Fragrant Georgian khinkali: recipe

Khinkali is a dish of traditional Georgian cuisine. Outwardly, they resemble bags made of tight dough, inside of which juicy minced meat is hidden.

According to the classic recipe, the filling for khinkali is made from pork and beef, sometimes lamb is used. The meat can be finely chopped with a knife or passed through a meat grinder in the form of minced meat. Be sure to add spicy spices to it, which give the peculiar taste of khinkal and a unique aroma to the broth.

This article provides detailed instructions on how to prepare juicy minced meat for khinkali to create a traditional Georgian dish.

Classic recipe for preparing minced meat in Georgian style

Ingredients:

• Beef meat -200 grams
• Lamb meat -200 grams
• Onions -2 pcs.
• Parsley -1 bunch
• Dill -1 bunch
• Garlic-2 cloves
• Broth -1 glass
• Ground pepper and salt to taste

1. Rinse and dry the meat pieces. Chop the meat into small pieces, as similar as possible to minced meat twisted through a meat grinder. Mix beef and lamb.
2. Peel the onion and garlic and cut into cubes; they should be slightly smaller than minced meat.
3. Wash and chop the greens.
4. Mix all ingredients in one bowl. Salt and pepper the minced meat.
5. An important step is adding broth to the filling. You need to pour it in small portions, stirring immediately to control the consistency of the filling. Ideally, it should not be too liquid and well soaked in broth. The broth should not appear on the surface of the minced meat.
6. After soaking, the filling should sit for a while and absorb the aromas of spices and herbs.

The classic method of preparing minced meat for khinkal takes more time than the more simplified version using a meat grinder, but the yummy product that results is worth any time spent.

According to Georgian traditions, lamb is added to the minced meat for khinkal, but since it has a specific taste, it can be replaced with pork or veal. Also, instead of broth, ice water is used; it also adds juiciness to the minced meat.

Georgian khinkali

The taste of this dish largely depends on the type of meat and spices. In traditional cuisine, lean lamb is used. But modern chefs are increasingly abolishing this rule. Now you can cook from veal, beef, pork or a combination of them. Eggs are not included in the khinkali dough. The Georgian classic recipe is kneaded from flour, water and oil.

Required:

• 0.5 kg. flour;
• 350 ml. water;
• 100 ml. sunflower oil;
• A teaspoon of salt;
• 0.5 kg. lamb (or other meat);
• 2 onions;
• Spices to taste.

Georgian khinkali: step-by-step cooking recipe

Cooking technology:

1. Wash and clean the meat on khinkali. For this recipe at home, start with minced meat. This is necessary in order to immediately form bags after kneading the dough.
2. Cut into pieces, chop each finely with a knife. Minced meat in a classic dish is minced.
3. Peel the onion, chop with a knife, add to the minced meat.
4. Chop the garlic and herbs indicated in the khinkali recipe. At home
5. Can be replaced with dried analogues. Add to meat, salt.
6. Add water to the kneaded meat with spices. The optimal amount of minced meat is 150 ml. water. Beat the minced meat so that the liquid and meat components form a single “airy” consistency.
7. Leave the finished filling to refrigerate.
8. Knead the dough for khinkali from the indicated ingredients. The recipe is simple: make a well in a bowl of flour, add butter and salt, and form into a solid ball. Then divide it into two parts. Roll each into a layer about 1 cm thick. Cut into squares. Fold each square into an envelope and roll it out again. This needs to be repeated 10 times with each person.
9. When you have 3 mm thick layered layers, start forming the khinkali. This homemade recipe allows for the use of a small bowl for convenience. Roll out the dough and shape into circles. Sprinkle with flour and place all the circles in a stack.
10. Take a circle of dough and place it in a bowl. Spoon the minced meat into the middle. Pinch the edges in a circle, forming pleats. Turn the last one in the opposite direction, connecting the edges. If the tail turns out to be high, you can carefully cut it off.
11. Use the corrugation method to form all the khinkali. The recipe for cooking at home is almost complete. All that remains is to cook and serve the dish hot.
12. Salt boiling water and throw in a few bay leaves. Add the bags in small portions to prevent them from sticking together. Boil after boiling for 15 minutes and serve hot with sauce.

In traditional cuisine, matsoni sauce is used when serving khinkali. The classic recipe is based on a fermented milk drink with herbs, pickled cucumbers and garlic. You can also serve it with adjika or tomato-based sauce.

Minced meat with water

Ingredients:

• Pork-500 grams
• Beef or veal -500 grams
• Onions -2 heads
• Ice water - 200-250 ml.
• Spices to taste

1. Rinse the meat and dry with a napkin. Remove the veins, paying special attention to the beef. Next, chop it into small pieces.
2. Finely chop the onion and add spices to taste.
3. Pour in half the ice water and mix the minced meat thoroughly. Continuing to knead, add the remaining water, bringing the filling to the desired consistency.

This recipe is very simple. The minced meat turns out juicy and aromatic. The main thing is that you don’t have to tinker with the meat for a long time, you need to choose the right fillet pieces, where there are the least veins and films. This will significantly speed up the process of preparing minced meat.

For those who prefer less fatty foods, there is a recipe for minced chicken. The composition turns out to be less calorie, very tasty, juicy and aromatic.

Georgian “puff sausages” with meat and mushrooms

If you want to cook something extraordinary and quite filling, then puff khinkali are the most suitable option.

Required ingredients:

• 350 ml water;
• 30 ml olive oil;
• 3-3.5 tbsp. flour;
• 600g chicken fillet;
• 2-3 pieces of onion;
• 6 pcs. large champignons;
• a small bunch of dill;
• salt, spices to taste.

For filling:

• 1 tbsp. broth;
• 150 ml sour cream or cream;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• salt and ground black pepper to taste.

1. First let's make the dough. In a bowl, mix water, salt and oil. Add sifted flour little by little and knead into a dense, elastic mass. Cover it and put it in a cool place.
2. Now let's start preparing the filling. Grind the chicken fillet and onion using a meat grinder. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces, chop the dill. Mix all the ingredients, add salt and add spices.
3. Divide the dough into 4 parts. Take 1 part and roll it into a thin layer. Apply a layer of minced meat and roll everything into a sausage. Cut it into pieces about 3 cm long and place in a deep baking tray greased with oil.
4. We will cook them in the filling. Mix broth and cream. Add ground black pepper, finely chopped garlic and season to taste. Pour this mixture into the rolls, cover the baking sheet with foil and place in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees. Cooking khinkali in the oven will take about half an hour. After the time has passed, remove the foil and keep in the oven for a few more minutes so that they lightly brown. If desired, you can grate hard cheese on top and sprinkle with dill. They are best eaten hot with tomato sauce.

Minced chicken

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast -400 grams
• Onions - 2 medium onions
• Carrots - 1 piece
• Ground black pepper and salt - to taste
• Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp.
• Butter - 70 grams
• Water -150-200 ml.

1. Wash the carrots, peel them and pass through a meat grinder or grind in a blender. 2.Heat a frying pan, add vegetable oil. Simmer the carrots in it until soft, adding two tablespoons of water, 2-3 minutes.
2. Rinse the chicken and pass through a meat grinder along with the onions.
3. Melt the butter and add to the minced chicken.
4. Add stewed carrots.
5. Pepper and salt the minced meat, mix well.
6. Pour in the required amount of water and knead the minced meat thoroughly.

Khinkali with chicken is much more tender. Spices and butter in the composition give the bags an original taste. If you want to diversify your favorite dish, you can replace the usual meat with chicken.

How to prepare minced meat for khinkali from various types of meat is now clear, then you need to master another important secret - the dough recipe.

Traditional khinkali in Georgian

First, we want to tell you the recipe for khinkali, according to which they are usually prepared in Georgia. The energy value of this product is 235 kcal.

We will need:

For minced meat:

• 0.6 kg of fatty lamb pulp;
• 0.3 kg beef pulp;
• 3-4 pcs. Luke;
• 4-5 cloves of garlic;
• a bunch of fresh parsley, dill, cilantro;
• salt, ground black pepper to taste;
• 100-150 ml of cold water.

For the test:

• 1-1.3 kg of flour;
• 10 g salt;
• 700 ml water.

Description of preparation steps:

1. Let's start with the filling. It will require patience and scrupulousness from you. We take the meat and chop it into small pieces with a very sharp knife. Chop onion, garlic, herbs. Mix the ingredients, add and season with spices.
2. In order for the meat to be juicy, and during cooking, a lot of broth will form inside our Georgian dish, add approximately 100-150 ml of cold water to the minced meat. Pour it in small portions, and mix the whole mass thoroughly each time.
3. The dough for khinkali is very easy to prepare. Add water and, adding sifted flour in parts, knead into a thick, plastic mass. You need to knead it for quite a long time.
4. Let's start creating our food. Roll out thin flat cakes with a diameter of 10 centimeters. Place about 1 tablespoon of minced meat in the middle of the flat cake. We lift the free edges of the flatbread over the mound of meat and connect them, forming folds. Finally, we twist the “bag” of meat so that we get a “tail”. A large number of folds is considered a sign of the chef's skill. You can compare the result of your work with the photo.
5. If you have a question about how to cook khinkali, then we will answer you - just like dumplings, only longer. Pour about 2 liters of liquid into a large saucepan, add some salt, add a few pieces of allspice, a bay leaf and bring it to a boil. This dish is eaten hot, so you need to boil them as much as you eat at one time. We put our “bags” in boiling water, stir, wait for them to float and cook them for half an hour.
6. Place the finished khinkali in Georgian style on a large plate. If desired, you can pour melted butter and sprinkle with any herbs.

Dough recipe

Traditionally, the dough is prepared unleavened, without adding eggs. To prevent it from boiling and tearing during the cooking process, you need to maintain the proportions of water and flour in a ratio of 1:2. For two glasses of flour, one glass of water is required. The dough is kneaded elastic and soft. This needs to be done in several stages.

Ingredients:

• Flour – 500 gr.
• Cold water -250 ml.
• Salt – 1 tsp. l.
• Vegetable oil -2-3 tbsp. l.
• Prepare the table on which we will work. Clean off any crumbs so they don't accidentally get into the dough.
• Sift flour into a bowl. The flour will be saturated with oxygen, and the dough will eventually turn out soft and pliable.
• Add salt, half water and vegetable oil.
• Knead well and add the remaining water a little at a time. The dough should come away easily from your hands. If it sticks, add a little flour and knead thoroughly.

Cover the finished dough and leave for 15 minutes to rest. Then do two more approaches, alternating between kneading and resting the dough. It is long and persistent kneading of the dough that helps to achieve the necessary elasticity and softness. Vegetable oil and ice water in the composition will make it elastic and sticky, and during cooking the khinkal will not tear and will retain its beautiful shape. After all the stages of kneading, put the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour, then you can start modeling.

Homemade meat pouches

This method of preparing Georgian food is very similar to dumplings. But the filling inside is much juicier.

To make homemade khinkali we will need the following set of products:

• 300 g pork pulp;
• 300 g beef pulp;
• 2 onions;
• 75 ml cold broth;
• 1 bunch of any greenery;
• 1 egg;
• 350 g warm water;
• 30 g olive oil;
• 3-3.5 tbsp. flour;
• salt, spices to taste.

1. To prepare minced meat, grind the meat using a meat grinder. Onions, greens fine mode. Mix the ingredients, add salt and add any spices. Stir the resulting mixture, pouring in cold broth in parts. Cover the minced meat and put it in a cool place.
2. We sift the flour into a heap, make a hole into which we beat the egg, pour in water and oil, and add some salt. Gently mix everything with a fork. The dough should be plastic and not stick to your hands.
3. We form our food and cook it in the same way as in the previous recipe. If you wish, you can steam the khinkali. In this case, they will definitely not stick together and will not be damaged, since they do not need to be constantly stirred. Pour liquid into a large saucepan, more than half of its volume, and boil it. When the water starts to boil, install a special mesh, place our meat bags on it, cover everything with a lid and cook them for half an hour. You can use a double boiler.
4. Serve them with cream, herbs or sour cream sauce.

How to make khinkali

In Georgia, khinkal is sculpted with a special approach; it is not just sculpting bags of dough and meat, but an indicator of a woman’s thriftiness. It is believed that a skillful housewife's khinkal consists of 18-20 folds, and seasoned craftswomen in “Khinkalnaya” assemble 36 pinches.

1. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and knead again. Next, roll it into a sausage and cut into small pieces.
2. Roll each piece with a rolling pin into a flat cake with a diameter of 10-15 cm, slightly thicker than the dumpling blank.
3. Take a tea dish with a depression in the center and place the cake on it. Place the meat filling in it. The amount of meat should be sufficient.
4. Gently lift the edge of the dough and begin folding. Pinch the folds one after another in a circle; when the edges are gathered, they need to be pressed so that there is no hole left. This is required so that the khinkal does not lose its tasty juice during cooking.
5. If the tail is very long, you can trim it with a knife so that you can take the cooked khinkal by it.
6. In the same way, form khinkali from the remaining dough.

Who wouldn’t agree that this is a very exciting and interesting process. The beauties of Georgia appear before your eyes, and the air smells of fragrant Georgian cuisine.

To make it easier to master the process of molding khinkal, we suggest watching the video

With beef and herbs

This version of khinkali is distinguished by a large amount of broth, as well as an intense aroma of fresh herbs and national seasonings.

The recipe follows.

What ingredients will you need?

To prepare beef products, you need the following set of ingredients.

For the test:

• 4 tbsp. flour;
• 2 tsp. salt;
• 1 egg, beaten;
• 1 tbsp. water.

For filling:

• 500 g minced beef;
• 1 finely chopped onion;
• 1 tsp each cumin and salt;
• 1.5 tsp. blue fenugreek (utho suneli);
• 0.5 tsp. chili powder;
• 3 tbsp. l. finely chopped cilantro and parsley leaves;
• 1 tbsp. water.

Step-by-step cooking process

To prepare khinkali with seasoned beef, you will need to follow these steps:

1. In a large bowl, mix flour with salt and water until a thick mass is formed, then transfer it to a work surface and knead the dough until smooth, about 4-5 minutes.
2. Next, you need to leave the dough for 45 minutes, covering with cling film.
3. During this time, you need to prepare the filling by mixing the ground beef, diced onion, salt, cumin, blue fenugreek, chili powder, cilantro, parsley and water with your hands until smooth.
4. The prepared dough must be rolled out into a thin layer, and then cut into squares about 10 cm wide using a sharp knife.

5. Place about 2 tbsp in the middle of each of them. l. filling, then lift the edges up and seal, forming a bag with folds on the sides.
6. After this, you need to heat a pan with salted water, wait until it boils and place fresh khinkali in it.
7. It will take about 7-8 minutes to cook the products until they float to the surface.
8. The water must be thoroughly drained, sprinkle the khinkali with black pepper and serve immediately.

How to cook khinkali

The cooking process is as follows:

1. Take a large saucepan or cauldron, fill it with water, add salt to taste and put it on maximum heat. Once the water boils, reduce the flame to medium.
2. Stir the water with a spoon so that a whirlpool forms in the center of the cauldron.
3. Take the khinkal by the tail and throw it into the cauldron so that it begins to spin in a circle. This will help prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
4. Until all the khinkali float to the surface, you must continue to gently stir the water. Professionals in this field simply shake the cauldron and do not use any cutlery. They believe that they are very easy to damage the dough during cooking. Since shaking a pan of hot water is very dangerous, you can get used to it and stir the fragrant broth with a spoon without touching the dough.
5. After surfacing, you need to cook the khinkali for 15-20 minutes.
6. Remove the khinkali with a slotted spoon, picking it up by the bottom. Place on a plate. Sprinkle black pepper and finely chopped herbs on top. Add butter if desired. Khinkali is served hot.

Depending on the volume of the pan that is used, the cooking process is carried out in one or two steps. It is very important that the khinkali floats freely in the boiling water. This way their original shape will be preserved.

Another traditional way of preparing this dish is frying.

The recipe for fried khinkal appeared a long time ago and is very much appreciated by their lovers.

How to steam khinkali in a slow cooker

1. Grease the multicooker container for steaming generously with butter.
2. Then we lay out the formed products in it.

3. Next, pour four multi-cups of boiled water into the multicooker bowl.
4. Then we place the container in its designated place.
5. Now close the lid of the multicooker and set the “Steam” program.
6. Cook khinkali for 45 minutes.

Fried khinkali

To start frying you need:

1. The first step is to boil the khinkali in the traditional way.
2. Place the finished bags on a plate and leave to cool.
3. Take a deep frying pan and put it on fire.
4. Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and let it heat up.
5. After this, place the khinkali in heated oil and fry until golden brown. Look at the photo

A prerequisite for uniform roasting is a sufficient amount of sunflower oil. Khinkali should be completely immersed in oil, only in this case they will acquire a uniform golden brown crust. You can also fry raw khinkali in this way, the difference is that they will have to be kept on the fire longer.

Georgian cuisine has a large number of delicious dishes in its reserve. Khinkali is one of them. This is a very popular dish in the Caucasus, without which more than one holiday table is not complete. Anyone can add a Georgian touch to their regular diet. By following the secrets of preparing this dish described above, you can slightly diversify your usual food, especially since the composition of this dish is very beneficial for the body.

How to prepare juicy and aromatic minced meat for Georgian khinkali, how to properly knead the dough and form tasty and juicy bags, is shown in the following video.

In conclusion, I would like to say that Georgian cuisine has a large number of delicious dishes in its reserve. Khinkali is one of them. This is a very popular dish in the Caucasus, without which more than one holiday table is not complete. Anyone can add a Georgian touch to their regular diet. By following the secrets of preparing this dish described above, you can slightly diversify your usual food, especially since the composition of this dish is very beneficial for the body. The cooking process is very exciting, and the result exceeds all expectations!

How to cook khinkali at home on video

It will be very useful to familiarize yourself with the video below, dedicated to preparing dough for Georgian khinkali according to the recipe described above. By spending just a few minutes watching the video, you will learn how to make khinkali correctly, how much to cook it and how to eat it correctly.

Ready-made Georgian khinkali remain very tasty for a short time, so try to cook them exactly as much as you will eat today, and freeze the rest in the freezer of the refrigerator. How to cook frozen khinkali in a saucepan? In the same way as freshly molded ones, only they will have to be kept in boiling water a little longer - as soon as the products float to the surface, cook them for another 12-15 minutes.

How they eat

By the way, this is where the custom of how to properly eat khinkali came from. Have you heard about this? I'll tell you just in case. Classic Georgian khinkali made from lamb is eaten with your hands. You need to take one piece by the very tail, dip it in adjika if you prefer a sharper taste and, first of all, carefully suck out the broth. It is really very tasty and healthy. Then, you need to eat the meat filling, periodically biting off the dough shell. After you have eaten the khinkali, the remaining tail in your hand is thrown away. It's that simple. Now let's get started preparing this wonderful dish.

Historical reference

Tradition says that the dish has a very ancient history. Its origin is connected with military operations on the territory of Georgia. Wounded soldiers had difficulty chewing food.

Then the women came up with a hearty meal from thin unleavened flatbreads boiled in broth. Pieces of minced meat were wrapped in them. All the fighters had to do was bite through the tender dough and drink the aromatic broth with the filling.

The national Georgian dish in its original classic version consisted of water, flour, salt and meat. No spices were used.

Khinkali quickly spread throughout the Caucasus and beyond. Each area contributed to the creation of the original recipe. Previously, when preparing khinkali, they only made it from fresh lamb. And they did not add herbs, spices and seasonings to the filling.

Today you can find varieties of dishes made from beef, pork, chicken or a mixture of different types of meat. Even a type of urban khinkali appeared. They are filled with potatoes, cheese, mushrooms and even crayfish.

But even now the preparation of this dish does not like haste. And sculpting this culinary miracle is akin to real art. The pinnacle of craftsmanship is considered to be a product in which 36 small folds were formed during its creation.

But only real specialists in this matter can do this, and for all amateurs it is considered normal to make at least 18 folds when creating a curled tail on a bag with filling. When sculpting, in the process of preparing the spice base, finely chopped onion, salt and pepper are added to the meat.

With mushrooms and spices

Khinkali with minced meat is the most common, but, nevertheless, other options are also popular both among residents of Georgia and outside the country.

What ingredients will you need?

For this vegetarian version of khinkali you need:

• 1.5 kg of mushrooms (champignons or any other);
• 600 g wheat flour;
• 2 onions;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• several sprigs of coriander;
• a few tarragon leaves;
• kosher salt and pepper;
• water.

Step-by-step cooking process

Khinkali with mushrooms is made as follows:

1. It is necessary to finely chop the mushrooms, onions, tarragon and coriander.

2. In a large frying pan, fry the chopped onion in butter.
3. When it becomes transparent, you should add mushrooms to it and mix everything well, continue to fry everything together.
4. As soon as the mushrooms are almost ready, you need to put them in the frying pan.
5. crushed garlic, pepper and kosher salt. You should show maximum attention so as not to overcook the mushrooms, because otherwise the khinkali will not turn out juicy.
6. Next, you need to put the flour and salt in a large bowl, add a small amount of warm water and knead until you get an elastic dough.
7. Cover the container with the dough with a cloth and leave for 30 minutes, then roll it out into a sheet 1.5 mm thick. It needs to be cut into circles with a diameter of 7 cm (this can be done with a cup or glass).
8. Then you need to roll out each circle of dough so that its center is thicker than the edges.
9. You need to place 1 tbsp. l. mushroom filling into rolled out circles in the middle, then lift the edges and press them into pouch shapes, forming folds. The top of the products must be fastened very securely.
10. To prepare, place the products in boiling salted water and mix thoroughly, cover the pan with a lid and, when the water boils again, stir again.
11. After the khinkali increase in size and begin to float to the surface, you need to remove them from the pans and place them on a dish.
12. To serve, it is recommended to sprinkle them with black pepper or garnish with sour cream.