Recipe: Georgian Plum Sauce

Recipe Source: Cramer, Marc.  Imperial Mongolian Cooking.  Hippocrene Books, New York, 2003 pp. 58 - 9.

I'm not entirely certain what it was that attracted me to this sauce, but whatever it is deserves my gratitude.  It's a little unusual in being a relatively light, fruit-based sauce.  It's also unusual in that, being a fruity sauce, it is not sweet.  This is important, because I do not like sweet with my savory.  The original recipe recommended serving it with grilled lamb and that's what I did here, but I can see it going well with a number of other main dishes.  Chicken would probably be bland enough to really showcase the plum flavor.  A light fish, like tilapia, would probably also not be misplaced.  I'm going to advise against tofu, though. 

I didn't make a whole lot of changes to the recipe.  I accidentally used more water than was called for, and while using less would have made the plum flavor more pronounced I don't think that the dish was ruined by any means.  I did increase the garlic, and I also probably used more cilantro than was called for.  All in all, this was a delicious sauce, a great antidote to the kind of rich, creamy, dairy-based sauces so common in more Western cuisine. 

Georgian Plum Sauce (makes about 16 ounces; approx. $0.21/ounce)

1/2 lb plums, pitted (this was two plums for me.)

4 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon chili powder (you can use paprika if chili powder is too much.  I won't even mock you.  Much.)

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Equipment:

• Saucepan
• Blender

1. Bring a pan full of water to a boil and add the plums.
2. Remove from heat and allow to sit 10 minutes.
3. Return to heat and bring to a "gentle" boil.  Cook uncovered 15 minutes.
4. Remove the plums, reserve 2 cups of the liquid and set aside.
5. In the blender, combine the plums, garlic and cilantro.
6. Add the water, 1/4 cup at a time, blending well between each addition.
7. Return the mixture to the pan and add the salt and chili powder.  Bring to a boil.
8. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.  Use immediately or store in a clean glass jar in the fridge until ready to use. 

Comments

[Angie's Recipes]

I would love to use them for the fried seafood, or chicken nuggets!

[[eatingclub] vancouver]

Intriguing, this plum sauce that's not sweet. Have to try this at the next barbecue.

[Laura @ Hungry and Frozen]

You always have the most fascinating recipes on here! Plums are more or less in season now so I might have to give this a go...although I wonder if it would work with canned plums? I can't handle too much chilli...so feel free to mock :)

[nora@ffr]

wow!! plum sauce.. ive never tried it before.. cant wait to try this out soon.

[Fearless Kitchen]

Nora - Please do! It's a very fun and tasty sauce.

Laura - (blush) Thanks! Canned plums would probably work, although you could probably just use the canning liquid instead of boiling them. And we have lots of friends who can't handle chiles. That's why I usually warn people :)

JS - Please do! We both really enjoyed it.

Angie - We don't tend to do a lot of fried food (it makes my husband quite ill), so that hadn't occurred to me, but thanks for the suggestion. I can see where this sauce would go pretty well both, especially with the chicken nuggets!

[GospelDiva]

I lived in Georgia and this is good with beef, such as a meatloaf too.

[Fearless Kitchen]

GospelDiva - That's an interesting idea, I wouldn't have thought of it. I might have to try it...