Starter Fasting
Pindjur
The softer cousin of ajvar: roasted peppers and aubergine with tomato, garlic and vinegar, for the end of summer.
Recipe from Туѓино Јабано
- Prep
- 1 hr
- Cook
- 1 hr 30 min
- Total
- 2 hr 30 min
- Fasting
- Suitable
Ingredients 9 ingredients
Method
- Roast the peppers and aubergines on a barbecue or in the oven at 240 °C, turning them until the skins are blackened all over.
- Pile them hot into a bowl, cover with a plate and leave for 20 minutes. The steam lifts the skins and saves you half an hour of scraping.
- Peel them, pull out the stalks and seeds and leave them in a colander for at least an hour. This is the difference between pindjur and soup.
- Grate the tomatoes on a coarse grater, discarding the skins. Cook them alone for about 20 minutes until thickened — the tomatoes carry most of the water in this dish.
- Chop the peppers and aubergine coarsely, with a knife rather than a processor. Pindjur is rougher than ajvar and that is exactly what distinguishes it.
- Add them to the reduced tomato along with the oil and the finely chopped garlic and cook over a low heat for about an hour, stirring often.
- Add the salt, sugar and vinegar, taste and adjust. Jar it boiling hot in sterilised jars, or keep it in the fridge for up to a week.
If you cannot find it
Substitutions that work outside Macedonia.
- Long red peppers
- Romano or ramiro peppers; bell peppers give a wetter, milder pindjur.
- Fresh tomatoes
- Two tins of chopped tomatoes, well drained and cooked down for longer.
- Red wine vinegar
- Cider vinegar, or lemon juice added at the end.
