows each time to add new notes to the harmonious taste.

Gemrielad miirtwit! Bon appetit everyone!

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Ajapsandal (or ajapsandali, sandals) is an eggplant and other vegetable dish typical of Caucasian cuisine. "Delightful" - this is how you can translate the name of this popular snack in the East. We invite readers of the Novy Domostroy website to cook ajapsandal according to classic Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani and Abkhazian recipes in order to find out which version of the vegetable stew is more to their taste. We will also give recipes according to which the popular multi-vegetable snack can be made in the oven and slow cooker. In addition, we will tell you how to cook ajapsandal with meat and minced meat.

What is the difference between ajapsandal in different national cuisines

Ajapsandal is prepared in Georgia, Armenia, Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, and each country considers it their own. It is noteworthy that in each of the cuisines there are several variants of ajapsandal. Recipes differ not only in composition, but also in a set of spices, the nature of chopping vegetables, and the way they are cooked.

Usually Caucasian vegetable stew is prepared from eggplant, tomatoes and sweet peppers with the addition of onions, spices and herbs. The composition of the snack may also include potatoes, carrots, zucchini, green beans, hot peppers, garlic, and meat.

• After analyzing the most popular recipes, we came to the conclusion that Georgian ajapsandali recipes usually include potatoes and garlic. From greens, preference is given to cilantro, from seasonings - hops-suneli. Eggplants for him are cut into circles, tomatoes are peeled and mashed. The vegetables that make up the dish are stewed, but the onions can also be fried beforehand.
• Abkhazian ajapsandal is often made with the addition of carrots, potatoes, hot peppers. Of the greens in the composition, basil is most often found. Quenching remains the preferred method of heat treatment of products. Vegetables are usually diced.
• Armenian ajapsandal is made from coarsely chopped vegetables, pre-fried or baked. Onions may remain raw. Tomatoes are sometimes also left raw, sometimes added at the end in the form of large slices so that they can keep their shape.
• Azerbaijani recipes also usually involve frying or roasting vegetables and serving them as a vegetable stew or salad, but the vegetables are not cut as large as for Armenian ajapsadal.

The classic ajapsandal is cooked without meat, but sometimes it is still made with the addition of veal, lamb, poultry meat. Less commonly, pork or minced meat is added, but sometimes several types of meat products are used at once. These recipes can be called modern, especially if an electric grill or a slow cooker is used for their preparation.

We have collected 9 of the best ajapsandal recipes in our opinion, so you have plenty to choose from. Moreover, you can cook Caucasian vegetable stew every time in a new way, thereby diversifying the family menu.

Culinary Secrets

• You have probably noticed that eggplants are sometimes bitter. Bitterness gives them solanine - a substance that can cause poisoning. Especially a lot of it accumulates under the skin of ripe vegetables, it gives them a greenish tint. Fortunately, you can get rid of solanine in 10-20 minutes. To do this, just sprinkle pieces of "blue" salt or soak them in a solution of 20 g of salt per 1 liter of water.
• If you don't want the eggplant to turn into a mess, don't peel it before cooking and chop it coarsely.
• Vegetables will retain their shape better if they are first fried until golden brown or baked, and then combined and stewed until tender.
• If you want garlic to spice up a dish, add it at the very end or even after cooking.
• It is also advisable to add greens at the last stage of preparing ajapsandal or even before serving it to the table.
• A dish made from baked or stewed vegetables without frying is less high-calorie.
• If you want the finished dish to have an aesthetic appearance, follow the recommended order of laying the products and the time of their preparation in the recipe.

Ajapsandal can serve as a salad, side dish, main course, soup, and even a sauce. The choice of recipe depends on what kind of result the chef is aiming for. However, regardless of the variant of the dish, it will turn out tasty, fragrant, bright and very healthy.

Ajapsandali in Georgian (with potatoes)

What do you need:

• eggplant - 0.5 kg;
• potatoes - 0.4 kg;
• onions - 0.2 kg;
• tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
• sweet and hot capsicum - to taste;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• fresh cilantro, salt - to taste;

How to cook:

1. Eggplant, without peeling, cut into 1 cm circles, salt, leave for 10 minutes. Shake off the salt, wash and dry the vegetables with a napkin.
2. Cut the onion into thin half rings.
3. Tomatoes, doused with boiling water, peel and turn into puree, rubbing through a sieve or smashing with a blender.
4. Sweet pepper cut into half rings or quarters of rings, hot - as small as possible.
5. Chop the garlic and herbs, crush them together with salt and hot pepper.
6. Sauté the onion in hot oil, add the eggplant and bell peppers.
7. After 5 minutes, add the potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces.
8. After another 5 minutes, pour in the tomato puree, simmer until the potatoes are soft.
9. Add garlic dressing, season with salt if needed.
10. After stewing the vegetables for another 5 minutes, remove the pan with them from the heat.

Ajapsandali prepared according to this recipe should be served hot, but there is another recipe for this dish, which in Georgia is served cold.

Georgian ajapsandali sauce for meat

What do you need:

• eggplant - 0.5 kg;
• onions - 0.25 kg;
• tomatoes - 0.8 kg;
• bell pepper - 0.4 kg;
• parsley, cilantro, basil, savory - 10-20 g each;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• refined vegetable oil - 50 ml;
• salt - to your taste.

How to cook:

1. Place tomatoes in boiling water. Blanch them for 5-10 minutes, cool and rub through a sieve, while removing the skin.
2. Bake eggplant until soft, cool, peel, divide into fibers.
3. Finely chop the pepper.
4. Finely chop the onion, fry until golden brown.
5. Add finely chopped garlic and pepper. Saute them with onions for a few minutes.
6. Add tomato puree. Simmer it until it thickens.
7. Add eggplant and chopped greens, salt.
8. Simmer the sauce for 2-3 minutes after it boils, remove from heat.

Ajapsandali prepared according to this recipe has the consistency of a sauce. Served cold, it serves as a delicious addition to meat.

Ajapsandal Armenian style with meat

What do you need:

• meat (any) - 0.5 kg;
• eggplant - 0.5 kg;
• potatoes (optional) - 0.5 kg;
• tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
• sweet pepper - 0.5 kg;
• onions - 100 g;
• fresh cilantro or basil - 50 g;
• butter - 50 g;
• water - 0.2 l;
• salt, a mixture of peppers - to taste.

How to cook:

1. Wash the meat, remove the films, cut into small cubes.
2. Eggplants cut into thick semicircles or quarters of circles, salt, leave for 10 minutes. Rinse, pat dry with a towel.
3. Cut the onion into thin half rings.
4. Tomatoes, without peeling, cut into large slices.
5. Pepper, peeled from seeds, cut into wide halves or quarters of rings.
6. Peel the potatoes, cut into 1.5 cm cubes.
7. In a cauldron or pan with a non-stick coating, melt the butter, brown the meat in it.
8. Add spices and half a glass of water. Simmer the meat for 10-15 minutes.
9. While the oil is simmering, separately brown the onion and eggplant in vegetable oil in a pan.
10. Add the roasted vegetables, potatoes and peppers to the meat. Pour in the rest of the water.
11. Simmer the vegetables for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
12. Add tomatoes and chopped greens, salt, mix.
13. Stew vegetables with meat for another 10 minutes.

When serving, ajapsandal can be sprinkled with fresh herbs. It can also be supplemented with chopped garlic, but everyone adds it to their liking.

Ajapsandal salad azerbaijani style

What do you need:

• eggplant - 0.4 kg;
• tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
• sweet pepper - 0.5 kg;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• onions - 100 g;
• cilantro - 50 g;
• vegetable oil, salt, pepper - to taste.

How to cook:

1. Grease a heat-resistant form with oil, put pepper, eggplant and tomatoes in it. Send to the oven preheated to 180 degrees and leave in it until the vegetables become soft.
2. Place vegetables in a pot of cold water to cool. Clear.
3. Cut the tomatoes into large slices, pepper and eggplant into strips.
4. Stir in chopped vegetables.
5. Add finely chopped garlic, thin rings of fresh onion, chopped herbs. Salt, season, pour oil. Mix and serve.

Azerbaijani ajapsandal salad can be served warm or cold.

Ajapsandal in Abkhazian style with carrots

What do you need:

• eggplant - 0.5 kg;
• tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
• carrots - 0.2 kg;
• sweet pepper - 0.4 kg;
• garlic - 1 head;
• refined vegetable oil - 40 ml;
• water (optional) - to taste;
• salt, seasonings - to taste.

How to cook:

1. Cut the eggplant into cubes about 1-1.5 cm in size, dip them in saline, rinse after 15 minutes, let them dry.
2. Peel the carrots, cut into circles. If the vegetables are large, it is better to cut into quarters of circles or even small cubes.
3. Scald the tomatoes with boiling water, remove the skin from them. Cut the pulp into large cubes.
4. Pepper cut into thick quarters of rings.
5. Finely chop the garlic cloves with a knife.
6. Heat the oil, brown the eggplants in it.
7. Add carrots, 5 minutes after it - pepper.
8. After 5 minutes, add tomatoes and garlic, salt and seasonings. Add some water, cover the pan with a lid and simmer the vegetables for 10 minutes.

Fragrant ajapsandal, prepared according to the Abkhazian recipe, turns out to be satisfying, but not too high in calories. Serve it as a side dish with meat or as an independent dish.

Dietary ajapsandal in the oven

What do you need:

• eggplant - 0.5 kg;
• tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
• sweet pepper - 0.5 kg;
• onions - 100 g;
• cilantro, basil - 20-30 g each;
• hot pepper - 0.5-1 pod;
• grape vinegar (6 percent) - 20 ml;
• olive oil - 40 ml;
• refined sunflower oil - 20 ml;
• salt - to taste.

How to cook:

1. Eggplants, tomatoes and sweet peppers wash, dry, cut into large cubes or circles.
2. Put the vegetables in a mold greased with sunflower oil and put in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 20 minutes.
3. Onion (preferably purple) cut into half rings.
4. Finely chop the greens.
5. Finely chop the de-seeded peppers as finely as possible.
6. Combine all the ingredients included in the snack, season with a mixture of vinegar, olive oil and salt.

A Caucasian appetizer made according to this recipe can be served hot or cold as a salad, side dish for meat or a main course.

Ajapsandali in a slow cooker

What do you need:

• eggplant - 0.5 kg;
• tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
• sweet pepper - 0.25 kg;
• potatoes - 0.3 kg;
• onions - 100 g;
• refined vegetable oil - 60 ml;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• cilantro or other herbs, salt - to taste.

How to cook:

1. Cut vegetables into cubes of one and a half centimeters.
2. Pour oil into the bottom of the multicooker.
3. First put the onion, then the eggplant, on them - the pepper, then the potatoes, then the tomatoes.
4. Start the unit in extinguishing mode. Set the timer to one hour.
5. Salt, add crushed garlic, chopped herbs, mix.
6. Keep the food in the heating mode for 10-15 minutes and serve.

This ajapsandali recipe is the closest thing to Georgian cuisine. Eating on it turns out to be useful. If you want to reduce its calorie content, you can reduce the amount of oil used by half.

Ajapsandal with minced meat

What do you need:

• eggplant - 0.5 kg;
• minced meat (meat, chicken) - 0.5 kg;
• tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
• bell pepper - 0.5 kg;
• onion - 0.25 kg;
• salt, suneli hops, fresh cilantro - to taste;
• garlic - 5-6 cloves;
• vegetable oil - how much will it take.

How to cook:

1. Eggplant, cut into circles 0.5 cm thick, salt. Shake off excess salt after 10 minutes.
2. Fry the eggplant for a few minutes until browned on both sides, then remove from the pan.
3. In place of the eggplant, put the minced meat, pre-mixed with chopped garlic and onions. Roast until it turns gray.
4. Put eggplants on minced meat, sprinkle them with half rings of pepper, put peeled and diced tomatoes on top.
5. Stew vegetables with minced meat over low heat for 20 minutes, then add salt, seasonings, herbs. Continue cooking for 10 minutes.

This variant of ajapsandali is not classical, but it is very popular. This is due to the excellent organoleptic qualities of the dish and the simplicity of its preparation.

Ajapsandal with zucchini

What do you need:

• eggplant - 2 pcs.;
• zucchini - 1 pc.;
• tomatoes - 2-3 pcs.;
• onion - 1 pc.;
• potatoes - 2 pcs.;
• bell pepper - 1 pc.;
• salt, suneli hops - to taste;
• tkemali sauce, adjika or ketchup - 50 ml;
• water - 100 ml;
• oil - how much will it take.

How to cook:

1. Cut vegetables into large cubes.
2. Pour oil into the cauldron, put onions and zucchini in it. Roast until the characteristic aroma appears.
3. At the same time, heat the oil in a frying pan, fry the eggplants in it.
4. Transfer eggplant to zucchini, add potatoes and peppers. Salt, season. Dilute the sauce with boiled water, pour into a cauldron.
5. Cover the cauldron with a lid. Stew vegetables for 15-20 minutes.
6. Add tomatoes. After 10 minutes, stir the appetizer and remove the cauldron from the heat.

When serving, sprinkle ajapsandal with finely chopped herbs. You can also add crushed garlic.

Ajapsandal is a popular vegetable dish of Caucasian cuisine, which is dominated by eggplant and tomatoes. Sometimes it is prepared with the addition of meat or minced meat. Due to the large amount of herbs and spices in the composition of the dish, it turns out not only tasty, but also fragrant. There are many recipes for this snack, because in different countries it is prepared in different ways. Our readers have the opportunity to try several varieties of ajapsandali and choose the one that best suits their gastronomic preferences.

This is one of my favorite Caucasian dishes. The most time-consuming step in preparing this “lazy” recipe is peeling vegetables. I offer you an Armenian variation of ajapsandal from my wonderful friend, the chef of a Yerevan restaurant.
In fact, there are a lot of options for preparing ajapsandal. For example, the Georgian version is unthinkable without the addition of potatoes. In addition, disputes between chefs of multinational Caucasian cuisine still do not subside on how to properly name the dish - Ajapsandal or Ajapsandali ...
To be honest, what's the difference. The main thing is that all variants of this oriental dish are united by an unusually spicy taste. And today I suggest you, my dear readers, cook Ajapsandal according to the Armenian recipe without frying and excess fat.

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant


• 2 tomatoes


• 1 red bell pepper


• 1 bulb


• garlic clove


• bunch of cilantro


• Bunch of red basil


• ⅕ chile pepper


• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar


• Salt and pepper to taste

• Heat the oven to maximum temperature. You can turn on the grill with top airflow.


• Wash vegetables and dry on paper towels. Cut off the stalks of eggplants, and be sure to remove the seeds from sweet peppers.


• Cut all vegetables in half lengthwise.

Put the vegetables in the oven for 20 minutes. Now your task is not to relax and watch the vegetables.
Tomatoes will be baked earlier than eggplants.

• Remove the vegetables from the oven and transfer to a bag to rest, this will allow you to easily remove the skins from the vegetables.


• After 15 minutes, remove the vegetables from the bag and remove the skins.

Cut the vegetables into large pieces and put in a salad bowl.
Tip: When preparing vegetable dishes, try to cut different ingredients into equal-sized pieces. Thus, you will get a single consistency, without shifting the flavor accent to a larger cut product.

Cut the onion into half rings, chop the greens and garlic and add to the vegetables.
If desired, add chili peppers and drizzle with apple cider vinegar.

This ingeniously simple, and at the same time insanely delicious dish can be served both warm and cold.
After standing for a day in the refrigerator, it will become even more interesting.
Ajapsandal is good both on its own and as a side dish for meat (especially barbecue!)

Ajapsandal, or ajapsandali, is a traditional dish of Caucasian cuisine made from vegetables: eggplants, sweet peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs (cilantro, basil and others). Vegetables are fried or baked and then mixed. Variations of this dish exist in almost all nations; in Europe, an analogue of ajapsandal is ratatouille. It is distinguished from the usual vegetable stew by the separate roasting of the components, their larger cuts and unusual oriental notes that cilantro and spices give the dish.

Ingredients:

• eggplant - 1 kg;
• carrots - 0.5 kg;
• bell pepper - 0.5 kg;
• onion - 2-3 pcs.;
• garlic - 4-6 cloves;
• tomatoes - 700 g;
• basil, cilantro, parsley - 50 g each;
• ground coriander - ½ tsp;
• spice uchi-suneli - ½ tsp;
• ground saffron - on the tip of a knife;
• salt, ground pepper - to taste;
• vegetable oil - 0.5 l.

Cooking:

1. 1. Rinse the eggplants, cut into circles 1 cm thick.

   

2. 2. Put them in a deep bowl, sprinkling the layers with salt, let stand for 30 minutes to release bitterness. Then rinse. Alternatively, eggplants can be soaked in salt water by pressing them down with a weight.

   

3. 3. Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan, heat it up, fry the eggplant until browned, laying out the mugs in 1 layer. After frying, arrange them on paper napkins or drain excess oil through a colander.

   

4. 4. Wash the bell pepper, remove the core with seeds, cut into strips.

   

5. 5. Fry the peppers in oil over medium heat for 7-10 minutes. until softened.

   

6. 6. Rinse, peel and chop the onion in half rings.

   

7. 7. Peel the carrots and cut into strips.

   

8. 8. Pour more oil into the pan and fry the onions and carrots, salting them a little. Simmer over low heat for 20 min. until vegetables soften.

   

9. 9. Wash the greens, finely chop with a knife. Fry with a little oil for 3-5 minutes.

   

10. 10. Wash and puree the tomatoes: grate on a coarse grater, discard the skin.

    

11. 11. Put all cooked vegetables, herbs, spices into a saucepan with a thick bottom or a saucepan, simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Add salt if necessary. Turn off the fire. Let the vegetables brew under the lid. Serve ajapsandal hot or as a cold salad.

    

The classic recipe for cooking in Georgian cuisine involves the use of only vegetables. Potatoes are added for a thicker texture.

In Armenia, ajapsandal is always cooked with meat. To make the dish spicier, put hot peppers cut into circles in the pan. The cooking time is 1.5 hours, the most time-consuming part is frying vegetables.

Diet recipe (in the oven)

Ingredients:

• eggplant - 1 pc.;
• tomatoes - 2 pcs.;
• red sweet pepper - 1 pc.;
• onion - 1 pc.;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• apple cider vinegar - 1 tbsp. l.;
• cilantro, basil and other herbs - a few sprigs for decoration;
• salt, pepper - to taste.

Cooking:

1. 1. Turn on the oven and heat it up to 250 degrees. Turn on the grill top blower (if equipped).
2. 2. Wash eggplants, tomatoes, peppers and dry them. Remove the stalks from the eggplants, peel the sweet pepper from the seeds. Cut vegetables into 2 halves.
3. 3. Put the vegetables on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 20 minutes.
4. 4. Cut the onion into half rings, chop the herbs and garlic.
5. 5. Remove the vegetables from the oven, put them in a deep bowl and cover. Let them stand for a while so that the skins come off better.
6. 6. Peel the vegetables from the skin, cut the eggplant into cubes, small tomatoes - into halves, large ones - into several parts, pepper - into strips.
7. 7. Add herbs, garlic, spices. Drizzle the dish with apple cider vinegar.

The preparation time for ajapsandal according to this recipe is 40 minutes. Due to the fact that there is no frying, it is dietary and less high-calorie. If you let ajapsandal stand for a day in the refrigerator, it will acquire a richer taste. Cooked vegetables are served on the table as an independent dish and as a side dish for meat.

In a slow cooker

Ingredients:

• eggplant - 2 pcs. medium size;
• tomatoes - 3 pcs.;
• red sweet pepper - 2-3 pcs.;
• onion - 2 pcs.;
• garlic - 3 pcs.;
• vegetable oil - 200 ml;
• cilantro, parsley, dill - to taste;
• salt, spices, hot pepper - to taste.

Cooking:

1. 1. Prepare vegetables as described in the classic step-by-step recipe.
2. 2. Set the "Frying" mode in the slow cooker and fry the eggplant for 2-3 minutes. on each side in vegetable oil. It will take several tricks, as all the eggplants will not fit in the bowl.
3. 3. Cut the tomatoes into cubes, onion into half rings, pepper into rings. Chop the garlic and herbs.
4. 4. Transfer the eggplants to a bowl, add the rest of the vegetables, salt, spices and herbs. Put in a multicooker.
5. 5. Set the “Extinguishing” mode, hold for 1 hour. If there is not enough juice from the vegetables, then mix them so that they do not burn.
6. 6. Put ajapsandali on a dish, decorate with herbs.

With meat

Ingredients:

• lamb (or pork) - 500 g;
• onion - 1 pc.;
• tomatoes - 4 pcs.;
• Bulgarian pepper - 3 pcs.;
• potatoes - 3 pcs.;
• eggplant - 2 pcs.;
• butter - 50 g;
• vegetable oil - 30 g;
• dried basil - 3 pinches;
• bay leaf - 2 pcs.;
• salt, black ground pepper, coriander - to taste.

Cooking:

1. 1. Cut the meat into medium-sized cubes.
2. 2. Melt butter in a cauldron or deep frying pan, add vegetable oil.
3. 3. Put the meat in the oil. Fry it over high heat until a crust appears, stirring occasionally. Then pour 100 ml of water and reduce the heat. Simmer lamb until done.
4. 4. Wash and peel potatoes, tomatoes, cut them into medium-sized pieces.
5. 5. Cut the onion into half rings.
6. 6. Peel the bell pepper, cut into strips.
7. 7. Wash the eggplants, remove the stalks, cut into rings or half rings, sprinkle them with salt, leave for 15-20 minutes.
8. 8. Put eggplants and onions in a cauldron, cover with a lid, simmer with meat for 10 minutes.
9. 9. Add chopped potatoes, salt, cook for another 10 minutes.
10. 10. Pour sweet peppers and tomatoes. Add water if necessary to prevent the meat from burning. Add basil. Simmer 25 min.
11. 11. Put bay leaf, spices, mix all layers and keep on fire for another 10 minutes.
12. 12. Turn off the gas, let it brew under a closed lid for 15 minutes. Serve to the table, garnished with sprigs of parsley, basil or chopped herbs.

Cooking time is 1.5 hours. Fatty meat can be used for this recipe. At the same time, it is necessary to reduce the amount of vegetable and butter, since lard will melt during the cooking process. The meat is beaten beforehand so that it becomes softer and juicier.

On the grill

Ingredients:

• tomatoes, eggplants, sweet bell peppers, onions - according to the number of guests present;
• garlic - 3 cloves;
• vegetable oil - 3-4 tbsp. l.;
• greens (parsley, cilantro, basil) - 100 g;
• ground pepper, salt - to taste.

Cooking:

1. 1. Kindle the coals in the grill, heat them well.
2. 2. While the barbecue is being prepared, wash the vegetables, remove the stalks.
3. 3. Put whole vegetables on skewers and bake them on coals (you can use an open fire).
4. 4. After baking, put the vegetables in cold water. Peel them off.
5. 5. Cut vegetables into cubes.
6. 6. Prepare a sauce of chopped garlic, vegetable oil, salt, spices and chopped herbs. Mix them up.
7. 7. Put peppers, eggplants, onions and tomatoes on a common dish, salt, pepper and pour over the sauce.

Since vegetables are cooked entirely in the grill, ajapsandal is especially tasty and juicy. It can be served with barbecue or wrapped in pita bread.

At the stake in a cauldron

Ingredients:

• eggplant - 2 pcs.;
• hops-suneli seasoning, ground pepper, salt - to taste;
• Bulgarian pepper - 2 pcs.;
• tomatoes - 8 pcs.;
• zucchini - 2 pcs.;
• potatoes - 4 pcs.;
• garlic - 5 cloves;
• onion - 2 pcs.;
• carrots - 1 pc.;
• greens (parsley, dill, cilantro, basil) - to taste;
• vegetable oil - 4 tbsp. l.;
• dried cumin - 1 pinch;
• hot capsicum - 1 pc.

Cooking:

1. 1. Make a fire, install a grate on the fire. Put the pot on and heat it up well. Add vegetable oil to the pot.
2. 2. Wash vegetables. Remove the stalk from the eggplants, cut them into cubes, soak in salt water, as in the first recipe, then rinse.
3. 3. Wash potatoes, sweet peppers and carrots, peel and cut into cubes.
4. 4. Wash and cut young zucchini with skin.
5. 5. Cut the onion into half rings.
6. 6. Peel and chop the garlic.
7. 7. Make a cross-shaped incision on the tomatoes, pour boiling water over them and remove the skin.
8. 8. Put the onion in the cauldron, fry it.
9. 9. Add chopped potatoes, salt, pepper, fry it with cumin for 5 minutes.
10. 10. Put sweet pepper, fry for 5 minutes.
11. 11. Add eggplant.
12. 12. After they are fried, put out the fire and then cook on coals.
13. 13. Add water to the middle of the vegetables, close the lid and simmer until the potatoes soften.
14. 14. Cut zucchini and tomatoes into cubes, chop greens, garlic.
15. 15. Put them together with hot pepper in a cauldron and simmer for 10 minutes.

Preparation for the winter

Ingredients:

• eggplant - 800 g;
• bell pepper - 6 pcs.;
• onion - 500 g;
• young zucchini - 300 g;
• carrots - 5 pcs.;
• sunflower oil - 500 ml;
• sugar - ½ tbsp. l.;
• tomato paste - 200 g;
• garlic - 1 head;
• hot peppercorns - 5 g;
• coriander seeds - 3 g;
• 6% vinegar - 100 ml.

Cooking:

1. 1. Rinse the eggplant, remove the stalks, cut into 1x1 cm cubes and soak for 20-30 minutes. in salted water.
2. 2. Wash, peel and dice carrots, zucchini. Carrots can also be grated.
3. 3. Mix tomato paste with 100 ml of water.
4. 4. Put all the ingredients and spices in a deep saucepan and simmer for 35 minutes.
5. 5. Steam sterilize glass jars.
6. 6. Pour ajapsandali into jars, roll up the lids.
7. 7. Put them in a preheated oven on a baking sheet with metal lids down, sterilize for another 30 minutes. Store the workpiece at a temperature not higher than +3 degrees.

The taste of such a salad for the winter will differ from the traditional Georgian dish, as vinegar is used for canning. Its preparation time is 1.5 hours.

Secrets of experienced chefs

There are some tricks when preparing the dish:

• A real ajapsandal should consist of large pieces of chopped vegetables, otherwise the dish is more like a stew, vegetable caviar or salad. When slicing, you should strive to make pieces of the same size so that there is no shift in flavor in favor of large components.
• Before baking, it is recommended to make cuts in the form of a lattice on the eggplant slices. Thanks to this, the vegetable will bake better.
• All the ingredients of ajapsandal must be brought to full readiness when frying. Crispy peppers or half-baked eggplants will break the delicate texture of the dish.
• Onions and carrots should be stewed in a large amount of oil, since with this method of preparation they are not fried, but languish in their own juice. Thanks to this, the dish turns out tasty and juicy. Excess oil can be drained after frying. Onions after such processing do not lose their color and do not burn.
• Hot peppers are recommended to be cut with rubber gloves. It is better to remove its seeds, since all the sharpness is concentrated in them.
• So that the garlic does not darken, it is rubbed with coarse salt.
• Salt is added at the end of cooking.
• So that the main ingredients do not boil, potatoes are placed in ajapsandal.

Experienced chefs believe that the highlight of the dish lies in the combination of eggplant and cilantro, so this spicy herb should not be neglected. Also, do not stew ajapsandal for too long. 15 minutes is enough. over low heat, otherwise the dish will overcook and lose taste.

Ajapsandal is a stewed vegetable dish popular in several Caucasian countries. The authorship of this unique dish is disputed by Armenians, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Abkhazians. It is now impossible to determine which of them belongs to it. However, one cannot but admit that each nation brought something of its own to the recipe. Ajapsandal in Armenian has much in common with ajapsandal in Georgian or Azerbaijani, but at the same time differs from them. For example, Armenians choose their own set of spices and spices for this dish, often include potatoes or carrots in the composition, cook ajapsandal so liquid that it is somewhat reminiscent of soup, although in fact it is the second course. Armenian ajapsandal turns out to be tasty, fragrant and very healthy, as it is prepared from juicy and ripe vegetables rich in all kinds of vitamins.

Cooking features

Ajapsandal itself is prepared according to certain rules that do not even depend on the recipe. However, the technology for preparing ajapsandal in Armenian has its own characteristics. If you want to cook this dish of Armenian cuisine, you need to be guided by a number of rules, then the finished dish will be identical to the traditional one in taste and appearance.

• An obligatory ingredient, without which ajapsandal will immediately turn into a vegetable stew, is eggplant. These vegetables need to be pre-cooked, otherwise they will retain solanine, which will give the dish an unpleasant bitter taste. In order to get rid of solanine, eggplants are soaked for 20-30 minutes in a saline solution, for the preparation of which 10 g of salt is added to each liter of water. You can just salt the eggplant, and then rinse. It is imperative to wash the vegetables, otherwise they will turn out to be oversalted and spoil the taste of the whole dish.
• The second necessary ingredient of ajapsandal in Armenian is sweet pepper. Preference is given to those varieties that have a green color. Although they do not look so beautiful in the finished dish, they have a richer taste.
• The composition of the Armenian ajapsandal often includes potatoes. Its cooking time is somewhat longer than other vegetables. For this reason, it is first recommended to lightly fry it, and then lay it in the dish.
• Vegetables for ajapsandal can not be fried, in which case it will be dietary. However, most often they are fried before stewing. Thanks to this, they acquire other flavor notes and better retain their shape when stewed.
• If you are cooking ajapsandal in Armenian style, use butter to fry vegetables. It is possible to use vegetable oil instead of butter, but in this case the taste of the dish will be less delicate than that of the traditional Armenian ajapsandal.
• Ajapsandal is cooked in a vessel with a thick bottom and thick walls. Thanks to this, the vegetables are saturated with the juices and aromas of each other and the spices that make up the composition, so that the dish is very tasty.
• The traditional Armenian ajapsandal is made from vegetables alone, but ajapsandal with meat is also considered a classic. The main thing is that there should not be too much meat in it, it is vegetables that should dominate.

Ajapsandal is served both as a side dish for meat and as an independent dish. It is satisfying enough not to need any supplement.

Ajapsandal in Armenian style with carrots

• eggplant - 0.5 kg;
• sweet pepper - 0.5 kg;
• carrots - 0.5 kg;
• onions - 100 g;
• garlic - 4 cloves;
• hot capsicum - 1 pc.;
• fresh cilantro - 20 g;
• fresh parsley - 20 g;
• fresh basil - 20 g;
• butter - 150 g;
• tomatoes - 1 kg;
• salt, hops-suneli - to taste.

Cooking method:

• Wash the eggplant and cut in half lengthwise without removing the stems. Cut each half lengthwise, just a couple of centimeters or even less before reaching the tails. Salt and leave for 15 minutes. After the specified time, rinse well in running water and dry with paper towels.
• Put half of the butter in a frying pan, put it on fire. When the butter is melted, fry the eggplant on all sides, without separating the oblong pieces from the base.
• Peel the carrots and cut them into strips or thin sticks.
• Remove the husk from the onion, cut it into thin quarters of rings.
• Finely chop the garlic.
• Wash the peppers, cut off their stems. Cut each pepper lengthwise into 4 pieces. Cut into quarters of rings about 3-4 mm thick.
• Add the remaining oil to the skillet where the eggplant was fried.
• Put onions and carrots in melted butter, fry them for 10 minutes. Add pepper and garlic, continue to fry for another 5 minutes.
• Cut hot pepper into small rings. Remove the seeds from them, as they have an excessively burning taste.
• Put a mixture of onions, carrots, peppers and garlic in a cauldron, adding hot pepper rings to it. If the pan is deep, you can not shift the vegetables, but stew them in it.
• Cut the washed tomatoes into slices, arrange them on top. Salt and season the dish.
• Cover everything with eggplant strips, cutting them off from the base.
• Cover the pan or cauldron with a lid, put on low heat. Stew ajapsandal for about half an hour.

Before laying out ajapsandal on plates, it must be mixed and sprinkled with chopped herbs.

Ajapsandal prepared according to this recipe has a spicy taste. If you are not a fan of hot dishes, you can choose another recipe for ajapsandal in Armenian, which will have a milder taste, or exclude hot pepper from the recipe (the amount of garlic can be left the same).

Ajapsandal in Armenian style with meat and potatoes

• lamb or pork - 1 kg;
• eggplant - 0.7 kg;
• tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
• sweet pepper - 0.7 kg;
• potatoes - 0.7 kg;
• onions - 0.25 kg;
• dried basil - 10 g;
• dried rosemary - 5 g;
• bay leaf - 3 pcs.;
• ghee - 50 g;
• salt, pepper - to taste;
• water - as needed.

Cooking method:

• Wash the meat, dry it with a kitchen towel, cut into medium-sized pieces (about two 2 cm each).
• Wash and clean the eggplant. Cut them into large cubes, slightly smaller than the pieces of meat.
• Dip the eggplants in salted water, dissolving salt in it beforehand in the ratio of 10 g of salt per 1 liter of water. Leave for half an hour, then rinse and let dry.
• Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and remove the skin from them. It will be even easier to peel the tomatoes if you do not just pour them with hot water, but immerse them in boiling water for a couple of minutes, after making a cross-shaped incision on the skin before that.
• Cut peeled tomatoes into circles.
• Peel potatoes. Cut it into the same pieces as the eggplant.
• Wash the peppers. Cut off the areas with the stalk from them. Cut each pepper lengthwise to remove the seeds. Cut the pepper into not too thin half rings.
• Cut the peeled onions into thin halves of the rings.
• Heat the melted butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Fry the onion in it until golden brown.
• Put the meat in the pan and fry it together with the onion until golden brown.
• Pour water over the meat so that it is completely covered with liquid. Wait until the water boils, add salt, spices, bay leaf and cook the meat for 10 minutes.
• Dip the eggplant slices into the pan, after 5 minutes send the potatoes there and wait another 5 minutes. Lay the pepper, cover everything with circles of tomatoes.
• Stew vegetables with meat in broth for 40 minutes. Cover the pan with a lid for this time, make the fire small.

When serving, it is advisable to add chopped greens to each plate. You can also add green beans to ajapsandal. For the indicated amount of ingredients, 200-300 g will be enough.