Aivar

At the very end of summer and until the first half of autumn, almost all hostesses in Serbia prepare aivar - the winterest harvest (winter house). As a rule, in supermarkets, if you wish, you can buy a ready-made aivar, but the product of factory production, according to experts, is significantly inferior to the home version.

Basically, aivar is vegetable caviar, in which the main ingredient is paprika (sweet pepper), and eggplant is also added. There are many variations in the preparation of this dish, however, as the basis of the paprika aivar, it is present in each recipe. Sometimes sweet peppers are pre-baked, but due to the large amount of waste and time spent, most housewives prefer to cook aivar with fruits without additional heat treatment.

To cook aivar at home, you need to have not only paprika and eggplant, but also vinegar essence (table vinegar), vegetable oil, sugar and salt. Vegetables are cut into large chunks and boiled in water until soft. The boiled fruits are taken out to make the resulting sauce stack.

At the next stage of making aivar, vegetable pieces are crushed in a meat grinder to get a kind of mush, in which sunflower oil is added. The products are boiled over a minimum heat for just over two hours, so that the water evaporates, the vegetables themselves have become much softer, soaking in natural juices.

As a result, the consistency of the aivar sauce is quite dense, but at the same time lush. During the cooking process, it is recommended to interfere with the mixture almost constantly so that the sauce does not burn. The finished home aivar is laid out in cans, closed with lids, and then stored in a cool place.

Aivar can become an excellent additive for sandwiches, the basis for multi-storey sandwiches, a vegetable addition to hot dishes (then it is served in a separate dish). In addition, this gutoy fragrant sauce is often added to scrambled eggs, meals with traditional Serbian "sire, " as well as cold snacks, which are served in the form of a variety of rolls.

Interestingly, many aivar lovers just like to eat this sauce without any additives - right from the vase with a teaspoon. This very tasty and equally healthy dish is distinguished by its saturation of color, taste and vegetable aroma. By the way, aivar, which is prepared without adding a bright (sharp) paprika, is called blagi, and if the recipe provides for the use of such, the finished product is usually called luti (fierce) aivar.