Cornelian Cherry Sauce
Ingredients
3–4 jars of 100 g
- Cornelian cherries 0.5 kg
- Mixed herbs (cilantro, dill, mint) 1 bunch
- Chili pepper 1–2
- Garlic 4–5 cloves
- Khmeli suneli 1 tsp
- Salt 1/2 tsp + to taste (3 g)
- Sugar 1 tsp + to taste (5 g)
- Wine vinegar 1/2 tbsp (if the berries are sweet) or to taste
- Olive oil 1 tbsp
- Water to cover the berries
Step-by-step recipe
Cooking the cornelian cherries
Sort through the cornelian cherries, discarding any crushed or spoiled berries. Don’t use underripe ones, or the sauce will turn out sour and harsh. Remove any stems and leaves left from picking. Rinse the berries under running water.
Put the berries in a pot or kazan and add cold water to just cover them. Bring to a boil and cook the cornelian cherries over low heat for 15 minutes. The water shouldn’t bubble hard, just barely simmer.
Making the spicy dressing
Wash all the herbs and chop them very finely, the finer the better, as for green sauce.
You can even grind them in a mortar. If you have a chopper or blender, the job gets much easier. But chopping by hand is better.
Seed and stem the chili pepper, peel the garlic. Finely chop them with a knife, leaving visible bits.
Add 1/2 tsp salt (3 g), 1 tsp sugar (5 g) and the khmeli suneli to the herbs, chili and garlic and, if the cornelian cherries are overripe and sweet, 1/2 tbsp wine vinegar. Mix.
Cooking the sauce
When the cornelian cherries are cooked, drain the liquid into a separate container – you’ll need it later.
Let the berries cool a little and go through them by hand, removing the pits. Make sure not a single pit ends up in the sauce. Chop the cornelian cherry flesh very finely with a knife, almost to a puree.
Mix the puree with the spicy dressing and add 1 tbsp olive oil.
Pour the whole mixture into a pot, add the liquid left from cooking the berries and bring to a boil.
The sauce should be thick enough not to pour on its own, yet not so thick you’d need a knife to cut it. It should be like thick homemade sour cream.
Simmer the cornelian cherry sauce over low heat for 10 minutes.
Filling the jars
Get some small jars ready for the sauce and sterilize them with boiling water.
Pour the sauce into the jars while still boiling, right to the top, and seal with lids. Small 100 g jars with screw-on lids are very handy.
In jars like these, the sauce keeps in the fridge for a very long time without spoiling.
Cornelian cherry sauce goes beautifully with meat and fish. And on its own, simply spread on lavash, it’s delicious too. Meat marinated in this sauce is very tasty as well.
Calories and macros
58 kcal
100 g
- Protein0.8 g6% of kcal
- Fat2.6 g41% of kcal
- Carbs7.6 g53% of kcal
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.
To Get It Right
Which cornelian cherries to use
Only ripe ones: underripe berries make a sour, harsh sauce. Both garden and wild cornelian cherries work. Garden ones are bigger, fleshier and sweeter, while wild ones are smaller, more sour and astringent: with them the sauce comes out more sour, so you may not need vinegar at all.
Which herbs
A mix of cilantro, dill and mint. Readers also add basil and thyme – that’s tasty too. Chop with a knife as finely as you can: a blender turns the herbs into mush.
If the sauce is too thin or too thick
Don’t pour in all the cooking liquid at once – add it gradually until the sauce is like thick homemade sour cream. If it turns out thin, simmer it over low heat for a few more minutes, stirring. Too thick – add a little more of the liquid.
Have your own trick for this recipe?
Questions and answers
Does cornelian cherry sauce need to be kept in the fridge?
Yes, I keep it in the fridge. In small sterilized jars filled to the top with boiling sauce, it keeps for a very long time without spoiling. Once a jar is open, it’s best eaten within a few days.
What can I use instead of wine vinegar?
Apple cider vinegar is the closest substitute – use the same amount. Balsamic works too, but it’s sweetish and dark: the sauce will taste and look a little different, so add it gradually.
How do you make a sweet and sour cornelian cherry sauce?
Add sugar a little at a time and taste until the tartness softens. You don’t need vinegar then: it’s only added if the berries are overripe and sweet.
Is cornelian cherry tkemali the same sauce?
Almost. Real tkemali is made from a small sour Caucasian plum called tkemali; here it’s replaced with cherry plums. Cornelian cherry sauce is made the same way – tart, with garlic, chili and fresh herbs – which is why it’s often called cornelian cherry tkemali.
Can I make the sauce from frozen cornelian cherries?
Yes. Cover the berries with cold water without thawing them and cook the same way, over low heat until soft, then follow the recipe.