Khrenovina with Tomatoes and Hot Pepper for the Winter
A spicy khrenovina with hot pepper — it grabs you by the soul! Many people know firsthand what khrenovina is — or, as it's also called, khrenoder. This hot sauce was made by our grandmothers. There are a huge number of different recipes for khrenovina. Let me suggest you try my version — with hot pepper.
Cooking method
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Step 1:
How do you make khrenovina with hot chili pepper? Get the ingredients ready. The lineup is standard, nothing extra, but hot pepper is added for zest and heat, and sugar and salt to keep the flavors balanced. For this preserve you need horseradish that's fresh and juicy, not stored long after being dug up.
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Step 2:
Wash the tomatoes, cut them into quarters, and cut out the stem end.
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Step 3:
Horseradish is a very pungent plant, and grinding it — especially the old-fashioned way, with a hand meat grinder — will sting your eyes badly. Luckily, we have plenty of kitchen helpers these days. Wash and peel the horseradish roots with a knife and cut them into small pieces; you can grind them to a pulp in a blender right away, or do it later along with the other ingredients.
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Step 4:
Peel the garlic and cut the cloves into large pieces. You can press them through a garlic press, or grind them together with the other ingredients in a blender. The second option is better because processing the vegetables together releases fewer of the sharp fumes from the garlic and horseradish that irritate your eyes.
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Step 5:
Put all the prepared vegetables in a deep bowl or a large enamel pot (don't use cookware made of a reactive metal for this recipe). Wash the hot pepper and remove the stalk and seeds. Add it to the rest of the vegetables. Blend everything thoroughly until you have a smooth, uniform pulp.
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Step 6:
Add the sugar and salt and mix. Let the mixture stand in the pot for about an hour at room temperature.
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Step 7:
Meanwhile, prepare the jars for the preserve. Wash them in a baking-soda solution and sterilize them by one of the usual methods: in a water bath, microwave, or oven. Wash and boil the lids.
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Step 8:
Spoon the khrenovina into the jars, seal them, and store them in a cool place. Horseradish is a powerful preservative, so this preserve doesn't need sterilizing. Enjoy!
- In the old days no meal was complete without this Russian relish — it was served with meat dishes, dumplings, and manti, or simply spread on bread. It's still quite popular today. The base of any khrenovina recipe is tomatoes, horseradish, and garlic. In the classic recipe, this base is rounded out with only spices. In other recipes, like mine, there are various additions to the main ingredients that adapt the well-known recipe to your taste.
- Remember that spices like salt and sugar, as well as vinegar and its substitutes, are used in recipes for winter preserves not just for flavor but primarily as preservatives. So never reduce the concentration of salt and sugar, or replace the vinegar (essence) with a weaker concentration than the recipe calls for — otherwise the vinegar (salt/sugar) won't act as a preservative and the preserve will spoil.
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Tomatoes - 23 kcal/100g
- Garlic - 143 kcal/100g
- Granulated sugar - 398 kcal/100g
- Sugar - 398 kcal/100g
- Hot chili peppers - 40 kcal/100g
- Salt - 0 kcal/100g
- Horseradish root - 59 kcal/100g
