Khmeli Suneli sauce recipe

Improvising new directions with a favorite dish

During my doctoral program, I was introduced to one of my favorite foods, ever.

Tkemali, a Georgian sour plum sauce made from red plums or green plums, is divine, and possibly my favorite topping for eggs. When I received a jar from the wonderful Lela Gibradze while studying for my PhD, I was hooked. But I also struggled to find the green plums to remake it.

The recipes I’ve looked at over the years tend to include fresh herbs like cilantro and/or dill plus garlic, but there’s a lot of variation within the theme of savory and sour plum sauce.

Today, I had a strong craving (and no plums): Nor did I have most of the rest of the ingredients. I wanted a sour, fruity sauce, but without braving the pre-holiday grocery store. So I improvised: Using tkemali as a (very) loose template, then adding a few dashes of the khmeli suneli sent to me by forager and friend Mallory O’Donnell.

Khmeli Suneli is a Georgian spice blend, and while normally an ingredient in the plum sauce, I decided to combine these two gifts from friends to make something new.

The result? I now have another favorite sauce for my eggs, all using ingredients I had easy access to.