Chef Lesia
Adzhyka po-Ukrainsky (аджика, tomato-pepper relish)
The tomatoes go from garden-red to brick-red while the peppers slump and the garlic waits. By the end, the spoon leaves a path and the whole south fits in one jar.
Culinary Explorer
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Kvasheni Baklazhany (квашені баклажани, stuffed aubergines)
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The aubergines come out of the jar striped purple, orange, and dill-green, sour enough to wake your mouth and tender enough to eat like a small meal.
Sauces & Condiments
Ukrainian
Make Ahead
Batch Cooking
Comfort Food
1 hr
Active Time
15 min cook•1 hr 15 min total
Yield1 large jar, about 12 stuffed aubergines
The first thing is the color: purple skins darkened by brine, carrot glowing orange from the slit, dill caught in every fold like someone packed summer into a jar and told it to behave until January. These are not little side pickles you chase around the plate. Kvasheni baklazhany eat like a small cold meal, sliced thick, glossy with unrefined sunflower oil, with bread close by because the juices are half the point.
This belongs to the southern steppe and to the litnya kuhnia, the summer kitchen, when aubergines come in by the crate and nobody sensible tries to eat them all at once. You blanch them just until they give under a thumb, press out their bitter water, then stuff them with carrot, garlic, dill, and celery leaf. Aunt Nadia wrote only, "press until it sounds right," which is comic until you hear the wet squelch stop and the aubergine become quiet under the board.
The one thing that decides the dish is submersion. Four percent brine, weighed against the water, and every stuffed aubergine held under it. Above the brine, trouble. Below it, the souring begins, steady and old, the same kitchen logic that kept whole watermelons, tomatoes, and aubergines alive long after the garden went black.
Stuffed fermented aubergines are especially at home across Ukraine's south, including Kherson, Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Bessarabian kitchens, where aubergines, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and dill define the late-summer table. The method belongs to kvashennia, lacto-fermentation, a vernacular preservation culture older than sealed vinegar canning and still argued over by village cooks: some add celery root, some sweet pepper, some tie each aubergine with celery stalk like a parcel.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small aubergines
Quantity
12, about 1.5 kg total
carrots
Quantity
2 large
coarsely grated
celery root or celery stalks
Quantity
1 small root or 2 stalks
finely chopped
sweet red pepper (optional)
Quantity
1 small
finely sliced
garlic
Quantity
8 cloves
crushed
dill
Quantity
1 large bunch
chopped, stems kept
celery leaves or flat leafy celery
Quantity
1 small bunch
chopped
hot pepper (optional)
Quantity
1 small
thinly sliced
water
Quantity
1.5 litres
sea salt
Quantity
60g (4 percent of water weight)
blackcurrant, cherry, or oak leaves (optional)
Quantity
2
for tannin
unrefined sunflower oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small aubergines | 12, about 1.5 kg total |
| carrotscoarsely grated | 2 large |
| celery root or celery stalksfinely chopped | 1 small root or 2 stalks |
| sweet red pepper (optional)finely sliced | 1 small |
| garliccrushed | 8 cloves |
| dillchopped, stems kept | 1 large bunch |
| celery leaves or flat leafy celerychopped | 1 small bunch |
| hot pepper (optional)thinly sliced | 1 small |
| water | 1.5 litres |
| sea salt | 60g (4 percent of water weight) |
| blackcurrant, cherry, or oak leaves (optional)for tannin | 2 |
| unrefined sunflower oilto serve | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •A large modern stockpot for blanching
- •A tray, board, and weights for pressing
- •A 2.5 to 3 litre glass jar or fermentation crock
- •A fermentation weight
- •A digital scale
Instructions
- 1
Trim and slit
Wash the aubergines and trim the stems short without cutting into the flesh. Make one long slit down each aubergine, stopping before the ends so it opens like a little book but stays whole. Small aubergines are better here; big ones turn woolly before the centre sours properly.
- 2
Blanch until yielding
Bring a large pot of salted water to a lively boil and lower in the aubergines in batches. Cook them until the skin darkens and the flesh gives when you press it with a spoon, but before they collapse. Think tender, not limp. Lift them out into a colander.
- 3
Press them quiet
Lay the warm aubergines slit-side down on a tray, cover with a board, and weight it with jars or a heavy pan. Let them press until the bitter brownish juices run out and the loud wet squelch becomes a soft sigh when you touch them. This is the step that makes the stuffing stay bright instead of muddy.
Do not skip the pressing. The timing can flex, but the aubergines need to shed their extra water or the brine tastes thin and the texture goes slack. - 4
Make the stuffing
Mix the grated carrot, celery, sweet pepper if using, garlic, chopped dill, celery leaves, and hot pepper if you like it sharp. Scrunch it once with clean hands so the garlic wakes up and the herbs stain everything green. It should smell bossy, fresh, and a little too garlicky; the brine will calm it.
- 5
Stuff the aubergines
Open each slit and pack in a spoonful or two of the carrot mixture, enough that the aubergine looks full but can still close. Tie each one with a dill stem, celery strand, or plain kitchen string if it wants to burst open. Nobody at the table will inspect the knots.
- 6
Mix the brine
Stir 60g salt into 1.5 litres water until dissolved. This is a 4 percent brine, weighed against the water, not guessed by mood. Fermentation is forgiving in many places; the salt percentage is not one of them.
If you need more brine, keep the same ratio: 40g salt per litre of water. The aubergines must be fully covered. - 7
Pack and submerge
Put dill stems and tannin leaves, if using, in the bottom of a clean jar or crock. Pack the stuffed aubergines snugly on top, pour over the brine, and weigh them down so nothing floats above the surface. Set the jar on a plate because a working jar likes to announce itself.
Everything under brine is where it should be. Anything poking up can spoil, so use a fermentation weight, a small clean jar, or a boiled stone in a freezer bag. - 8
Ferment and taste
Leave at cool room temperature, out of direct sun. The brine will cloud, the jar may hiss, and the garlic smell will soften into something rounder. Start tasting after three days; by five to seven days the aubergines should be sour through the middle, the carrot still bright, the flesh tender but holding its shape. When they taste right to you, move them to the fridge.
- 9
Slice and serve
To serve, lift out a few aubergines, slice them thickly across the belly, and spoon a little brine over the cut faces. Finish with unrefined sunflower oil, Ukraine in a bottle of oil, and more dill if the bunch is sitting there looking useful. Eat cold with bread, potatoes, or a plate of beans.
Chef Tips
- •Choose small, firm aubergines with shiny skins and no soft patches. If all you can find are large supermarket ones, cut them in half after blanching and stuff the halves; a bit more modern, but they ferment more evenly.
- •Celery leaf is very southern here, green and sharp against the sweet carrot. If you can't find leafy celery, use celery stalks and extra dill rather than parsley.
- •If a little white kahm yeast appears on the surface, skim it off and make sure the aubergines are submerged. If it smells rotten, feels slimy, or grows fuzzy mold, discard the batch. The nose is useful, but the brine line is law.
- •Serve them cold, not warmed. The sourness, garlic, and sunflower oil need that clean chill to make sense.
- •Make a large jar. There is no tradition of a small one, and the first aubergine disappears while everyone is still deciding whether they're hungry.
Advance Preparation
- •The stuffed aubergines ferment 3 to 7 days at cool room temperature, depending on warmth and how sour you like them.
- •Once moved to the fridge, they keep well for 4 to 6 weeks as long as they stay under brine.
- •They are best after at least one night in the fridge, when the garlic settles and the carrot tastes fully sour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 165g)
Calories
80 calories
Total Fat
3 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1300 mg
Total Carbohydrates
13 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
2 g
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