Adjika: Georgia's Fiery Chili Paste That Goes on Everything

Adjika is the backbone of western Georgian cooking. It's not a sauce. It's not a salsa. It's a raw chili paste — thick, salty, punchy — made from peppers ground with garlic, fresh herbs, and the holy trinity of Georgian spices: blue fenugreek, coriander, and marigold. A jar in your fridge transforms everything it touches. Rub it on chicken before roasting. Stir a spoonful into a beef stew. Spread it on bread with cheese. Once you have adjika, you'll find reasons to use it daily.

What Adjika Actually Is (And What It Isn't)

First, let's clear something up, because adjika has an identity crisis outside Georgia. If you search for adjika recipes online, you'll find two completely different things sharing the same name.

In Russia, Ukraine, and across the post-Soviet world, "adjika" usually means a cooked tomato-based sauce — sometimes with carrots, sometimes with horseradish — that's closer to Balkan ajvar or a spiced ketchup. It's fine. It's not adjika.

Real adjika — the Abkhazian and Megrelian original — contains no tomatoes. None. It's a raw paste made from peppers ground with garlic, fresh herbs, and spices. The texture is thick and granular, like a rough pesto made with chilies instead of basil. The color is deep brick red (or bright green, if made with green peppers and herbs). The taste is intensely hot, deeply aromatic from the blue fenugreek and coriander, and salty enough that a little goes a long way.

The word itself likely comes from the Abkhaz word meaning "salt" — which tells you how fundamental this paste is to western Georgian cooking. Before refrigeration, adjika was one of the primary ways people preserved the heat and flavor of summer peppers to use all year.

Red Adjika vs Green Adjika

In western Georgia, you'll find two versions: red and green. Both use the same technique and the same spice base — the difference is the peppers and the herbs.

This recipe is for red adjika — the one you'll see in every Megrelian kitchen, the one that gets rubbed on the New Year's Eve suckling pig, the one that transforms a simple pot of beans into something worth fighting over.

Adjika vs Other Chili Pastes

If you cook with harissa, gochujang, or sambal oelek, adjika occupies a unique position. It's raw (unlike cooked harissa), not fermented (unlike gochujang), and herb-forward in a way that no Asian chili paste is. The blue fenugreek and marigold give it a distinctly Caucasian character that you won't find anywhere else.

Yemeni zhug is actually the closest relative — both are raw, cilantro-heavy, garlic-loaded chili pastes. If you like zhug, you'll love adjika. The Georgian spice blend just takes it in a completely different aromatic direction.

Ingredients Breakdown

Equipment: Three Ways to Make Adjika

Traditionally, adjika was made by pounding everything in a stone mortar or running it through a hand-cranked meat grinder — you'll still see both methods in village kitchens across Samegrelo. A food processor works perfectly and cuts the time to minutes.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Prepare the Peppers

Cut bell peppers in half, remove seeds and ribs, and chop roughly into 2–3cm pieces. For the hot chilies, slice them open and decide how much heat you want: remove all seeds and ribs for milder adjika, leave some in for medium, or keep everything for the full Megrelian experience. Roughly chop the chilies and peel your garlic cloves.

Step 2: Process the Peppers and Garlic

Add all the peppers and garlic to your food processor. Pulse 15–20 times until everything is very finely chopped and uniform in texture. You want a coarse paste — think the consistency of chunky salsa, not a smooth purée. Scrape down the sides between pulses.

Step 3: Add the Herbs

Roughly tear the cilantro (stems included — don't throw those away, they have more flavor than the leaves), purple basil, and parsley. Add all the herbs to the food processor. Pulse another 10–15 times until the herbs are finely chopped and evenly distributed through the pepper mixture. The color should shift from pure red to a deeper, flecked red-green.

Step 4: Add Salt and Spices

Add the salt, blue fenugreek, ground coriander, and ground marigold. Pulse a few more times to combine. The 1.5 tablespoons of salt looks aggressive — it's supposed to be. Traditional adjika is very salty because that's what preserves it. When you use it in dishes, cut back on any additional salt accordingly.

Step 5: Emulsify with Oil

With the food processor running continuously, slowly drizzle in the sunflower oil over about 15 seconds. Process until the paste is cohesive and slightly glossy. Don't overprocess — you want texture, not baby food.

Step 6: Drain and Jar

Transfer the adjika to a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Let it drain for 10–15 minutes — the peppers release a lot of water, and you want a thick paste, not a sauce. Discard the liquid. Pack the drained paste firmly into clean glass jars, pressing down to eliminate air pockets. Top with a thin layer of oil if storing long-term.

Controlling the Heat

The heat level of your adjika depends almost entirely on two decisions: which chilies you use, and whether you keep the seeds and ribs.

Start with medium if you're making adjika for the first time. You can always add more heat later — you can't take it away.

How Georgians Actually Use Adjika

Adjika isn't a condiment you put on the table like hot sauce. It's a cooking ingredient — something you add during preparation, not at the table. Here are the most common ways Georgians use it:

Beyond Georgian: Adjika in Your Everyday Cooking

Once you've got a jar of adjika, it starts infiltrating everything you cook — not just Georgian dishes. Here are some non-traditional but excellent uses:

Storage and Shelf Life

Dry Adjika: The Shelf-Stable Spice Blend

There's a second form of adjika that's worth knowing about: dry adjika (მშრალი აჯიკა, mshrali adjika). This is a powdered spice blend — dried red peppers, blue fenugreek, coriander, marigold, garlic powder, and salt — that you'll find in every Georgian spice stall. It's not a substitute for fresh adjika; it's a different product entirely, used as a table condiment and seasoning sprinkle.

Dry adjika is what you'll see in the small bowls on Georgian restaurant tables next to the salt and pepper. Sprinkle it on everything — eggs, soups, grilled meat, salads. If you can't find the Georgian spices for fresh adjika, start with a dry adjika blend to get familiar with the flavor profile. Our Georgian spices guide covers where to buy both versions.

Common Mistakes

Where to Buy Adjika in Georgia

If you're visiting Georgia, you can buy excellent adjika everywhere — but quality varies wildly. Here's where to look:

Frequently Asked Questions