Tkemali: Georgian plum sauce

A popular sauce to accompany meat dishes in Georgia is Tkemali. Tkemali is made from green or red cherry plums and has a distinctly tart flavour. The green cherry plums (a small round plum variety) are picked in spring, before they ripen. Red cherry plums are picked ripe in summer.

The ingredients include plums, apples, coriander, pepper, and salt. Some recipes leave out the apples and add garlic, dill, cilantro, bay leaves, mint, chilli, or other herbs – and a dash of sugar (with the unripe green plums). I prefer the recipes with apple and without garlic.

It is sold as Tkemali Red or Tkemali Yellow (the inside pulp of the green plum variety looks yellow). Tkemali sauce is best with grilled red meat, chicken, and even potato dishes.

MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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