Ajika
Adjika with tomatoes
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| Alternative names | Adjika |
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| Course | Dip |
| Place of origin | Caucasus |
| Region or state | Georgia (Abkhazia, Samegrelo) |
| Main ingredients | red peppers, garlic, herbs and spices, salt, walnut |
 Cookbook: Ajika  Media: Ajika |
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Ajika or adjika (Georgian: აჯიკა, Abkhaz: аџьыка) is a Georgian[1]-Abkhaz[2] hot, spicy but subtly flavored dip often used to flavor food. The name itself comes from the Abkhaz word аџьыка "salt"[3] (the more descriptive аџьыкаҟaԥшь (literally, "red salt") and аџьыкаҵәаҵәа are also used to refer specifically to ajika[4][5]).
The Abkhazian variant of ajika is based on a boiled preparation of hot red peppers, garlic, herbs, and spices such as coriander, dill, blue fenugreek (only found in mountain regions such as the Alps or the Caucasus), salt, and walnut.[6] A dry form of ajika exists that is sometimes called svanuri marili in Georgian or lushnu jim in Svan (სვანური მარილი "Svanetian salt"); this looks like small red clumps mixed with a looser version of the spice mixture.[citation needed] Home-made ajika is available from many market stalls in the Caucasus and in the Krasnodar Krai of Russia. Tomatoes are not an ingredient of traditional ajika, though different versions of ajika, sometimes having tomatoes or tomato paste as an ingredient, are produced on a commercial scale and sold in supermarkets in Russia and Ukraine.
Common varieties of ajika resemble Italian red pesto in appearance and consistency. Though it is usually red, green ajika is also made with unripe peppers.
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Megrelian ajika
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Green ajika
See also[edit]
- Biber salçası, a hot or sweet pepper paste in Turkish cuisine
- Muhammara or acuka, a hot pepper dip in Levantine cuisine
- Harissa, a hot chili pepper paste in Maghreb cuisine
- Skhug, a hot sauce in Middle Eastern cuisine, made from fresh hot peppers seasoned with coriander, garlic and various spices
- List of dips
- List of sauces
References[edit]
- ^ Burford T. 2008, Georgia, Bradt Travel Guide, p. 69.
- ^ Копешавидзе Г. Г. 1989, Абхазская кухня, pp. 77, 78.
- ^ Abkhaz-Adyghe etymology
- ^ Yanagisawa T. 2010 Analytic Dictionary of Abkhaz (entry а-џьы́ка). Hitsuji Shobo Press.
- ^ Касланӡиа В. 2005, Аԥсуа-аурыс жәар (entries а-џьы́ка, a-џьыкаҵәа́ҵәа).
- ^ Копешавидзе Г. Г. 1989, Абхазская кухня, p. 77.
