Vegetable caviar is made for the winter by residents of many countries. Its main ingredient is usually the product that is most available in a particular area: zucchini, eggplant, beet. Paprika gives the richest harvests in Serbia, so caviar is made from it. Serbs call thick pepper sauce aivar. Often it is used as “namaz” for making sandwiches, served to various dishes in a sauce-pan or a beautiful vase. No local feast can do without this snack. Classic Serbian aivar is made from peppers only, and the process of its preparation is stretched for 2 days. However, there are more affordable Serbian recipes, as well as options for pepper and caviar with the addition of tomatoes, eggplants, and other vegetables. Ayvar, cooked without the addition of hot pepper, is called “good” (soft), and with the addition of this hot vegetable - “fierce”. There are so many recipes for this dish that it is difficult not to choose an option to taste.
Cooking Features
The preparation of ayvara in Serbian for the winter is a whole ritual. Performing all the necessary manipulations ensures an excellent taste of the snack and the possibility of storing it for a long time.
- Sweet pepper for quince is chosen red, ripe, fleshy. If there is a lot of liquid in it, the output of the finished snack will be small, and there will be a lot of tinkering with its preparation.
- The traditional technology of making ayvara involves baking peppers until it appears tanned, followed by cooling and peeling from a thin skin. Before this, the fruits are washed, dried with a towel, cut in half, and seeds are removed. Sometimes the peppers are baked whole, and the stems and seeds are removed after. Eggplants, if they are part of the dish, are also baked whole or cut into halves. Before this, the “blue ones” will not prevent to soak in salted water to remove solanine, which gives them bitterness. Some modern recipes allow you to abandon the roasting of vegetables, providing for other ways of their heat treatment.
- Prepared vegetables, if you follow the traditional technology of making ayvara, you need to hang it in a grid or leave it in a colander overnight so that excess liquid can flow out of them. If this is not done, it will take longer to boil the vegetables or to close caviar more liquid than is customary in Serbia.
- Before cooking, vegetables are ground with a meat grinder or blender. Changing the sequence of actions (roasting vegetables and grinding them) is undesirable, because otherwise you will not be able to get the product of the desired consistency.
- Fold the aivar in pre-washed and sterilized jars, cover it with metal lids, ensuring tightness.
Keep the aivar in a cool room or even at room temperature, but some recipes suggest storing the snack in the refrigerator.
Serbian Aiwars Classic Recipe
The composition (1, 5 l):
- sweet pepper - 3 kg;
- refined vegetable oil - 100 ml;
- sugar - 15 g;
- salt - 15 g;
- grape vinegar (6%) - 15 ml;
- Hot peppers (optional) - 1-3 pcs.
Method of preparation:
- Wash sweet and hot peppers, pat dry with a kitchen towel. Fold the fruit on a baking sheet and place in a preheated 200 degree oven. Bake until they are a little clouded.
- Put the peppers in a container or pan. Close tightly, leave to cool. Thanks to this manipulation, peppers will become easier to clean.
- Peel the peppers, put them in a colander or on a large sieve, place them above the saucepan, leave for a few hours or even overnight, so that excess liquid flows out of the peppers.
- Remove the seeds from the peppers along with the stalks. Chop pulp with a blender or mince.
- Mix the pepper mixture with the oil, put on a slow fire. Boil down, stirring until the volume is reduced by a third. Add salt and sugar, cook another 10-15 minutes.
- Pour in vinegar, mix well, remove from heat.
- Sterilize the jars, boil suitable lids.
- Spread hot aivar over the cans, seal them tightly. Turn the jars and leave to cool in this form.
The appetizer prepared according to this recipe is well worth it even at room temperature. It has a bright color, seductive aroma and harmonious taste. Hardly anyone can refuse it.
Ajvar with tomatoes
Composition (for 2, 5 l):
- sweet pepper - 2, 5 kg;
- tomatoes - 2, 5 kg;
- onions - 1 kg;
- vegetable oil - 0, 2 l;
- sugar - 100 g;
- salt - 20 g;
- garlic - 8-10 cloves;
- hot pepper - 6-8 pcs .;
- table vinegar (9 percent) - 20 ml.
Method of preparation:
- Bake the sweet pepper in the sleeve, cool. Remove the skin from it, remove the stalks and seeds. Grind to a state of mashed potatoes, resorting to the help of kitchen appliances.
- Tomatoes boil, peel. Cut the pulp into slices, rotate through a meat grinder or chop with a blender.
- Combine tomato and pepper mass.
- Free from the husk, cut into quarters, turn the onions in a meat grinder. You can use a blender instead of a meat grinder, it will not affect the result. Pre-bow can be lightly browned in a dry or oiled pan.
- Peel and chop the garlic cloves in the same way as other vegetables.
- Remove seeds and partitions from hot peppers. Wear gloves to prevent skin burns. Grind hot peppers to a state of mashed potatoes.
- Add garlic and pepper to other vegetables, mix.
- Heat vegetable sauce to a boil over low heat, cook for 20-30 minutes.
- Add salt, sugar and butter, continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes, stirring the vegetable mass regularly to prevent burning. Pour vinegar 5 minutes before readiness.
- Spread the aivar over the prepared jars, roll them up, leave to cool upside down.
Optimal storage conditions of the product - a cool darkened room.
Ajvar with eggplants
Composition (for 2, 5 l):
- Bulgarian pepper - 2, 5 kg;
- eggplants - 1, 5 kg;
- vegetable oil - 0, 35 l;
- water - 1, 5 l;
- acetic essence (70 percent) - 40 ml;
- salt - 60 g;
- sugar - 50 g.
Method of preparation:
- Peppers, having cleared of seeds, cut into 4 parts.
- Eggplants are peeled, cut into large semicircles.
- Boil water, add salt and sugar into it, pour in vinegar essence and 100 ml of oil. Wait until the marinade boils again. Dip in a portion of the vegetables boil until soft. Remove the vegetables from the marinade, put the next batch of vegetables in it and also boil until soft. So gradually cook all the vegetables: first paprika, then eggplants.
- Chop vegetables cooked in marinade using a blender or meat grinder, mix with the remaining butter and boil over low heat until the consistency of vegetable caviar.
It remains to decompose the snack by prepared banks, close them and after cooling cool them away for storage in a cool room.
Aivar in Serbian is one type of vegetable caviar, which can be closed for the winter. The main ingredient of this appetizer is the sweet pepper, which can be supplemented with onions, tomatoes, eggplants or other vegetables.
