Tkemali: A Sour Plum Sauce

Tart and spicy, tkemali is used on most grilled meats and fish and just about everywhere in Georgia (the republic, not the state), much as Americans use ketchup. So says Darra Goldstein in her book, The Georgian Feast. It is a sauce made of sour plums, called tkemalis, not generally available elsewhere. And it is an important addition to Tabaka (grilled, flattened baby chickens) and Lobio Tkemali (a red bean dish), both of which I'd hoped to try. So I thought I'd make some. I had in mind brushing this stuff on some grilling lamb kebabs or the like, too.

Both Darra Goldstein and cookbook author Anya von Bremzen suggest the substitution of other kinds of unripe plums for the unobtainable tkemalis. The Georgian Feast recipe calls for Santa Anna plums. Please to the Table, Anya von Bremzen's anthology of recipes from the former soviet republics, uses prune plums instead. Otherwise, the recipes are very similar. I tried a sort of combination of the two.

The plums I bought were called "Red Plums." An honest name. Smaller than a Santa Anna, larger than an Italian type prune plum, they were, at least, red-which is apparently the color of the original. They were also my sole available choice, and gratifyingly unripe and rock-like. I was probably the only Iggle shopper to appreciate this feature. One recipe calls for the addition of lemon juice, for sourness, but after a taste of these guys, I knew none was needed. Who knew there was a use for unlocal, out of season, hard as a rock, unripe fruit?

If your plums are not very sour, you will want to add a bit of the lemon. Two days after I made this, the two leftover plums had ripened slightly, and were even slightly sweet. And, of course, it is not every supermarket which can be counted on to offer such thoroughly inedible fresh fruit.

Tkemali keeps unsealed and refrigerated for several weeks, and the recipes , with pretty much the same quantities of ingredients, are said to make either 2 or 3 cups of sauce. I decided to make a small amount to try soon, and to seal whatever was left for later. With this in mind, I sterilized 3 half-pint ball jars. I wound up with 2 full jars-sealed, and one half jar in the fridge. I thought I'd let the fridge jar sit for a few days for the flavors to meld, and try a bit with the beans or a little hen this weekend. My finger-licking of the scraped pot told me that this is definitely sour enough. Seriously puckery.

And isn't this a pretty, red stained glass condiment? This is what you need to make it :

plums, very unripe 1 1/2 lbs
water 1/4 cup
whole coriander seeds 3/4 tsp
fennel seed 1 tsp
garlic cloves peeled and chopped 2
salt 1/2 tsp
cayenne 1tsp
fresh mint minced 1 tbsp
fresh cilanto minced 1/3 cup

Sterilize 3 one cup ball jars. Cut the plums in half, cut out the seeds and put in a heavy pot with the water. Bring to a boil, cover and cook til soft- about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, grind everything but the green herbs in a mortar, to a paste.

Put the plums through a chinois or food mill and return puree to pot. Bring back to boil, add spice paste, and cook about 5 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the herbs. Pour hot into sterilized jars, and seal, if desired. Otherwise, store in fridge.

The little plate to the right is lobio tkemali-red beans and plum sauce. It is made with a half pound of soaked dried red beans, cooked until very tender in salted water, and mashed with 1/3 cup of the plum sauce, while still warm. You correct the salt, add a bit of pepper, and top with chopped cilantro. I am liking this very much on some toasted pitas. This can also be made leaving the beans whole. you mix with the plum sauce, garnish with cilantro and raw onion rings, and serve it cold.

Tkemali is a really distinctive taste, and I wasn't sure what I thought of it when I tried it plain...it's very sour. And I say this as a lover of sour things to eat. It is delicious in the bean dish, though...I am looking forward to trying it with something grilled, juicy and crisp.* Have I mentioned often enough how I love plums? Stay tuned for more plummy developments.

*addendum-It was very nice with marinated lamb grilled on skewers, rice, and a salad of parsley and raw onions.

Comments

[Rebecca]

Mmmm, sour things, how I love them.

[Lynn D.]

Just when I think I have cooked, tasted, read about, imagined, every combination of food tastes, you come up with something completely different that really challenges me. What kind of red beans? Just from the super market? Lucky me, I have some wild plum trees in the back yard.

[Pamela]

Sounds really interesting, I think I would really like to try this!!

[lindy]

Rebecca-As do I.
Lynn-The blog made me do it. You seem to have quite a lot of food ideas yourself, percolating all the time. I love to hear about them. Have you thought about writing a blog, or writing something. about food ? I am having a very good time here, as you may have noticed.
Yes, regular red kidney beans-in-a-bag from the Iggle. I am thinking the whole bean version wih the onions on top would be a great barbeque side, with coleslaw.
Plum trees. Do you make jam? I am deeply envious. when I was growing up, we had a plum tree in our neglected and overgrown back yard..with those Italian prune plums. So good.
Pamela-Thanks. It's really pretty easy..and interesting. Make sure to leave the skins on when cooking the plums. that's where the color comes from!

[Julie]

Yes, that plum sauce is a seriously gorgeous red!

[Yulinka]

I've been really curious about this plum sauce for quite a while. I never got around to making it, but I'm glad you did! This really gives me an incentive. Anya von Bremzen suggests serving it with lamb, and I'm thinking it'll go really well with grilled lamb...

[Bakerina (on the road, in the Rockies!)]

Holy moley. My mouth is seriously watering, reading this. I know what I'm making on Sunday, when I'm back home. Were I not going to the Spin-Out in Central Park, I would be making this on Saturday.

Lindy, I have to second Lynn's words. You are a never-ending font of inspiration and ingenuity.

[Katie]

This looks fabulous... I've been reading your blog for a while now and trying the recipes (loved the buckwheat cookies!) but I'm not a very good commenter! Sorry for that! Anyway, I'm going to put some beans on to soak tonight...all of my favorite flavors in this sauce...can't wait to try it!

[lindy]

Yulinka-I will be interested to read about what you think of it-I'm going to try it on some marinated lamb kebabs tonight.
Bakerina- You are a dear. The jam arrived and it is beautiful. I'm trying to save my jar until the fresh strawberries have definitely disappeared. This is not easy. I have put the redfox's jar in the cupboard with some other things for her birthday box. If the Evil Mum Within does not emerge before mid-July and devour it, she will get some for her 31st.
Welcome Katie. Aren't the buckwheat cookies lovely? We can thank Lynn D. for those.

[Jen]

I love everything I've ever eaten that involves both sour and plums, so I'll definitely need to try this. I am not, on the whole, a fan of fennel, so I may need to leave it out, though I feel I should include it the first go-round.

Now I wish I'd brought some of my dried salted plums from Aji Ichiban to work with me today.

[aleza]

I actually recently purchased the green version of this sauce! For those of you who live, or at least occasionally find yourselves in, Brooklyn, the supermarket right by the Neck Road stop on the Q, which has a large selection of products from Russia and formerly soviet republics, has at least three different versions of this: green, yellow and red- and that's only in one brand! They also have a tomato-based hot sauce from Georgia (called simply "hot sauce number two") that's very good- tomatoes, garlic, coriander, dill, hot pepper- I highly recommend it.

[Melissa]

Hi Lindy, I'm so glad you made tkemali, I've been meaning to for ages! We have the same problem with plums here as well, so I'll no longer see their lack of ripeness as a deterrent. Oh, and you'll be pleased to hear that you successfully sold me on 'Please to the Table' - I finally ordered it yesterday...

[Baking Soda]

Lindy I wanted to let you know that every post I read contains a surprise, and with almost anything I read here I make a mental note: should try that...soon!
I love the combination of sour and grilled so the addendum was definitely one for me!

[katie]

update: loved,loved,loved the plum sauce with the beans... I'll be using some of the rest with grilled pork chops and fennel tomorrow. Thanks Lindy!

[Thea Hardy]

It's now two years since anyone has posted here, but when my Victoria plum's branches nearly broke from too many plums, I thinned them and have hard green plums so came hunting on the internet for recipes. I am going to try this - it will be a green version. I had forgotten my Georgian cookbook which I can't find right now, and forgot about tkemali, so I will use this recipe and am delighted to find it (again). I will try to report back on my results.

[tatiana]

in russia we buy it canned. it definitely IS one of my favourites) thank sfor the recipe, i guess i will try and make it myself)

what about you, was it a success?

[Eric Flescher]

Found your website and post about this tasty condiments which I found and picked up while in Providence,RI at a Russian food store. It's lemony and tasty and would go well with chicken and meats and even vegetarian foods and more.Possibly you can add my website to your blog website listings.Thanks. I will add yours.
Dr. Eric Flescher, Olathe, KS(dreric1kansas@aol.com)
Kansas City Traveling Gourmet

[Eric Flescher]

blog is
http://cpmputergourmet.blogspot.com/