Baji

⏳ Time

30 minutes

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

Imeretian saffron is different from Indian saffron — it is made from marigolds. This heat-loving plant with yellow flowers grows in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Georgia. Imeretian saffron is one of the favorite spices in Georgian cuisine. Georgians add dried and ground flower heads of marigolds to everything — to bean and vegetable appetizers, to dishes containing walnuts, to soups and sauces, to meat dishes, and to fish and chicken dishes. Often, Imeretian saffron is simply referred to as yellow flower.

Ingredients

Walnuts - 4.6 oz
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Garlic - 2 cloves
Malt Vinegar - 1 tablespoon
Vegetable Oil - 1 teaspoon
Saffron - to taste
Khmeli-suneli - to taste
Ocean salt - to taste
Ground Black Pepper - to taste

Step by Step guide

Step 1

In a mortar, grind the walnuts until they turn into a paste. If you lack the strength (which is common during fasting) or time, you can pass the walnuts through a meat grinder a couple of times.

Step 2

In the mortar, grind the cilantro with garlic, adding salt and pepper.

Step 3

In a pot, mix the cilantro with the walnuts, saffron, and khmeli-suneli, and add cold boiled water until the mixture resembles the consistency of liquid sour cream. Mix everything thoroughly. You can add a little nut oil to the baji.