A fiery red paste of hot peppers, garlic, and dried spices, pounded into a thick, salty, intensely aromatic seasoning. Used as both a table condiment and a cooking base.
Ajika is shared by the western Georgian region of Samegrelo and neighboring Abkhazia, where shepherds carried it as a portable salt-and-spice paste. Its name reportedly comes from an Abkhaz word for salt, and traditionally it was ground between stones into the dense, brick-red paste prized for heat.
A dab delivers a slow-building, blazing chili heat wrapped in salt and the warm, hay-like aroma of blue fenugreek. Garlic pungency runs underneath, and the texture is dense and slightly oily. A little spread on bread or stirred into stew transforms a whole dish.
Pounding ruptures the peppers' capsaicin-bearing cells and the garlic's allicin precursors, blooming pungency, while salt draws out moisture and cures the paste so it keeps without cooking.
Variations
Red (ripe pepper) vs green (unripe); some versions add walnuts or tomato; spicier Abkhaz styles use only hot chili.
On the Palate
Where Ajika sits in the Georgian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 20How it's made
8 steps · 20 min
- 18 min
Stem and roughly chop fresh hot red peppers (and a few sweet red peppers for body).
Watch outWork in a well-ventilated spot and mind your eyes and hands — chopping this many raw hot peppers releases capsaicin fumes that sting sharply; wear gloves.
- 23 min
Peel a generous amount of garlic.
- 35 min
Toast coriander seed and blue fenugreek, then grind to powder.
- 45 min
Pound or blend the peppers and garlic into a coarse paste.
Watch outPound rather than just chop until the paste turns coarse and pulpy — crushing the cells is what blooms the heat and garlic pungency; a rough blitz stays flat-tasting.
- 53 min
Work in the ground spices, salt, and dried herbs.
- 62 min
Add a little walnut or red wine vinegar to bind, if desired.
- 74 min
Pound until the paste is thick, glossy, and deep red.
Watch outPound on until the paste is thick, glossy and deep red — that sheen and body mean the salt has drawn the moisture and it'll keep; still watery and it can spoil.
- 82 min
Pack into a sterile jar; it keeps for months.
