Adjika: health benefits and harms

Adjika is a burning-spicy Abkhazian seasoning of pepper, garlic and various spices. So, in southern cuisine adjika is added to hot and meat dishes, even melon is seasoned with it. According to legend, such a delicacy appeared a few millennia ago, when not everyone could afford to add salt to food. In the mountainous regions, to this day such seasoning is made according to the old method - by grinding all the ingredients dried in the sun with two stones.

Adjika is characterized by many useful qualities that are known to many. It is prepared using natural ingredients, therefore, it can harm the human body only in exceptional cases.

Composition and calorie content

Every year, scientists discover all the new healing properties of hot pepper. In addition to the high concentration of ascorbic acid in these vegetables, they still have a strong antibiotic of natural origin - capsacin. The sharper the pepper, the greater the content of this substance in it. Periodic inclusion of such a vegetable in the diet helps to improve the activity of all organs, strengthen nails and hair growth. Alkaloids were found in the composition of the acute fetus, which provide better assimilation of food, and its individual components will even help relieve stress and stimulate blood formation.

Another ingredient that is used to give adjika a bright taste and aroma is cilantro. This product accelerates metabolic processes, has anthelmintic properties, and has a wound healing, choleretic, antitumor effect. Also, this component helps to cope with puffiness, helping to remove excess fluid from the body.

Garlic, without which it is also impossible to imagine such a dish, is a natural antiviral agent. In addition, such a plant relieves the body of staphylococcus and dysentery bacillus. Also, garlic helps to destroy harmful yeast and cleanse blood vessels.

All these composite adjika allow not only to get a tasty and fragrant seasoning, but also to benefit the human body. For the manufacture of adjika only natural ingredients are used. This is its value.

Depending on the composition, vitamins A, E, PP are found in adjika. Of the minerals there are iodine, zinc, iron, magnesium, sodium and others.

This seasoning is characterized by low calorie content. So, in 100 g of dressing contains only 55-60 kcal, which makes it possible to use it even with a diet. In the same amount of adjika there are about 2 g of protein, about 8 g of carbohydrates and about 3 g of fat.

What is useful adjika

General benefit

Adzhika is characterized by many useful qualities that have a positive effect on the human body, strengthening it. This is ensured by the valuable properties possessed by natural ingredients in the seasoning. Thus, it stimulates appetite, has a beneficial effect on digestive processes, and regulates metabolism. In addition, such a product has a warming effect, strengthens the protective function of the body, acts as an antiviral and bactericidal agent. Also, such a treat is able to cleanse blood vessels of cholesterol deposits.

Adjika is considered an excellent tool that will help to improve well-being with colds. The components of this product contribute to increasing energy potential.

For women

For the weaker sex, the product is useful in that it has a beneficial effect on the processes of digestion of food, and also provides the regulation of metabolic processes. This allows it to be used in food, even with a diet that is designed to reduce weight. Also, this dressing helps relieve emotional stress, improves the performance of internal organs. In addition, seasoning ingredients stimulate hair growth and strengthen nail plates.

For men

Sexual impotence in representatives of the stronger sex occurs during stagnant processes in the pelvic area. Since blood circulation is disturbed in this part, the necessary amount of blood does not reach the genitals, which provokes impaired potency. Adjika has a positive effect on the circulatory system, helps cleanse blood vessels of dangerous cholesterol plaques, which leads to normalization of blood flow.

According to sexologists, Abkhazian sauce increases sexual desire and increases the duration of sexual intercourse. But in order to achieve such an effect, you should not eat seasoning in its pure form with spoons. It is enough to regularly add such dressing in small quantities to main dishes.

During pregnancy

During the period of gestation, the woman is contraindicated in the use of such a product. Any spicy spice can cause premature birth or even cause a miscarriage.

When breastfeeding

Mommies also should not use this sauce during lactation. This can harm the still fragile body of the child.

For kids

The gastrointestinal tract in children does not work as it does in an adult. The use of adjika by a child who does not have a fully formed digestive system can lead to metabolic disorders, as well as cause the development of pathologies of the digestive tract. Therefore, children under 12 years old should not be given such a spicy seasoning.

When losing weight

As you know, adjika stimulates appetite. This has been proven on sheep. At the same time, salt and pepper were mixed and given to the animals, as a result of which they intensely ate and gained weight. But at the same time, this sauce helps to speed up digestion. Therefore, food eaten with adjika is quickly digested without turning into fatty deposits. Consequently, the ability of a product to whet appetite is offset by an improvement in material metabolism and cannot act as a negative characteristic of a dressing.

The dish is low in calories. It has a low protein content, it does not lead to muscle building. This seasoning can be used in a diet for weight loss.

Adjika is rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber, so it can be used even in the diet of people with diabetes.

Harm and contraindications

Despite all the positive qualities of the product, adjika still has a specific and pungent taste. For this reason, its consumption in some cases can only harm the body. So, such a sauce is contraindicated in acute renal and liver failure. Gastrointestinal diseases are also a limitation on the use of goodies. In case of gastritis, colitis or ulcers, adjika can only aggravate the condition of the patient, as the result will be irritation of the mucous membranes of the digestive tract.

With pathologies of CCC, adjika should also be abandoned. It is useful for the heart and blood vessels only if they are not affected by various pathologies. In other situations, it can cause serious harm.

Hot peppers can increase blood pressure, so hypertensive patients should better discard such a sauce or minimize its use.

Pregnant women, young mothers, as well as children under 12 years of age should also not use such a product for food.

Do not violate these recommendations and risk your health.

How to store adjika properly

Ready adjika should be stored in a cold place, preferably in the refrigerator.However, often housewives complain that sometimes such a product is stored even less than a month. Such early fermentation can be caused by raw water or dirt getting into the sauce or using low-quality vegetables.

In its raw form, the dish is much tastier, and it is much easier to cook, but in this case, special attention is required to prepare the vegetables and the greens used, namely, washing and drying them. Mumps may remain in the sinuses of the leaves. If there is any doubt about the duration of storage of the dressing, it is recommended to add several tablets of acetylsalicylic acid to it - at the rate of 1 tablet of aspirin per 1 liter of seasoning. You can also use vinegar or vodka as a preservative.

Adzhika can be stored in plastic bottles. Before clogging, pour a little sunflower oil for preservation.

If you want to keep the sauce without a refrigerator, it is recommended to boil the workpiece thoroughly and for a long time before filling in sterile containers. This procedure will increase the shelf life of the product.

Is it possible to freeze

To increase the shelf life of adjika, you can use freezing in the freezer. Further defrosting should be carried out in the refrigerator.

With this storage method, you can use several options. For example, adjika can be bottled and frozen. Then, the day before use, it should be placed in the refrigerator, where it will unfreeze. You can also freeze such a sauce in small parts, after spilling the mass on silicone molds. The frozen product can then be transferred to a bag and put in the freezer.

Such methods will help preserve the freshness of vegetable sauce even in winter.

How to cook adjika: recipes

To diversify the taste of even the simplest dishes, various seasonings and sauces are used. One of these sauces is adjika. It can be used with side dishes and meat dishes. Today, such a dish is made using a wide variety of products, which allows you to get a unique taste. Each people of the Caucasus, each mistress, in particular, has its own secrets of preparing such a treat. Therefore, no matter what ingredients are used, adjika is amazing. The main feature of seasoning is still spiciness.

From tomato

So, the simplest way to cook adjika consists of several components. This option is suitable for meat dishes or pasta. To prepare the product, you need 2 kg of tomato fruits, 1 kg of bell pepper, 2 hot peppers, 100 g of garlic and the same amount of granulated sugar, 1 tbsp. table salt, half a mug of vegetable oil and as much vinegar.

Rinse foods first. Tomatoes are divided into four parts. Peel sweet peppers from seeds and stalks and cut into strips, bitter - arbitrarily. Peel the garlic.

Next, chop the vegetables in a blender. You can use a meat grinder. Place the resulting mass in a bowl and put on low heat for 40–45 minutes. At this time, you can prepare the container by sterilizing it.

10 minutes before cooking, add sugar and salt, as well as oil and vinegar. 5 minutes before turning off add the garlic component. The sauce is ready, it can be poured into sterile containers and rolled up with lids.

Of zucchini

Ingredients: 0.4 kg of young zucchini, 0.3 kg of tomatoes, 2 pieces of sweet pepper, 0.5 tsp. ground red and black pepper, 6 garlic cloves, 1 tsp salt, 40 ml of vinegar, 2 tbsp. sunflower oil (you can use an olive analogue). About 600 ml of adjika will be obtained from the indicated amount of products.

First you need to rinse the vegetables, clean them from seeds, stalks and grind in a meat grinder. Pour the crushed mixture into the cauldron and put on the tile. After boiling, reduce the fire to a minimum and simmer for about half an hour until about a third of the available liquid has evaporated. Then introduce pressed garlic, black and red pepper, and salt. Lastly pour vinegar and oil. Now simmer the sauce for another 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly. Pack hot adjika in sterile jars, cork. After cooling the seaming, transfer to the pantry for long-term storage.

Gooseberry

A very simple recipe for cooking adjika is gooseberry sauce. To make such a treat you will need 3 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, half a pod of chili pepper, 1 bell pepper, 3 cups of gooseberries, a head of garlic, basil, as well as herbs and salt to taste.

The manufacturing process consists in preparing all the ingredients. That is, first you need to wash everything, remove debris, twigs, seeds. Rinse the greens thoroughly so that no dirt remains on the leaves. Grind all components in a blender bowl, and then add spices to taste.

From cherry plum

Cherry plum is also a product that is used in the preparation of adjika. To do this, prepare 700 g of fruit, 2 bell peppers, 2 tomatoes, 1 bitter pepper, 2 onions, 1 head of garlic, a couple of tablespoons of sugar, 1.5 tsp. salt and 0.5 tsp coriander kernels. From this number of components, a liter of sauce is obtained.

Rinse all ingredients, peel, seed and seed. Cherry plum cut into two parts and put in a pan. Cut the tomatoes into 4 parts, chop the onion too finely. Bell pepper and garlic cut into pieces. Next, mix all components and grind with a blender.

Now, using a mortar, grind the coriander, and then pour the resulting powder into the pan. Add sugar and salt there. To accurately determine the required amount of sugar, you need to try the dish to taste raw. If the used cherry plum is sweet, the dressing will not be acidic, then 2 tablespoons of sugar will be enough. Not too sweet fruits will require more sweetener.

Cook Adjika over medium heat for 15–20 minutes with the lid open. The mixture will darken over time and become thicker. It is not necessary to remove the foam at this time. When it appears, stir the mass with a wooden spatula.

Ready adjika should be served only after complete cooling. A dish according to this recipe is not intended for long-term storage, since there is no vinegar in the workpiece, and very little salt. You can store such a product in the refrigerator for no more than three months.

Parsley

There are many ways to cook adjika using parsley. It is used as a paste in the preparation of sandwiches. The product in this case does not need sterilization, long-term storage of adjika is ensured by the sharp vegetable and garlic mass. If family members prefer hot sauce, the seeds of the culture can not be removed. The greens should be thoroughly washed and then dried.

So, you will need 1 kg of parsley, 0.5 kg of dill, 2 kg of sweet and 16 pieces of hot pepper, 0.4 kg of garlic, a glass of vinegar, 4 tbsp. salt and 8 tbsp granulated sugar. Grind greens, peppers with garlic. Grind these ingredients to a mushy consistency. Season the finished mixture with vinegar, and salt and sweeten. Now mix the mass thoroughly and place in storage containers. Such a product is stored in the refrigerator.

Blackcurrant

Adjika can be used not only with meat dishes, but also with sausage products, as well as in the manufacture of homemade pizza.For example, you can cook adjika with blackcurrant.

To do this, you need 0.5 kg of currant, 1 tsp. coriander, 5 g peas in the form of peas, the same amount of paprika, 3 tbsp. sugar, half a chili pepper and 30 g of salt.

The cooking process begins with cooking blackcurrant for 20 minutes over low heat. Next, add peppercorns and sugar, as well as pepper, paprika and coriander. Cook adjika for another 10 minutes until a thick consistency is formed. After that, put the finished sauce in disinfected containers and twist.

Green pepper

To prepare a seasoning of green pepper with garlic, you need to prepare 0.5 kg of green Bulgarian vegetable, 1 hot green pepper, 50 g of garlic, 3 tbsp. sugar, 0.5 tbsp salt and a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.

Paprika divided into two parts and remove the seeds. As for the hot pepper, the seeds can be removed or left, then the sauce will turn out more spicy. Peel the garlic too.

When using a food processor, process vegetables using a “metal knife”. Place the resulting workpiece in a pan, mix with the remaining components and mix again. The formation of foam should not be confusing. After two hours of storage of the product under room conditions, the foam settles.

Prepare jars in advance, boil and dry thoroughly. Adjika pour into a dry container and clog. Such refueling is stored on the coldest shelf of the refrigerator for several months.

Beetroot

Adjika beetroot can be spread on bread, served with fish and meat, season with it pasta, potatoes or pizza. To prepare it, you will need 2 kg of beets, 1 cup of garlic, 2 cups of vegetable oil, 3 kg of ripe tomatoes, 150 ml of vinegar, 1.2 kg of red bell pepper, 50 g of salt and 6 pieces of hot chili.

To start, rinse and dry the components. Remove seeds and stalk from pepper, peel the beets and garlic.

Grind beets in a meat grinder. Turn tomatoes and peppers into mashed potatoes in any convenient way. Chop the garlic in a garlic or grate it. It is not recommended to reduce the amount of garlic, as it acts as a preservative and helps to preserve the product for a long period.

Now pour oil into the container. If you use olive oil instead of sunflower, the product will be more useful. Add beets to the butter and simmer for 15 minutes. After that, add chopped tomatoes, mix and simmer for another 10 minutes with the lid closed. Next add the bell pepper. After this, simmer the mixture for about 5 minutes with the lid closed.

Then put the mashed garlic and chili. After this, cook the mixture for another 6-7 minutes.

At the end of cooking, add salt to adjika, pour sugar and mix thoroughly. Pour the seasoning into jars and close the lids. Turn rolled containers over and leave to cool completely. Keep these blanks in a cool place. At a temperature of 2-4 degrees adjika can be stored for 2 years, if the temperature is higher, the shelf life is reduced to 1 year.

From plum

To prepare plum adjika, you need to prepare 1 kg of plum, 2 pods of chili (hot pepper), 100 g of garlic, 2 tbsp. red tomato sauce, 1 tbsp salt and 2 tablespoons Sahara.

First, peel the fruits and the peppers from seeds. Next, cut these components and send to boil over low heat, mixed with tomato sauce, while constantly removing foam. From the moment of boiling, cook the mass for another half hour, after which the dish is seasoned with the remaining ingredients. Next, cook the mixture for another 5 minutes, and then add the garlic mass.

After three minutes, the dish can be tasted. If the sauce turned out to be very acidic, you should add a little more granulated sugar, if sweet - you can adjust the taste by adding vinegar or citric acid. You can even use lemon juice in this case. If now the taste of the dressing suits, pour into prepared cans and close with a metal lid.

In Armenian

Ingredients: 3 kg of ripe tomatoes, 3 kg of sweet pepper, 6 chili pods (seeds are also used), 3 garlic heads, 1 bunch of cilantro, mint and parsley with basil, 50 g of shamballa, 1 tbsp.coriander and 50 g of sugar and salt.

According to this recipe, tomatoes are cooked the longest, therefore, you need to start with them. Rinse the fruits of this culture, pass through a meat grinder and put on a stove to stew until the liquid evaporates. While preparing tomatoes, prepare both types of pepper. In the sweet species, remove the stalks and seeds, and in the burning one, only the tails. Rinse and dry the greens thoroughly. Finely chopped peeled garlic. Pass greens and pepper through a meat grinder. Next, mix all the ingredients with the tomato mass. Cook the workpiece for 10-15 minutes. Lastly add the garlic. In hot form, put the sauce in sterile jars, twist and leave to cool completely.

A dish without heat treatment is stored only in the refrigerator. It can maintain its taste for 3-4 months. If adjika was subjected to heat treatment, it can be kept in the cellar or in a room with room temperature. The shelf life of such a refueling is 7–8 months.

Dry adjika

To prepare dry adjika, 1.5 kg of hot pepper must be threaded and dried. Next to the dried pepper add 2 large heads of garlic, 3 tsp. dried cilantro, 1.5 tbsp salt. Also wash and dry cans and prepare gloves for work so as not to burn your hands.

Dip the pepper for an hour in warm water, after which the liquid is drained and refilled. After 60 minutes, peel the garlic and drain the water from the burning component. Then grind garlic and pepper in a meat grinder, add ground cilantro and salt. Optionally, you can add a glass of walnuts, which are previously crushed in a blender. The finished adjika can only be decomposed into containers and placed in a cool room.

In a slow cooker

Adjika can be made using a slow cooker according to the following recipe. Of the components, it is necessary to prepare 2 kg of tomato, 1 kg of sweet pepper, 150 g of garlic, several pods of hot pepper, depending on the sharpness to be obtained, 3 tbsp. sugar, 1 tsp salt, 100 ml of vegetable oil and 70 ml of vinegar with a concentration of 9 percent.

Since the sunset is preparing for the winter, you must first sterilize the container. You can also use this technique for this. In this case, the banks are steamed. Lids also wash thoroughly.

The manufacturing process using this adjika method is quite simple. More time is spent on processing vegetables. Rinse tomatoes and peppers, remove seeds and tails from the latter. Cut pepper into small pieces. For grinding, a blender or a meat grinder is suitable. You can grind these vegetables together. Add oil and salt with sugar to the mixture, mix. Put the bowl of the multicooker and put out the mass further in the corresponding mode with the lid closed. Production time is 90 minutes. In this case, you need to constantly stir the workpiece for adjika.

While the tomato and pepper mixture is stewed, prepare the garlic and hot pepper. Garlic is easy to peel. Cut the second burning ingredient into two parts and remove the seeds. In this case, it is advisable to use gloves so as not to get burns or allergies. If this happens, it is recommended to drink an antihistamine.

Depending on taste preferences, the amount of such hot pepper is selected. If you need to get a not too sharp dressing, one pod will be enough, if you want to make a more piquant sauce, you can add more hot vegetables. But it is better to constantly try the dish so as not to overdo it.

Chop the garlic and pepper in a blender bowl until gruel is obtained. After an hour and a half stewing adjika add a mixture of hot foods, vinegar and mix. Then continue the quenching for another 15–20 minutes. The lid does not need to be closed. This is required so that the excess liquid evaporates, and the sauce turns out to be thick.

Try the finished dish and add sugar or salt if necessary.Pour hot adjika into the disinfected cans and roll up the lids. It is recommended to leave the cans in a warm place until completely cooled. After that, transfer the workpieces to a cool place where they can be stored for almost 2 years. Out of this number of products comes out one and a half liters of delicious dressing.

Photo adjika