Chef Lesia
Buryakova Zakvaska (бурякова закваска, beet kvas)
A jar of grated beets turns ordinary water into sour red light, the kind that wakes borshch from inside instead of shouting over it.
Culinary Explorer
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Adzhyka po-Ukrainsky (аджика, tomato-pepper relish)
Created by
The tomatoes go from garden-red to brick-red while the peppers slump and the garlic waits. By the end, the spoon leaves a path and the whole south fits in one jar.
Sauces & Condiments
Ukrainian
Make Ahead
Batch Cooking
Budget Friendly
35 min
Active Time
1 hr 20 min cook•1 hr 55 min total
Yield6 small jars, about 1.5 litres
The tomatoes don't stay red. They darken. First garden-red, then brick-red, then the kind of glowing red that stains the wooden spoon and makes you understand why August needs jars. This is the southern garden concentrated: tomato, sweet pepper, chilli, garlic, salt, oil, nothing shy.
Adzhyka po-Ukrainsky is the Ukrainian home-kitchen answer to a relish that travelled north from the Caucasus and found itself in our litnya kuhnia, the summer kitchen, where buckets of tomatoes waited under the table and every aunt had a different heat level. Mine cooks down until the wet hiss turns to a thick, lazy blup and the spoon leaves a clean path. Aunt Nadia wrote only "until it sounds right," which was rude of her, but she was correct.
The one thing that decides it is the garlic. Add it late, after the tomatoes and peppers have lost their raw water, so it stays bright and hot instead of boiling into dullness. Then jar it, cool it, and let tomorrow do its work; by morning it has stopped shouting and started singing. Spoon it onto roasted meat, fried eggs, potatoes, bread, or a bowl of borshch that wants a little fire.
Adzhyka began in the western Caucasus as a fierce salt, chilli and herb paste, especially in Abkhaz and Georgian kitchens, before market routes and Soviet-era home cooking carried the name across the Black Sea world. In Ukraine, especially the tomato-rich south, it became a cooked garden relish for jars: sweeter, redder, and built for bread, meat, potatoes and winter tables. There is no single Ukrainian ratio; village cooks still argue over apples, carrots, vinegar, oil and how much chilli a respectable family can survive.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
2 kg
cored and roughly chopped
red sweet peppers
Quantity
800g
cored, deseeded and roughly chopped
hot red chillies
Quantity
2 to 6
stems removed, seeds kept or scraped to taste
garlic
Quantity
80g, about 1 large head
peeled
unrefined sunflower oil
Quantity
80ml
fine sea salt
Quantity
28g
plus more to taste
sugar
Quantity
30g
plus more if the tomatoes are sharp
apple cider vinegar or 9 percent white vinegar
Quantity
60ml cider vinegar or 40ml white vinegar
ground coriander (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| ripe tomatoescored and roughly chopped | 2 kg |
| red sweet pepperscored, deseeded and roughly chopped | 800g |
| hot red chilliesstems removed, seeds kept or scraped to taste | 2 to 6 |
| garlicpeeled | 80g, about 1 large head |
| unrefined sunflower oil | 80ml |
| fine sea saltplus more to taste | 28g |
| sugarplus more if the tomatoes are sharp | 30g |
| apple cider vinegar or 9 percent white vinegar | 60ml cider vinegar or 40ml white vinegar |
| ground coriander (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •A wide heavy-bottomed pot
- •A meat grinder, food processor or blender
- •6 clean 250ml jars with lids
- •A wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Grind the garden
Put the tomatoes, sweet peppers and chillies through a meat grinder, food processor or blender until rough and juicy, not baby food smooth. Keep the garlic aside. Its moment comes later, when the pot has earned it.
If your tomatoes are very watery, squeeze out a little seed pulp before grinding. Not all of it; the juice carries the summer. - 2
Cook it down
Pour the tomato-pepper mixture into a wide heavy pot with the salt, sugar and coriander if using. Bring it to a lively simmer, then lower the heat and stir across the bottom often. At first it smells raw and green, and the bubbles spit like rain on a tin roof. Later the red darkens, the hiss turns to thick blups, and a spoon dragged through the pot leaves a path for a breath before closing.
- 3
Add the oil
Stir in the sunflower oil once the mixture has stopped looking watery. The oil should shine briefly on the surface, then disappear into the relish and carry the pepper color with it. Add it too early and you spend the afternoon chasing greasy splashes around the stove.
A wide pot is your friend here. More surface means faster reduction and a brighter taste. - 4
Wake the garlic
Crush the garlic with a pinch of salt until sticky and fragrant, then stir it into the thick relish with the vinegar. Simmer gently until the raw garlic sharpness settles but still reaches your nose when you lean over the pot. Taste now: it should be salty, sweet, sour and hot, with the tomatoes holding everyone together.
This is the step that doesn't forgive much. Long-boiled garlic goes dull; late garlic keeps the adzhyka alive. - 5
Jar and rest
Ladle the hot relish into clean hot jars, tap out air pockets, wipe the rims and close the lids. Cool, then refrigerate. Let it rest overnight before judging it properly; chilli grows louder in the jar and garlic settles into the tomatoes by morning.
This recipe is written as a fridge or freezer relish, not a shelf-stable preserve. For pantry storage, use a tested canning recipe and process for your jar size.
Chef Tips
- •Use ripe, even slightly bruised tomatoes, but cut away any spoiled spots. This is the generous economics of August, not a compost bin.
- •If your supermarket tomatoes taste pale, stir in 2 tablespoons of tomato paste while reducing. A bit more modern, and it helps the color find its backbone.
- •Stop the chilli just under where you want it. It grows stronger after a night in the jar, sneaky thing.
- •Some Ukrainian households add a sour apple, carrot or both. That's a family branch, not a mistake; just keep tomato and pepper in the lead.
- •Keep it refrigerated for 3 to 4 weeks, or freeze in small containers for up to 6 months. Garlic and oil do not belong at room temperature by guesswork.
Advance Preparation
- •Adzhyka tastes better after one night in the fridge, once the garlic and chilli have settled into the tomatoes.
- •Make it during tomato season and freeze small tubs for winter. In August we'd be drowning in tomatoes; in January we open a jar instead.
- •For pantry storage, follow a tested canning formula with verified acidity and processing time. This version is for the fridge or freezer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 260g)
Calories
255 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
12 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1860 mg
Total Carbohydrates
31 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
20 g
Protein
5 g
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