Tsakhton sauce: recipe and recommendations. Tsakhton - a recipe for Ossetian cuisine Delicious sauce of Ossetian cuisine

The national cuisine of North Ossetia was formed in ancient times - under the influence of the ancient Alan people. Since then, her main dish has been and remains meat - mainly beef and lamb - generously seasoned with various sauces. The second place among the cult culinary masterpieces is occupied by pies with meat filling. Many traditions of culinary etiquette have also been preserved to this day. Pies, for example, are always served on a platter in the amount of three pieces, and at the funeral table there must be an even number of them.

Snacks

Not much space is given to snacks in the cuisine of North Ossetia, however, the main ones can be distinguished among them: tsaku - fried puffed corn, dzykka - made from whey, local cheese and wheat flour. Ossetian cheese itself is also a snack, which, according to all the rules of local cuisine, is usually prepared in a dried beef stomach. The whey fermenting in it becomes an airy cheese product with amazing taste. National salads often include such a healthy and easy-for-the-stomach vegetable as radish. The simplest way to prepare them is a mixture of radish, sunflower oil and salt. It is worth mentioning a light appetizer - eggplant with cheese, which is especially tasty with a special sauce made from milk and garlic.

First meal

The main first courses of any national cuisine are soups, and Ossetian cuisine is no exception. Bean soup, which is called kaduri bash kartofima in local dialect, is prepared with milk. In addition to these ingredients, there are always potatoes, onions and greens. The traditional soup of Ossetia is kharmhuyp, prepared from lamb meat on the bone. It is noteworthy that the meat is not chopped, but served in large pieces along with the bone on a wide dish separately from the broth. Porridges are also considered first courses; in the cuisine of North Ossetia, most of them are based on corn flour. National mamaliga, or shir, is a corn porridge considered a nutritious and energetically valuable dish.

Second courses

As mentioned above, the main food of Ossetians is meat, while the second place is occupied by pies with various fillings. There are a great many options for preparing meat dishes and fillings for pies, so only the key national dishes will be considered below.
The most popular method is to cook meat over an open fire in a cauldron. It is stewed for a long time with spices and served with a variety of sauces, mainly garlic. Among the variety of sauces, one can highlight tsakhton, made from sour cream, and nur tsakhton, a very spicy garlic sauce. Tsyvzydakhdon is also popular - an unusual-tasting spicy sauce made from capsicum leaves, which is poured with sour cream.
Lamb prepared according to the traditions of the peoples of Ossetia is called lyvzha - it is meat stewed with potatoes and onions, seasoned with pepper, garlic and savory (a spice used for both culinary and medicinal purposes). In addition to stewed meat, in Ossetia it is popular to prepare it in the form of shish kebab, not only from sirloin, but also from offal. In this case, the kidneys, liver and hearts of young animals are threaded onto wooden skewers and fried over coals.
It is impossible not to mention those second courses that are prepared using poultry meat. Among them there are traditional dishes, without which a real hospitable Ossetian table cannot do. First of all, this is Ossetian-style chicken (tolon), which is simmered in pots along with vegetables. The main seasoning for this dish is savory. Cooking duck meat is characterized by the presence of garlic. The dizzying aroma and taste of duck with garlic in Ossetian style will not leave even the most avid gourmet indifferent. It is served on wide plates; it is often complemented by a pie with beet tops, which is eaten instead of bread.
Chicken meat often becomes the main ingredient of another national dish of Caucasian cuisine - pilaf. Most often it is cooked over an open fire in a special vessel with a thick bottom. Served with fermented milk sauces containing whey or kefir.

Baking in Ossetian cuisine

The most famous baked delicacy in Caucasian cuisine was and remains a kind of bread substitute - churek. Its base is corn flour, and churek is traditionally baked with cheese. Before baking, it is lubricated with water so that the finished cake does not crack. You can store the finished products for up to two weeks; they will not dry out or become moldy - unlike regular bread. The appearance of churek on the tables of Ossetians can also be associated with the history of the people. Due to the region of residence, the ancient highlanders ate rather poorly, and chureks were one of the main dishes eaten. Residents of the Republic of Ossetia prefer to eat them while still hot - when they emit a unique aroma. The simplicity and speed of the recipe has spread this dish throughout the world.
What cuisine is complete without pancakes and pancakes, which are also a national dish in Ossetia. The main difference between Ossetian pancakes and others: for cooking, wheat flour is mixed in equal proportions with corn flour, which gives the delicacy lightness and an unforgettable taste. In the local dialect, pancakes are called lauzh, pancakes - lauyzta. These dishes are served with sour milk or tsakhdon sauce, which was mentioned above.

Ossetian pies

Their famous flat cakes can be included in a separate chapter of the book of Ossetian recipes: the history of recipes is measured in centuries, which is reflected in Caucasian folk tales. A pie with a thin layer of dough and a large amount of filling is considered to be properly made. In addition to culinary, Ossetian pies also have ritual significance, as evidenced by the fact that they always serve three pieces per serving. Three pies symbolize the sun, water and earth - the three foundations of the universe. It is noteworthy that this recipe for such a dish does not involve the use of margarine and eggs. The main types of Ossetian pies include:
- Kartofgin - the most popular dish found in any list of Ossetian jam recipes. The basis for it is crushed potatoes mixed with milk and flour, from which flat cakes are subsequently baked. A virtuoso in the field of cooking is considered to be the one whose potato cakes are the thinnest. The dish is topped with cheese. The old pie recipe continues to win the hearts of gourmets from all over the world.
- Only a pie with meat filling can compete with the fame of potato gin - fijin . It is the hallmark of Ossetia in the field of world culinary art. It is a pocket of thin dough with minced beef. The dish is served exceptionally hot and is brushed with creamy meat before eating.
- Olibach - a pie with fresh cheese, which is thoroughly kneaded and salted. When baking this product, a cut must be made in the middle so that steam escapes and the cheese does not come out.
Often the filling of Ossetian pies includes healthy vegetables or their leaves, among which the most traditional ones can be distinguished:
- Tsaharajin - the filling of this flatbread includes crushed beet leaves and cheese. Beet leaves are the most common ingredient in vegetable dishes in Ossetia.
- Khaedurjyn - minced meat for filling is prepared from boiled chopped beans and lard. When serving, the finished product is poured with sour cream.
- Nasjin - This is a pie with chopped pumpkin. Pumpkin is also often found in Ossetian dishes - it is a very healthy vegetable, considered a kind of vitamin and mineral complex. Its fruits are low in calories, rich in fiber, and the champion among vitamins in it is beta-carotene.
- Kabuskajin - pie with cabbage and cheese. Often served instead of bread with main courses.

Ossetian desserts

The most common national sweet of Ossetians is dzukata or brushwood. This dessert is present in almost all Caucasian cuisines and is regarded as a sweet by both adults and children. For the peoples of the Caucasus, brushwood is traditionally doused with honey before serving.
You can also highlight such an unusual sweet as white halua - these are small balls of dough, which is prepared using melted butter and powdered sugar. Well, traditionally, pies with sweet fillings are served as a dessert dish, the most popular among them are cherries and apples. Apple pie, whose name in Russian cuisine sounds like charlotte, is called fatkuydzhyn in the local dialect, and cherry pie is called baljin.

Beverages

Ossetian beer is popular not only in the vast Caucasus region, but also beyond its borders. For local residents, home-brewed beer is not just a drink: they pray to God while preparing it. The recipe includes barley grains, wheat and corn flour. Sometimes honey is also added there, which gives it a special, somewhat piquant taste. Traditional Ossetian beer is distinguished by its dark color and rich taste; its name in local cuisine sounds like iron bagane.
The second most famous alcoholic drink in Ossetian cuisine is araka - made from corn grains and barley. In general, the people of the Republic of Ossetia are not fans of alcohol; they drink it in moderation, but on major holidays or funerals, arrack and beer are mandatory elements of the table. The average strength of araki is 25%.

Anyone who has ever visited North Ossetia notes the hospitality and cordiality of the hosts! Due to the fact that this is a multinational republic, the cuisine here is distinguished by a variety of dishes, which, although not very numerous, will definitely surprise you with an unforgettable taste. There is not a single person who has visited Ossetia and not tasted traditional pies with beer!

All culinary specialists in the world agree that it is the sauce that makes almost any second dish special, tasty and memorable. A great variety of them have been invented: for meat, for fish, for poultry. There are spicy ones, there are sweet and sour ones - for every taste and preference. But if you like it spicy, you should definitely try tsakhton sauce. The recipe belongs to both Georgia and Ossetia. There are several options, and each housewife considers her own to be correct. So if you are inclined to culinary creativity, choose any tsakhton - the cooking recipe will become basic, and you will add it to your taste and get a unique sauce that can become your calling card.

Separately, we note that the Caucasian “accompaniment” to meat is traditionally made spicy. However, there are some versions of tsakhton that can be called more spicy. And if your stomach doesn't like spicy food, you can opt for a milder option. And one more thing: according to the rules, the recipe requires matsoni, katyko, or, in extreme cases, yogurt to season the tsakhton sauce. But not everyone likes the sour taste, so sour cream is indicated in recipes instead of these liquids.

Primary base

All products are taken by eye: the sauce should correspond to your ideas about taste. The hot pepper is chopped as finely as possible. If you like very hot sauces, leave the seeds. Just to prevent them from getting on your teeth, grind them in a mortar. The garlic is peeled and pressed through a press. Take more greenery, in the original it should be cilantro, but if its smell is too pronounced for you, take parsley. The bunch is chopped, all the pieces are combined and filled with sour cream. The already prepared tsakhton recipe recommends seasoning with utskho-suneli and salt, mixing well and leaving in a warm place for a quarter of an hour to saturate with aromas.

Some people make do with only dry spices and sour cream, calling the sauce tsakhton. In our opinion, this is not very correct: at least greens must be present in the sauce.

Tsakhton in Georgian

The main difference from the Ossetian version is the presence of nuts in the sauce. Some versions even lack hot pepper, so this tsathon is also suitable for ulcer sufferers. Nuts and garlic are taken in equal proportions, spicy herbs - in double quantities. All this is passed through a blender until smooth and diluted with sour cream to the desired consistency. The recipe recommends adding cumin, salt and coriander to the tsakhton, but does not prohibit you from flavoring the sauce with other seasonings that you think are suitable. If you didn’t grind hot pepper into the mixture, you can add a little spiciness with ground pepper. Red would fit more harmoniously here.

Another version

Not everyone likes to tinker with fresh hot pepper - it stings your hands for a long time, and there are also irritations if the skin is tender. However, this is not a reason to abandon the idea of preparing tsakhton. The recipe below will help you avoid trouble and enjoy Caucasian sauce. Go to the market and buy salted hot peppers from the grandmothers. Just try the products (if allowed) before you hand over your money: sometimes these peppers have a musty taste, and we don’t want that.

Pickled peppers are either chopped or put through a meat grinder/blender/food processor. If you like particularly hot sauces, you don’t even have to peel the seeds, just cut off the tails. A large amount of fresh herbs is crumbled (or ground) here, sour cream is poured in - and after 15 minutes you can pour the tsakhton over the meat. Or just spread it on bread.

Tsakhton: recipe for the winter

If you like the sauce, you can prepare it for cold times. There are two options: either pickle the peppers, or make a base from fresh ones, which is called tsyvzy-tsakhton or chivdzosa. For it, young pods of very hot pepper are taken - the one that is red when ripe. You should find them green, preferably with leaves. No stems needed here. Peppers with leaves are blanched for no longer than one minute. Then they are wrung out well until the water stops dripping, put in a saucepan into which fresh cold water is poured. The peppers are boiled for about five minutes, washed again, squeezed (not very thoroughly this time) and salted. The workpiece is folded very tightly into a jar with a screw-on lid and placed in the refrigerator. At the right moment, the tsyvzy-tsakhton is poured with sour cream, into which the herbs are chopped and seasonings are mixed.

Final clarifications

The finished sauce, that is, with added sour cream, should be eaten immediately. Maximum - the next day. If it is stored longer, it becomes less tasty and aromatic. By the way, it is also very tasty to soak meat in it. After such marinating, the kebab turns out especially tender and aromatic. But it’s better to dilute tsakhton for marinade with tan or curdled milk - then the meat will be ready for cooking faster. Join the Caucasian culinary traditions - gourmets recommend!

PERMANENT INTERNAL FAT (Fiu)

Peel the lamb or beef internal fat from coarse films, cut into pieces, sprinkle generously with salt and wrap tightly in a peritoneal fat film, put in a cup and let stand for one day. Then tie it with clean rope and hang it over the smoke to smoke. Hold over the smoke until the surface becomes slightly creamy in color, then hang in a cool place for the winter. Lard lasts in this form for a very long time. Used as a topping for first bean dishes and pies: nasdzhyn, kabuskadzhyn, fiudzhyn, amys.

SMOKED LAMB RIBS (Fæzdægdzyd physy færsdzhytæ)

Separate the lamb rib from the shoulder and hind leg. Flatten the ribs and make deep cuts near the rib bones on the inside. Sprinkle generously with salt on all sides. Then wrap tightly and put in a cool place for one day. When the salt is absorbed into the meat, smooth it out so that there are no deep folds left and pull it onto pre-prepared wooden rods. Then hang over the smoke and smoke until the surface of the meat dries and takes on a reddish-brown color. After this, hang the ribs over the stove and finish smoking.

Smoked ribs are prepared for the winter, like other winter preparations.

SALTED FAT LAD (Fysy dimæg tsækhdzhynæy)

Wash the lamb tail, dry it, make cuts on the inside without cutting through. Sprinkle generously with salt and roll tightly, place in a cool place so that the salt is absorbed into it. Then level it, stretch it onto wooden rods and hang it to smoke. When the fat tail becomes dull-transparent, it can be hung in a cool place for air drying.

Salted wild wild garlic (Davon tsækhdzhyn)

Sort out the green wild garlic leaves and wash them in cold running water or in several waters. Let the water drain. Chop them finely, as for wild garlic pie. Add salt and mix with your hands so that the wild garlic releases its juice. Then put it in a container for salting - a wooden barrel or an enamel pan. Press lightly with your hands, cover with a clean napkin, place a wooden circle and a small weight on top. Cover with a lid and store in a cool place for the winter.

It is served as an independent dish, as well as with boiled potatoes.

Ramson is very healthy and tasty.

SALT PEPPER LEAVES (Tsyvzyy tsærttæ tsækhdzhynæy)

For 1 kg of leaves - 80-100 g of salt.

Remove the leaves of the hot pepper from the stems, sort them, and wash them in running water or in several waters. Leave the small pepper pods with the leaves. Squeeze out the water, put in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Cook the leaves until soft. Then remove them from the heat, place in a sieve or colander and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. Let the water drain and then put it in a large cup to make it easier to mix with the salt. Place in prepared container and compress. Cover with a clean napkin and place a large press board on top; if in a glass container, then close with a lid.

SEALED CABBAGE (Tsækhdzhyn kabuska)

Cabbage - 5 kg,

salt - 5 tablespoons,

carrots - 130-150 g,

sugar - 50 g,

pepper, dill, bay leaf - to taste.

Peel the heads of ripe cabbage, remove limp green and dirty leaves, trim the stalk. Cut the head of cabbage into 2 or 4 parts and cut into strips. Wash the carrots thoroughly and chop into thin strips or grate on a coarse grater. Chop the capsicum. Put all this in the cabbage, sprinkle with dill or caraway seeds, add salt, sugar and rub well with your hands so that the cabbage becomes soft and releases juice; if desired, you can add a bay leaf.

Before pouring the first layer into the dish, line the bottom of the dish with healthy cabbage leaves, sprinkle with dill, carrots, and put green capsicum. Then put a layer of prepared cabbage and compact it thoroughly with a wooden tamper or your hands. (Tight packing promotes the release of juice, makes it difficult for air to penetrate into the dishes and thereby protects the cabbage from spoilage).

Cover the top of the cabbage with whole leaves, then cover with a clean napkin. Press down the cabbage with a wooden circle, well washed and scalded with boiling water, and place a weight.

The weight of the load should be approximately 10 percent of the weight of the cabbage (5 kg of weight per 50 kg of cabbage). You can use cleanly washed cobblestones as a load.

After 3-4 days, bubbles will begin to swell on the surface; This is a sign that fermentation has begun. Then foam appears, which gradually disappears.

The most favorable fermentation temperature is 18-20 degrees. At this temperature, fermentation ends in 9-12 days, at a temperature of 25-30 degrees it occurs faster and ends in 7-8 days. However, rapid fermentation worsens the taste of cabbage and reduces its stability; mucus may appear on the cabbage.

During souring, the cabbage must be pierced several times with a clean stake to release the formed gases. You need to make sure that the cabbage is covered with juice all the time. If little juice is released during souring, then you should increase the load or add brine (for 1 glass of drinking water - three quarters of a teaspoon of salt). The foam that appears on the surface must be removed, as it contains microorganisms that cause spoilage of the cabbage.

By the end of fermentation, the brine becomes light, loses its bitterness and has a pleasant salty-sour taste. The finished cabbage should be juicy, crispy when bitten, sour-salty in taste, and have a pleasant smell. Its color is light straw or with a yellowish tint. The wooden circle and stone must be washed with boiling water.

Cabbage pickled with whole heads of cabbage

Cabbage - 10 heads of medium size,

quince - 2-3 pcs.,

salt per 5 liters of water - 250 g,

corn, pepper, dried dill - 100 g.

Select strong, small heads of cabbage and trim off the top, limp leaves. On each head of cabbage, lightly scrape out the stalk, make an incision or cut in half (if large, into 4 parts), sprinkle with salt. Place in rows (preferably in a barrel).

For 10 heads of cabbage put a pinch of corn grains and quince.

Prepare the brine separately. Pour brine over the cabbage, place a wooden circle on top and a weight on it.

SEALED BEET (Tsækhærayi tsækhdzhyn)

Beetroot - 10 kg,

celery and parsley with roots - 150 g,

dill - 100 g,

garlic - 20 g,

salt - 20 g (one tablespoon) per 1 liter of water,

capsicum and bay leaf - to taste.

Wash brightly colored beets without cutting off the roots, put them in boiling water and cook for 30-40 minutes from the moment of boiling so that the skins separate from the beets freely, then cool in the broth, then remove the skins by hand and chop coarsely. Pour salt into boiling water, add celery, parsley (with roots) and boil for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, strain and cool. Place the cooled beets in barrels, alternating with prepared garlic, dill, capsicum and parsley, with celery roots, and add a bay leaf if desired. Then pour in the cooled broth. If the beets are not covered, add cold boiled water.

PICKED CUCUMBERS (Dzhitiræ tsækhdzhynæy)

For 5 liters of water:

salt - 350-400 g.

Spices for 50 kg of cucumbers:

dill - 150 g,

garlic - 150 g,

parsnip or horseradish, greens - 250 g,

capsicum - 50 g.

Select undamaged green cucumbers and wash well, keep (1-2 hours) in cold water. Prepare a bowl for salting (preferably wooden). Place cherry, blackcurrant and horseradish leaves on the bottom of the dish. Place the cucumbers in rows, sprinkling each row with a mixture of pre-chopped hot peppers, celery roots, garlic (cloves), dill, etc. Fill the bowl. Cover the top again with cherry and black currant leaves. Boil the brine, cool it, then pour the cucumbers so that it covers them. Cover with a clean napkin and wooden lid. Place in a cool place.

SALTED TOMATOES (Badyrdzhantæ tsækhdzhynæy)

For 10 liters of water:

salt - 400-450 g,

spices - to taste.

It is better to pickle tomatoes that are brown. Select tomatoes of approximately the same ripeness and wash well in cold water. Meanwhile, chop the red pepper pods, horseradish roots, dill and peel the onions and garlic, mix it all.

Place the tomatoes in rows in a pre-prepared salting dish, sprinkling each row with a mixture of spices. Prepare the brine, cool and pour over the tomatoes. If the tomatoes are salted in a wooden bowl, then put horseradish leaves or dill on top. Cover with a clean cloth and a wooden circle. If in jars, close the lid and make a hole in the middle in advance. At the end of fermentation, fill the hole with paraffin or cover it with plasticine.

SALTED VEGETABLES (Khalsarty tsækhdzhyn)

The proportion of vegetables is to taste.

For 1 kg of mixed vegetables - 80-100 g of salt.

Remove the leaves of the chilli pepper from the stems and wash thoroughly in several waters or under running water. Place in a saucepan and add cold water, set to cook. Boil the leaves until soft. Then remove from heat and place in a sieve or colander, rinse well with cold water, drain or squeeze.

Separately cook dark red beets. Wash, remove tops and root ends. Cook over medium heat for 40-50 minutes. Then remove from heat and cool, peel and cut (if desired) into garlic cubes; Small beets don't need to be cut.

Peel the green beans from the veins and cook. Cook until soft, then drain in a colander, drain and cut crosswise into 3-5 centimeters long.

Wash and chop the bitter and sweet peppers. Small pepper pods do not need to be cut.

Sort through and wash the greens: dill, cilantro and chop. Combine all the above vegetables, herbs, add salt and mix everything well. Place in a clay or glass bowl, press tightly with your hands (you can add brown tomatoes to taste). Cover with a clean napkin or roll up.

Tomatoes suitable for pickling are medium-sized, round or plum-shaped, smooth, and fleshy. According to the degree of maturity, they can be: green, brown, red (not overripe). Before placing, wash the tomatoes in cold water.

Bulgarian pepper. Marinades are prepared from large, thick-skinned fresh peppers, green and red. Red pepper contains more vitamin C and carotene. After washing, remove the core with seeds and cut it lengthwise into 2-4 parts. Very good and tasty marinades are made from red or green peppers fried in vegetable oil. After frying, remove the skin (easily removed) and lay it vertically, pressing it against the walls of the jar.

Beet. For pickling, it is best to take dark red beets. Wash and remove root ends and tops, cook for 45-50 minutes. Then peel and cut into cubes and plates of various shapes. Small beets can be pickled whole.

Eggplant. For pickling, late, purple, fresh, completely ripe ones are taken. Cut off the stems of the eggplants, then wash and cook in a 3-4% salt solution (300-400 g of salt per 10 liters of water), avoiding excessive softening. Stuffed eggplants can also be pickled.

Prepared vegetables should be placed in jars or containers and filled with marinade.

Sterilize: half-liter jars - 10 minutes, liter jars - 15, three-liter jars - 20, ten-liter jars - 30-35 minutes.

EGGPLANT STUFFED WITH VEGETABLES

Cabbage - 3 kg,

eggplants - 5 kg,

carrots - 2 kg,

onion - 2 kg,

garlic - 50 g,

vegetable oil: for frying - 1300 g, for pouring - 1 kg,

salt, herbs, pepper, bay leaf - to taste.

Wash approximately medium-sized eggplants in cold water, trim the stalks and cut in the middle lengthwise, leaving 2-3 cm short of the end. Place water in an enamel pan, add salt and let it boil. Place the prepared eggplants in boiling salted water for 6-8 minutes, avoiding too much softening. Remove from heat, remove from water, place on a clean board, also place a board on top so that the eggplants are all covered, place a weight on the board and leave under pressure for 20-24 hours. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetable filling.

Wash the carrots in cold water, trim the tops, grate on a coarse grater, fry in hot vegetable oil, when the carrots become soft, add chopped onions. Fry the onion until golden brown, then add tomato puree or fresh red tomatoes, rubbed through a colander, and continue cooking until the liquid has completely evaporated. Remove from heat and cool. Chop parsley, cilantro, red pepper, etc. Finely chop cabbage and put in carrots and onions, mix thoroughly, add salt, add black allspice, peas, garlic, bay leaf (optional), mix everything thoroughly to form a homogeneous mass. .

Place long green stems of parsnip and parsley into boiling water and cook until soft so that the stems do not break. Remove from the water and let it drain.

Release the eggplants from the load and, opening each eggplant, fill with minced meat, then connect the eggplant halves and tie them across with parsnip or parsley stem feathers. As you fill, place tightly in rows in an enamel bowl. Pour vegetable oil 2 fingers above the row of eggplants. Cover with a lid and place in a cool place. After 7 days, the eggplants are ready to eat.

SLICED EGGPLANT IN TOMATO SAUCE

Eggplants - 3 kg,

carrots - 1.5 kg,

onion -1.5 kg,

vegetable oil - 1300 g,

tomatoes - 2 kg,

tomato puree - 50 g,

salt, pepper, herbs - to taste.

Wash the eggplants and cut off the stems. Cook in salted water for 5-8 minutes from the moment it boils, avoiding too much softening. Remove from heat and place on a clean board to squeeze out the bitter liquid. Cover the top with another board and place a weight on it. Leave for 20-22 hours, then cut the eggplants into cubes.

Meanwhile, fry the carrots, grated on a coarse grater, in vegetable oil. Separately, fry the coarsely chopped onions until golden brown, add ripe tomatoes, pureed through a colander, or tomato puree and continue to fry until the liquid has completely evaporated. Remove from heat and let cool. Chop the capsicum, add allspice (peas), ground hot pepper, salt, herbs - parsley, cilantro, dill, mix everything with chopped eggplants and place in jars so that the mixture is 2 cm below the neck of the jar.

Cover with a lid and sterilize for 15 minutes from the moment the water boils (make sure that the oil does not spill out during sterilization). Remove and immediately cover with lids. Place them in a cool room.

Caucasian cuisine is distinguished by the use of a significant amount of herbs, fresh vegetables, fermented milk products, hot seasonings and aromatic spices. These traits have made her popular all over the world. The taste of dishes made from meat and beans in the Caucasus is well complemented by tsakhton sauce. The most famous are Ossetian and Georgian recipes for this dish, each of which has its own characteristics. Georgian has a milder taste and contains walnuts. Ossetian sauce is hotter and is made using a large amount of hot capsicum or garlic. Whichever option you choose, you can be sure that you will receive a fragrant liquid seasoning with a piquant taste that will add a unique taste to familiar dishes. Even an inexperienced cook can cope with preparing tsakhton sauce.

Cooking features

A well-prepared sauce can transform any appetizer. Recipes for making seasonings popular all over the world have different levels of complexity. Tsakhton sauce is an easy-to-prepare condiment, but it has a unique taste that many people like. To prepare it you only need to know a few things.

Fresh herbs are one of the important ingredients of tsakhton sauce, giving it a special taste and aroma. It cannot be excluded from the recipe or replaced with dried seasoning.
The sauce is based on fermented milk products. In original Georgian recipes, this product is most often matsoni, reminiscent of the well-known kefir. To obtain a sauce with a thicker consistency, you can replace it with unsweetened yogurt or even low-fat sour cream. The Ossetian version of the seasoning involves the use of homemade sour cream, thick and fatty. It helps balance the flavor by softening the heat of garlic or pepper.
When preparing Ossetian sauce with pepper, you should remove the seeds from the pods, as they are the hottest part.
If you need to peel a lot of garlic or peppers, protect your hands with gloves to avoid getting burned.
Use quality ingredients for the sauce. Walnuts spoil quickly. Make sure they are not moldy before using them to make sauce.

Traditionally, tsakhton sauce is served with meat dishes. Often in the Caucasus it is offered with bean lobio. Gourmets claim that the seasoning also harmonizes with fish and vegetables. Some people marinate meat for barbecue in tsakhton sauce.

Georgian tsakhton sauce with walnuts

fresh cilantro – 30 g;
fresh parsley – 30 g;
fresh dill – 30 g;
sour cream or kefir – 0.2 l;
walnut kernels – 50 g;
garlic – 3 cloves;
salt, ground black pepper - to taste.

Cooking method:

Finely chop the nuts with a knife. It is not advisable to use a blender, as it can turn the nuts into a paste, and you can feel their pieces in the sauce.
Chop the garlic cloves as finely as possible or mince them using a hand press.
Wash the greens and let them dry. Separate the leaves from the stems. The stems are not needed, but the leaves should be finely chopped with a knife.
Combine nuts, garlic and herbs in a bowl.
Add the fermented milk product to them and mix thoroughly.
Pepper and salt to taste, stir again.

Video recipe for the occasion:

The sauce has a pleasant nutty-garlic flavor, is moderately spicy and very aromatic. Some even spread it on bread or eat it with spoons, although traditionally it is used as a liquid seasoning for meat.

Ossetian-style tsakhton sauce with hot pepper

bitter capsicum – 100 g;
fresh herbs – 100 g;
sour cream – 0.25 l;
salt - to taste.

Cooking method:

After washing and drying the greens, chop finely.
Wash the pepper and cut it. Remove seeds and membranes.
Place the pepper in boiling water for 3 minutes.
Cool. Grind with a blender or pass through a meat grinder. If you want pieces of pepper to be felt in the sauce, you can finely chop it with a knife, but this will take more time.
Mix sour cream with pepper and herbs until smooth.
Add salt to the sauce and stir again.

Ossetian sauce is made from sour cream and has a thick consistency. It is not recommended to replace it with liquid fermented milk products. To prepare the sauce, you can use pickled peppers. Then there is no need to blanch it.

Tsakhton sauce is a very tasty Ossetian sauce, which is usually prepared on the basis of fermented milk products. Tsakhton sauce is one of the most popular sauces in Caucasian cuisine. But, as often happens, the sauce recipe may differ among different nations, and quite significantly. In the original it is prepared with matsoni. The greens in this sauce are usually cut with a special knife, which chops them very finely.

Tsakhton sauce recipe

Ingredients:

Sour cream 30% – 200 g
Walnuts – 50 g
Garlic - 2 cloves
Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste
Ground chili pepper - to taste
Khmeli-suneli - 0.5 tsp.
Parsley - 3 sprigs

Cooking method:

Dill - 3 sprigs
Grind the nuts in a blender.
We try to chop the greens as finely as possible.
Pass the garlic through a press.
Add nuts, herbs, salt, pepper, hot chili pepper, suneli hops, and garlic to the sour cream.
Mix thoroughly. The sauce is thick. Place the sauce in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Tsakhton sauce is ready!

Classic sauce "Tsakhton"

This simple recipe for tsakhton sauce will allow you to quickly prepare an addition to meat. The best sauce, in my opinion, goes perfectly with chicken and beef dishes. It complements, emphasizes the taste and gives a pleasant spiciness to even familiar dishes. Add some variety to your family lunches and dinners!

Ingredients:

Sour cream - 400 grams
Walnuts - 50 Grams
Garlic - 50 grams
Greens - 100 grams (I recommend taking cilantro and dill)
Salt - To taste
Cumin - To taste
Coriander - To taste

Cooking method:

This sauce can be of different consistency, depending on how you like it. Therefore, first, using a blender or food processor, chop the garlic, herbs and nuts as finely as possible.
Now add sour cream little by little and stir until the consistency satisfies you.
Lastly, add salt and spices to taste, mix, cool a little - and serve!

Tsakhton sauce

Ingredients:

Thick sour cream or matsoni. 200 ml.
Dill. several branches.
Cilantro leaves. ≈½ cup
Garlic. 2 cloves.
Hot peppers. Fresh. Taste.
Walnuts. Several cores.
Freshly ground black pepper. Taste.
Hot red pepper flakes. Taste.
Salt. Taste.

Cooking method:

Finely chop dill, cilantro, garlic and fresh hot pepper, seeded
Place the walnuts in a mortar and add a little salt.
Grind the nuts with salt in a mortar. If you don’t have a mortar, you can use a coffee grinder, blender or any other device that will help grind the nuts very well.
Add chopped hot pepper to taste, chopped cilantro and dill, garlic, salt, black and red pepper to taste to sour cream or matsoni.
Mix everything well and add the grated walnuts.
Mix everything again, taste, adjust if necessary with salt and pepper.
Let the tsakhton sauce sit for at least 1 hour so that the walnuts absorb moisture from the sauce.
Before serving, mix again and pour into gravy boats.
Tsakhton sauce is served in a separate bowl with meat, especially boiled meat, poultry or fish.

Ossetian sauce “Tsakhton”

Ingredients:

Sour cream 100 g
Garlic 1–2 teeth.
Cilantro 25 g
Ground red pepper 5 g
Khmeli-suneli 5 g

Cooking method:

To prepare the sauce, you can use a blender or (more authentic) a stone mortar.
Wash and dry the greens, peel the garlic, remove the seeds from the hot pepper (you can, of course, use ground pepper).
If you grind the ingredients in a mortar, add salt there; if in a blender, you don’t need to do this.
Grind or punch the prepared components of tsakhton sauce.
Mix with sour cream, add hops or utskho-suneli. Taste for salt.

Ossetian sauce “Tsakhton”

Ingredients:

sour cream (15 or 20% fat) - 200 g;
salt, ground black pepper - to taste;
walnuts - 50 g (weight of peeled kernels);
parsley - 1 bunch;
garlic - 1 clove.

Cooking method:

Prepare the necessary ingredients. Place the sour cream in a suitable bowl. The fat content of sour cream depends on your taste preferences. The fattier the sour cream, the thicker the sauce.
Finely chop the peeled walnut kernels with a knife or use a blender, add the nuts to the sour cream.
Wash and dry the parsley, chop finely and add to the bowl with sour cream and nuts.
Peel the garlic, pass through a press and add to sour cream, nuts and parsley.
Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste, mix thoroughly.
Ossetian sauce “Tsakhton” is ready. Place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool and set, then transfer it to a gravy boat and serve as an addition to meat or fish dishes.

Meat in tsakhton

Tsakhton is a moderately spicy fermented milk sauce for meat. There are various variations of its preparation, and today we will look at one of them. Let's take sour cream as a base, add fresh herbs, garlic and hot pepper. And to enhance the aroma and taste, we use the hop-suneli seasoning.

Ingredients:

beef - 400 g;
sour cream - about 200 g;
garlic - 2-3 cloves;
chili pepper - ½ pod (or to taste);
parsley - medium bunch (about 30 g);
hops-suneli - ½ teaspoon;
salt - to taste.

Cooking method:

Wash the parsley, shake off the moisture and finely chop with a knife. Place the greens in a mortar.
Pass the garlic through a press (garlic press) and add to the parsley. Cut the chili pepper into small cubes, after removing all the seeds, place in a mortar.
Grind the ingredients intensively with a pestle (in the absence of a mortar, you can grind the components of the tsakhton sauce in a blender). Don't forget that chili peppers are very hot, so be careful when handling them! Immediately after finishing cooking, be sure to wash your hands with soap!
Combine the greens, ground with pepper and garlic, with sour cream, add the khmeli-suneli seasoning. Mix the ingredients, take a sample, add salt to taste. If the sauce does not seem spicy enough, you can squeeze out another clove of garlic. Tsakhton sauce is ready! If desired, you can diversify its taste with chopped walnuts.
Pour cold water over the beef, bring to a boil, skim off the foam. Cook in salted water until fully cooked (about 40-60 minutes). After cooling, cut the meat into strips.
Pour the sauce over the beef, stir and cool on the refrigerator shelf for at least an hour. We distribute the meat in tsakhton into portioned containers and, garnished with a sprig of fresh herbs, serve!

Sauce for meat “Tsakhton”

Ingredients:

hot pepper - to taste
cilantro or parsley - 1 bunch
sour cream - 180-200g
garlic - 1-2 cloves
utskho-suneli or khmeli-suneli - 1/2-1 tsp.
salt - to taste.

Sauce recipe:

To prepare Tsakhton Meat Sauce you need...
Peel the garlic and press through a press. Wash the greens, dry and finely chop. Cut the hot pepper, remove the seeds, finely chop the required amount of pepper.
Grind the garlic, herbs, hot pepper and a pinch of coarse salt in a mortar. Then add sour cream, utskho-suneli and salt to taste. Mix the sauce thoroughly and serve.

Georgian sauce tsakhton

This gastronomic delight contains a large amount of garlic, hot pepper and walnuts. If you have problems with the gastrointestinal tract, you can avoid hot pepper. To prepare Georgian sauce you will need:

Ingredients:

walnuts (shelled) – 50 grams;
garlic – 2-3 cloves;
sour cream – 200 grams;
parsley and dill - half a bunch each;
salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Cooking process:

Finely chop the nuts or grind them in a blender. It is important that you do not end up with a nut mush; you should feel the nuts in the sauce.
Place the sour cream in a deep bowl so that it is convenient to mix it with other ingredients.
Add chopped walnuts to sour cream. Mix.
Remove the skin from the garlic cloves, crush or finely chop them. You can also grate it on a fine grater.
Add garlic to sour cream and nuts. Knead again.
Now let's move on to the greens. Wash it, dry it, pick off the leaves and cut them finely. Let's add to other components.
The final touch is adding salt and pepper. Ready!

When preparing the sauce, Georgian housewives add cumin, coriander, and herbs to it; sprinkle with suneli hops and make it from tomatoes. You are guided by your own taste.

Ossetian version of the sauce

In Ossetian sauce, tsakhton can be garlic or pepper. Let's prepare both options, especially since they do not require long preparations and a large selection of different products. For the sauce with pepper leaves we need to take:

Ingredients:

thick sour cream – 250 grams;
green hot pepper – 3-4 pieces;
a handful of pepper leaves or herbs.

Preparation:

Cut the pepper fruits in half, remove the seeds and membranes.
Pour water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Place fruit halves and pepper leaves into boiling water. Reduce the heat slightly so that the water boils slowly. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
We take the fruits and leaves out of the water, squeeze out the moisture, chop everything finely, mix with sour cream.
Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Serve the cooled sauce with pepper leaves to the table.

Tender meat with tsakhton sauce

Ingredients:

khmeli-suneli seasoning (half a teaspoon)
lean beef (420 g)
finely ground sea salt (at your discretion)
homemade thick sour cream (210 g)
fresh cilantro and curly parsley (32 g)
hot chilli or dried ground pepper (at your discretion)
large garlic cloves, peeled (two pieces)

Preparation:

First, all components must be prepared in such a way that they are always at hand.
Lean meat should be washed, then boiled until completely cooked, and it will need to be cooked for at least three hours.
As soon as the beef is completely cooked, you need to cool it, and while it is cooling, you should chop all the washed spicy herbs as finely as possible, and pass the peeled garlic cloves through a press.
Place all the greens in a mortar, grind them, as soon as they begin to release juice, add, at your discretion, fresh or ground dried hot pepper, as well as peeled garlic, grind everything again.
Combine all the mashed ingredients with sour cream, then add khmeli-suneli, mix everything, after which the sauce can be considered ready.
Cut the cooled boiled meat into bars across the grain, combine it with white Ossetian sauce and mix well, leave in the refrigerator for one hour, then serve, garnished with sprigs of herbs.

Ossetian sauce Tsakhton

Amazing, flavorful sauce. Perfect for meat, vegetables and fish.
Abkhazian adjika can be replaced with Georgian adjika.

Ingredients:

sour cream - 200 g,
parsley - 0.5 bunch,
dill - 0.5 bunch,
walnuts - 50 g,
garlic - 2-3 cloves,
salt - to taste,
ground black pepper - to taste.

Cooking method:

So, the peeled nuts need to be finely chopped. In this situation, you can use a blender. Just make sure that the nuts are not crushed to a powder; they should be felt in the sauce.
Place the sour cream in a deep bowl. Add chopped walnuts to it. Take a spoon and mix thoroughly so that the nuts are evenly distributed throughout the sour cream.
Peel the garlic cloves. You can grind it in different ways. First, put it through a garlic press.
Secondly, grate on a fine grater, which is not very convenient, since a lot of pulp is lost between the grooves of the grater.
Third, take a sharp knife and chop it very finely. Choose the option that is most convenient for you. Add chopped garlic to sour cream and mix well with a spoon.
Now take the aromatic herbs, rinse well to remove dust, and dry with a paper towel.
Remove any rough stems. Cut the soft leaves very finely and add them to the rest of the products. Stir.

Sauce for meat “Tsakhton”

Ingredients:

hot pepper - to taste (you can put adjika instead of pepper to taste),
cilantro or parsley - medium bunch,
sour cream - 180-200 g,
garlic - 1-2 cloves,
utskho-suneli (or hops-suneli) - 0.5-1 teaspoon

Cooking method:

Peel the garlic and finely chop it or put it through a garlic squeezer. Wash the greens, dry and chop.
Wash the hot pepper, dry it, cut the pod and remove the seeds. Cut off the required amount of pepper and cut the pepper into small cubes.
Place garlic, herbs, hot pepper and a pinch of coarse salt in a mortar. And grind it.
Instead of a mortar, you can grind the greens with garlic and pepper in a blender (in this case, do not add salt).
In a bowl, combine sour cream, chopped herbs with garlic and pepper, add utskho-suneli (or khmeli-suneli). Mix the sauce well, add salt to taste and, if necessary, add a little seasoning.

Tsakhton - a recipe for Ossetian cuisine

Ingredients:

Matsoni or sour cream 500 grams.
Cilantro 2 bunches.
Garlic to taste.
Grated walnuts as desired and to taste.
Khmeli-suneli according to desire and taste.

Cooking method:

How to prepare tsakhton sauce correctly? We start with garlic - in most cases, cooks use a special press, but not everyone does this.
Of course, if you have the patience, you can chop the garlic as finely as possible with a regular knife. Alternatively, you can grate the garlic using a fine grater, but be careful with your fingers.
Next comes the turn of the cilantro - it also needs to be chopped as finely as possible. And here it would be useful to clarify one nuance - unfortunately, “typical knives of the average Russian” will never cope with such a task.
You should take care of a sharp, high-quality knife - otherwise the greens will not be cut in the best way. You'd better spend a little more time on the cilantro than usual, but cut it as finely as possible - the greens will release their juice and aroma into the matsoni or sour cream, which will be immediately appreciated by your guests.
In the table we indicated grated walnuts and suneli hops - these are recommended but optional ingredients. By the way, sometimes the tsakhton recipe also contains adjika.
Add garlic (nuts or spices - if you dare) and herbs to the sour cream and mix everything thoroughly (we repeat - thoroughly!) with a spoon. You can, of course, use a mixer.
Place the finished sauce in the refrigerator - it should steep a little.

Tsakhton sauce

Ingredients:

For the pepper sauce:

thick sour cream - 250 g

For the garlic sauce:

thick sour cream - 250 g
garlic - 1 small head
adjika red, optional

Cooking method:

For the pepper sauce, cut the peppers in half, remove the stems, seeds and white membranes, place in a pan of gently boiling water along with the pepper leaves and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Place the peppers and leaves in a sieve, squeeze thoroughly, and then chop with a knife. Mix with sour cream and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
For the garlic sauce, crush and peel the garlic, chop as finely as possible, mix with sour cream, adding adjika if desired. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until ready to use.

Simple Tsakhton sauce

Ingredients:

thick sour cream - 250 g
hot green pepper - 2–4 pcs.
pepper leaves or any greens to taste - 1 handful
thick sour cream - 250 g
garlic - 1 small head
adjika red, optional

Cooking method:

The Tsakhton sauce recipe includes the following ingredients: sour cream, shelled walnuts, fresh parsley, fresh garlic, salt and ground black pepper.
Peeled walnuts need to be crushed into crumbs. If you want, use a knife or, like me, use a blender.
Wash the fresh parsley, dry it and finely chop it.
We clean the fresh garlic and pass it through a press (grate it on a fine grater).
Place sour cream, nuts, herbs and garlic into a bowl. Salt and pepper to taste. If desired, add hot red pepper (I don’t add it because my family doesn’t like it spicy) and other spices.
Mix everything thoroughly - Tsakhton sauce is ready. Before serving, it is advisable to keep it in the refrigerator for at least half an hour to allow the sauce to infuse.
Tasty, aromatic and satisfying Tsakhton sauce will be an excellent addition to meat, poultry and fish.

Tsakhton sauce (light)

Ingredients:

sour cream 25% 250-300 g
garlic 1-2 teeth.
greens 1/2 bunch
walnuts 50 g
hot pepper, salt to taste

Cooking method:

Tsakhton sauce is a classic sauce of Georgian cuisine. Not only dill, but also parsley or a mixture of different herbs can be used as greens.
The type of sauce depends on the region where it is prepared. The classic Tsakhton sauce contains sour cream or matsoni, walnuts, herbs, garlic, salt, and always red hot pepper and black pepper. Everything else is shades. So, wash the walnuts.
Peeled walnut kernels should be wet. Afterwards, dry in the oven at 200 degrees until browned. This will take about 7 minutes. Finely chop the dill. It is advisable to cut the greens very finely. You can even grind it in a blender. Squeeze the garlic through a press. 1-2 cloves are enough.
Cool the walnuts. Grind almost into crumbs. In fact, the nut can be crushed to your taste, but it is much more pleasant when the taste of the nut is only felt, and not its grains get stuck between the teeth.
Add sour cream to the resulting crushed products. Instead of sour cream, you can take matsoni or natural Greek yogurt without additives.
Just mix everything with a spoon. Add salt and pepper. You should definitely add ground red pepper, but remember that it is hot and use it sparingly.
Transfer the sauce to a gravy boat and serve. The sauce can be decorated with chopped nuts on top. This sauce can be served with boiled potatoes, baked sausages, lula kebab, shish kebab, Georgian cutlets with raisins, etc. This sauce is also suitable for some types of fatty river fish.

Tsakhton cooking recipe

Ingredients:

sour cream 25% 250-300 g
garlic 1-2 teeth.
greens 1/2 bunch
walnuts 50 g
hot pepper, salt to taste

Cooking method:

The sequence of adding products is arbitrary, change the steps of the recipe at your discretion. It is important to take a sample at the end, season it correctly, and find a balance of tenderness and spiciness. Additionally, you can add capers, thyme, and pickled pickles that have a specific aroma. I repeat, walnuts support the theme of Caucasian cuisine, appropriately enrich them, but are often not present in the Tsakhton sauce recipe.
If you plan to add a nutty note, crush the kernels to the desired size and, to maximize the aroma, be sure to dry them in a hot frying pan or in the oven for a couple of minutes. Read more:
They do without nuts, but garlic and hot peppers cannot be replaced or excluded. Remove the husks and press the garlic cloves through a press. It is also easy to chop with a knife, leaving fragments that are more palpable to the teeth. One or two large cloves are enough for a wave
Wash the fresh herbs in cold water in advance and ideally dry them on a cloth/paper towel. We cut off the hard stems and chop the tender branches. The younger the dill or other greens, the better. Adjust the dosage to suit yourself, without skimping. In place of only dill, prefabricated bunches are good
Fans of fiery dishes can take chili pods, steamed or fresh, with or without seeds, chop with a knife or in a blender until fine crumbs and juice formation. The released juice will slightly color the dressing. Green - greenish, red - reddish, yellow - slightly golden, but less than turmeric
With peppers we act intuitively, focusing on personal preferences. Here the degree of spiciness can be reduced to moderate and only the appetizing smell of pepper will remain. Pound large sea salt crystals with black peppercorns at once, sprinkle with ground red pepper and taste. Find your own best seasoning composition
We combine all the cuttings and spices in one bowl, add thick and high-quality sour cream or other unsweetened fermented milk product of a similar consistency
Mix quickly in a circle so that all additives are evenly distributed inside the sour cream. Let's try and evaluate. If necessary, increase the dosage of salt, pepper or garlic. All!
We immediately bring the freshly prepared Tsakhton sauce to the table (at least, keep it covered on the refrigerator shelf until serving) and eat it the same day. We prepare tsakhton salad with vegetables, serve meat (beef) in tsakhton, and some bread.