Tkemali Sauce

We put the plums in a pot, add water to cover the berries, and place it on the fire. The plums cook very quickly: in about ten minutes — and it's ready.

We drain the water. We remove the pits by hand and mash the plums with a spoon, or strain them through a sieve, or blend them with a mixer - resulting in a homogeneous mass similar to jam.

We finely chop the pepper and mix it with the plums. We add salt. We crush cilantro, dill, and garlic in a mortar and mix it with the plums as well. We add a bit of coriander. It is generally believed that there is no tkhemali without the ombalo herb, which only grows in Georgia, but we manage perfectly well without ombalo and don't feel much difference.

Well, that's it — tkhemali is ready. It gets eaten very quickly. If you want to prepare tkhemali for winter, just boil the plums, separate them from the pits, salt them, and jar them. Then, in winter, before using tkhemali, you add cilantro, pepper, and garlic. In spring, when the plums have grown but are not yet ripe, it is customary in Georgia to invite guests for freshly made tkhemali. It is served with chicken, meat, fish, and young potatoes. But the main thing is tkhemali. After winter, this fresh young dish is especially tasty.