Ajvar with eggplant
Everyone has their own recipe Ajvar. Preparation methods may vary. But the essence is (more or less) the same.
Some make ajvar from roasted peppers, some from boiled ones, with or without eggplant...
It's all a matter of taste.
The most important thing about ajvar is what kind of paprika is used. The pepper should be ripe - red, fleshy, sweet...
Also, if you prepare ajvar from roasted peppers, the taste depends very much on how you roast them - in the oven, on the grill or on the stove.
Because of all this, the tastes of ajvar differ from housewife to housewife - everyone prepares it in their own way and according to their own recipe.
Peppers are best when roasted at a high temperature - on the stove or on the grill.
When it is baked in the oven, it has a completely different taste, therefore the taste of ajvar is also different.
If your oven is not hot enough, the pepper will release more liquid than when it is cooked on the stove.
When I prepare ajvar, I like to add some blue eggplant (for 1 kg of roasted peppers, about 300 g of roasted blanched eggplant) and hot pepper.
Most people think that eggplant is an intruder in ajvar. They say that eggplant is added to ajvar in order to get a larger quantity because it is cheaper.
If you ask me, that's a delusion.
Eggplant, like any other vegetable, contains certain nutrients.
The price varies from year to year. Sometimes it has the same price as peppers, sometimes it is cheaper, sometimes it is more expensive.
The advice is not to be afraid of eggplant in ajvar. The eggplant gives it a nice creamy texture.
Do not throw away the juice that drips from the peppers after roasting. Save it and add it gradually when browning the ajvar.
I usually prepare small quantities of ajvar. This amount is enough for 2 370 ml jars plus a little for tasting.
To get 1 kg of roasted and cleaned peppers, you need to roast about 2,5 kg of fresh peppers.
ingredients:
- 1 kg of roasted, cleaned peppers
- 300 g baked or blanched eggplant (optional)
- 1 dl oil
- 1 hot pepper
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 spoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of sugar (if the pepper is not sweet enough)
- 1 tablespoon of vinegar
<strong>Preparation: </strong>
- Grind the pepper in a meat grinder.
- If you don't have a meat grinder like I do, you can use a hand mixer (if you have one).
- First, chop the pepper into smaller pieces, cubes, then partially mix it with a stick mixer.
- Take care when mixing so that the pepper is not crushed too much and you do not get a puree.
- You can also use a chopper to "grind" paprika.
- Heat the oil in a pan with a diameter of about 25 cm.
- Add the ground pepper, fry it at a high temperature for a few minutes, stirring constantly.
- Then reduce the heat (on a 3-burner stove it would be 1,5).
- Add chopped garlic and hot pepper.
- If necessary, add the paprika juice that you saved.
- fry/simmer the mass for 30-50 minutes, depending on the size of the pot and the quantity.
- When the mass is almost ready (about five minutes before the end), add salt, sugar and vinegar.
- Pour the finished mass into sterilized jars and pasteurize it.
(If you are preparing this recipe with eggplant, add it in the middle of simmering. If you add it when you add the pepper, there is a chance that the ajvar will burn because the eggplant sticks to the pan more easily than the pepper.)
Kristina Gašpar, blog Domačica for you
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