Narsharab Sauce

Narsharab sauce is a gift to gourmets from the Azerbaijani cuisine. Its name translates as “pomegranate wine”, although there is not a drop of alcohol in the sauce. But there are a lot of garnets in it, more precisely it will even be said that it consists entirely of them, not counting spices and spices. Indeed, in essence, the narsharab sauce is pomegranate juice evaporated to a thickness of sour cream. So this product is not only tasty, but also a healthy seasoning for meat. Narsharab is served to mutton, beef, poultry meat. It is suitable for kebabs.

Cooking Features

The preparation of the narsharab sauce is an easy but tedious process. Even experienced housewives on cooking 1, 5 liters of sauce takes about 3-3, 5 hours. However, if you cook it in a smaller amount, then it will take less time, since it will take only 1, 5-2, 5 hours to cook the sauce, the rest of the time is spent on preparing the pomegranate juice itself, from which the sauce is made.

• The traditional technology of preparing the narsharab sauce is somewhat complicated, and hardly anyone would call its traditional recipe economical. The fact is that at one of the stages of cooking the juice is poured into a fabric bag and hung over the pan. The liquid that will drain into the pan in the next 5-10 minutes is drunk or canned, and for the sauce they use only that portion of the juice with pulp that remains in the bag. As a result, the resulting sauce resembles a thick paste. This technology is used by few housewives, it is better to choose a simplified recipe, which is also considered a classic.
• Thicker, tastier and more useful narsharab sauce will turn out from pomegranates, and not from purchased juice. Despite the fact that the processing of pomegranate to obtain juice from its grains is quite laborious, it is still better to do everything with your own hands. If you still decide to purchase juice for the sauce in the store, see that it is not diluted and give preference to products from proven manufacturers.
• Pomegranate grains for juice should be cleaned of white film inside the pomegranate. If you do not know how to do it correctly, you can hang around for a long time, mash pomegranate seeds and smear everything in the kitchen with sprinkled juice. In order for the preparation of pomegranate grains not to become a nightmare, no need to rush to cut it. Wash the pomegranate in warm water, cut around in a "hat" in the area of ​​the "tail". You will see white streaks, cut the skin of the pomegranate along them, as if dividing it into slices. After that, turn the pomegranate over the bowl, separating the slices with your hands, then knock out the pomegranate seeds with a spoon. They just need to knock out, knocking on the walls of a grenade, and not try to remove it from his hands or cut with a knife.
• Choosing a grenade is also necessary. Usually the most delicious and ripe fruits have a pinkish peel, often even with spots of other shades. Large and bright pomegranates are often underripe and too acidic. However, the most important thing is that there are no signs of mold on the pomegranate, since such fruits cannot be eaten: they are not only tasteless, but also harmful.
• The recipes of the narshrab sauce are simple and include a minimum of ingredients. They include pomegranates (or pomegranate juice), spices and spices, and salt. Salt the sauce should always be at the end of cooking. If this is done immediately, the finished product may be over-salty, as part of the juice during the preparation will evaporate.

Narsharab sauce can be prepared for future use. In this case, it is hot bottled in sterilized glass jars, sealed and stored in the refrigerator. For better preservation, you can add a little sugar.

Classic narsharab sauce recipe

The composition (1, 5 l):

• grenades - 5 kg;
• salt, sugar, spices - to taste.

Method of preparation:

• Thoroughly wash the grenades, blot dry with a napkin. Remove grains from pomegranates as described above. Check that there is no film left on them.
• Fold the grain into a thick bottom pan. Remember them wooden tolkushkoy.
• Put the saucepan on the juice on a slow fire. Cook them until they are light.
• Strain the juice, pour it back into the pan.
• Put the pomegranate grains in parts into a sieve and carefully crush them with a wooden spoon to extract as much juice as possible. The juice should flow into the pan with the first batch of this drink, so it is best to install a sieve over it.
• Put the juice container back on the stove. Boil it, stirring it with a wooden spoon, until it looks like liquid sour cream.
• Pour in spices, stir well.
• Salt the sauce, stir. After tasting it, adjust its taste by adding salt and sugar. At the same time, remember that it should not be sweet or salty, these ingredients should not be visible, they should only make the taste of the sauce more harmonious and familiar. In Azerbaijan, many housewives do not add these ingredients to narsharab sauce at all.

The narsharab sauce prepared according to the classic recipe will be the perfect complement to any kind of meat. You should not add it in too large quantities, especially if you poured a lot of hot spices into it when cooking.

Simple narsharab sauce recipe

Composition:

• natural pomegranate juice - 1 l;
• salt, spices - to taste.

Method of preparation:

• Pour juice into a thick-bottomed saucepan, bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and, stirring occasionally, boil for about 2 hours, until the juice volume decreases by about 20%.
• Salt and season the sauce, cook for another 5-10 minutes. Spices before adding to the sauce is better to grind in a special mill or in a coffee grinder. If you use peppercorns, laurel leaves and other similar ingredients, it is better to wrap them in gauze before adding to the sauce, and a minute before being ready to take them out - they will give the sauce the desired flavor, but will not spoil its texture.

Narsharab sauce can be made from homemade or purchased juice all year round. At the same time, its taste will be no different from the one made according to the classic recipe, provided, of course, that you use quality pomegranate juice.

Pomegranate sauce narshirab is an unusual, but tasty and healthy addition to meat. This dish belongs to the Azerbaijani cuisine. It is even more beneficial than pomegranate juice, but at the same time calorie.