“Kharcho” (Georgian soup with nuts)

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Prepared by: Ekaterina Fesenko

10/19/2018 Cooking time: 2 hours 0 minutes

Do you want to diversify your lunch menu with a new, interesting and not too complicated dish? Do you know how to cook “Kharcho”, Georgian soup with nuts? If you haven't already, check out this recipe!

Description of preparation:

Kharcho soup is like borscht: it’s different for every housewife.
But there are basic ingredients without which the soup will not be called kharcho. It is cooked with beef, with the addition of tklapi - pastille made from pureed cherry plum, which can be replaced with tkemali sauce, and the third ingredient - walnuts. I’m not even talking about spices, everyone knows that hops-suneli and a lot of different fresh herbs are also required. You will learn how to cook Georgian kharcho from this rather detailed recipe. Adjust the ingredients to your liking and this soup will become one of your favorites. Purpose: For lunch Main ingredient: Meat / Beef / Cereals / Rice / Greens Dish: Soups / Kharcho Geography of cuisine: Georgian / Caucasian

Kharcho soup Georgian recipe

Ingredients:

1. beef – 0.5 kg 2. rice – 0.5 cups 3. crushed walnuts – 0.5 cups 4. freshly squeezed pomegranate juice – 0.5 cups 5. onions – 2 pcs. 6. parsley – 2 tbsp. spoons 7. hot pepper – 1/2 pod 8. suneli hops – 1 teaspoon 9. garlic – 2 cloves 10. ground black pepper 11. basil 12. bay leaf 13. salt

How to cook Georgian kharcho and not in Georgia?

Kharcho is beef soup. Therefore, neither pork nor lamb are suitable here. Wash the beef and cut into small portions. If it is on the bone (although the original uses brisket and it is fatty), then you can cook it whole. Place the meat in a saucepan and add 2 liters of water. Cooks for approximately 1.5-2 hours (depending on the category of meat). To keep the broth clear, constantly remove the foam with a slotted spoon.

cook beef broth

When the meat is ready, take it out and put it on a plate.

Strain the broth and bring to a boil again.

strain the broth and cut the meat into pieces

Pour the washed rice into the boiling broth and boil for about 10 minutes. Only now return the laid out meat to the soup. Moreover, we return it in portioned form, i.e. if the meat was cooked on the bone, then we separate it and cut it into pieces. Salt kharcho.

pour rice into the broth

Finely chop the onion and fry in the fat skimmed from the surface of the broth. And put the onion in the soup. Add bay leaf and ground black pepper.

fry onions in beef fat

Let's take on the walnuts. Walnuts are the second required ingredient, without which the soup cannot be called kharcho. Grind the nuts after calcining them a little in a hot frying pan. Pour the nuts into the soup and cook for 5 minutes.

chop walnuts

Add suneli hops and pomegranate juice to the kharcho. The 3rd required ingredient of kharcho is tklapi (dried tkemali). But they can be replaced with pomegranate juice or tkemali sauce. Method for obtaining pomegranate juice. Without cutting the pomegranate, hold it in your hands so that you feel that the seeds inside are bursting. Then make a hole with a sharp knife and pour the pomegranate juice through this hole.

squeeze pomegranate juice

Chop basil and parsley. Cut the hot pepper into small pieces.

Crush the garlic in a mortar or three on a fine grater.

spices and spices for kharcho

Add all the last ingredients (greens, peppers and garlic) when the kharcho is removed from the heat. Be sure to let it brew.

sprinkle with herbs and let it brew

If you put ½ “local chili” into 2 liters of broth, then you will get a kharcho soup almost like in Georgia in terms of spiciness.

ready-made kharcho soup

Ingredients:

• Beef brisket – 1 kilogram
• Onions - 3-4 pieces
• Carrots – 1 piece
• Parsnip – 1 piece
• Celery – 1 slice
• Horseradish root – 1 piece
• Tkemali - 3-4 Art. spoons (or tklapi to taste)
• Rice – 150-200 grams
• Garlic – 1 piece
• Hot pepper – 1 piece
• Walnuts - 2 Cups (shelled)
• Green cilantro - 1-2 bunches
• Parsley - 1 bunch
• Dill greens - 1 bunch
• Basil - 5-7 pieces (leaves)
• Khmeli-suneli - 1.5 tbsp. spoons
• Imereti saffron - 1 tbsp. spoon
• Lemon – 1/2 Pieces
• Salt - 1.5 tbsp. spoons (to taste)
• Bay leaf – 2 pieces
• Cloves - 3-4 pieces
• Peppercorns - 3-4 pieces
• Allspice - 3-4 pieces

Number of servings: 10

Traditional soup kharcho recipe

• To prepare kharcho soup, it is better to take a piece of beef that will give a richer broth. Therefore, it is better to take meat with a marrow bone. It takes a little over two hours to prepare kharcho soup. First comes the preparation process for cooking. We prepare all the ingredients. In the meantime, put a saucepan on the fire, put a piece of beef in it and simmer the broth over low heat for two hours. The broth should be rich and strong.

• For 1.5 liters of water we take a piece of meat weighing 400 g. A real kharcho soup should be thick.
• After the broth is cooked, you need to remove the meat from it, cut it into pieces, remove the bone and throw the meat back into the broth.
• The carrots and onions are being prepared. Wash, peel and cut into small pieces. The carrots are cut into cubes, and the onions are cut into strips. This way, the onion will not boil and will retain its shape in the soup.

Don't forget to add sauce

• Next, the most important point is the sauce. The sauce is the base of the soup. The basis may vary. The most correct option for kharcho soup is tkemali sauce. For 2 liters of broth you need to pour two tablespoons of crushed tkemali. But other options are possible. Since the base of the kharcho should be sour, tkemali can be replaced with finely chopped cherry plum or, in extreme cases, tomato paste. As an option, instead of tkemali, tomato paste and cherry plum, you can add a soaked piece of tklapi. The size of tklapi can be 10x10 cm. If you add tkemali, the color of the kharcho will be light - this is correct. But if you add a drop of tomato paste, the soup will turn red. This color is more attractive, and many chefs do just that.
• If it suddenly turns out that the broth is not sour, then you can add a little acid to it in the form of pomegranate juice or citric acid.
• Next, the soup is cooked for 5 minutes, then carrots are added and cooked for another 10 minutes. Then add the onion and cook over low heat for another 30 minutes.
• The broth with vegetables is slowly cooked. Walnuts are being prepared. Half a glass of shelled and partitioned walnuts should be thoroughly ground in a mortar. This is done until nut butter appears. Tip: it is better to fry the nuts in a frying pan until they have a pleasant aroma.
• Next, the garlic is peeled. It can also be ground in a mortar, or it can be grated.
• Now the rice is ready. Now there is a huge selection of rice on the market, differing in shape and quality, price and color. It is better to take long rice for kharcho. Add rice and cook for 10 minutes.
• Then garlic-nut dressing is added to the soup. The soup has a distinct smell. Therefore, it is better to ventilate the kitchen well, otherwise the smell will linger for a long time. There's nothing wrong with that though. After all, the soup will turn out delicious and very appetizing.
• Now it's time for the spices. Chefs from different countries and peoples in modern times add a wide variety of spices. It also happens that you have to add to the soup what you have in the kitchen at home. But most cooks add the Caucasian mixture of hops and suneli as spices. This is a spicy mixture that emphasizes the taste of kharcho and makes it irreplaceable. Khmeli-suneli is a combination of spices such as dill, mint, basil and others. A slightly bitter, but very pleasant and aromatic spice makes kharcho a real Georgian spicy soup. This is especially evident if hot pepper is included in the spices, but this is not for everyone.
• Kharcho soup needs to be cooked for another 5 minutes after adding spices to it. One spoon of spices per 2 liters will be more than enough. For those who love spicy sensations, you can increase the portion of seasoning. The main thing is not to overdo it! Georgian cuisine does not tolerate fuss!
• There is no need to cook the soup over high heat, as the soup is thick and all the liquid may evaporate and the soup will burn. Cook the soup over low heat, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes, then add the greens finally. This can be finely chopped parsley, mint, cilantro, dill, etc. You don’t have to throw everything together, you can limit yourself to parsley. Although the more greens, the tastier the kharcho.
• After cooking, the soup is infused for 5 minutes.
• The ideal option for kharcho soup would be Georgian lavash instead of traditional bread. Well, everyone can add herbs to their plate according to their taste, as well as salt and pepper.

Megrelian kharcho recipe

There is a historical place in Georgia called Colchis. The Argonauts sailed into it for the Golden Fleece. Georgians live there - Mingrelians. It was they who came up with kharcho with a touch of Mingrelian culture.

How to cook “Kharcho in Georgian style”

We wash the meat and cut it into large pieces. Peel the celery, horseradish root, parsnips, onions and carrots.

Transfer the meat to a large (5 liter) saucepan. Add water to cover the meat. When it boils, pour out the broth, fill with clean water and add vegetables. When it boils, remove the foam and add bay leaf, peppercorns and allspice, cloves and a little salt. And cook for 1.5-2 hours.

When the beef is almost ready, you can begin further processes. Peel the nuts, then grind them in a mortar.

Pour the saffron into boiling broth and cover, let it sit for about 10 minutes. If you are lucky and find tklapi, tear it into pieces and also pour in the hot broth.

Wash the rice thoroughly. Strain the broth, place the meat on a plate, discard the vegetables and spices. Place meat, rice and add hot pepper into the boiling broth. Be careful not to let it boil, otherwise the soup will be very, very spicy.

Peel and finely chop the remaining onion. Fry it in a frying pan with vegetable oil until light golden brown. And put it into a saucepan with soup.

Fry the nuts in a dry frying pan and add them to the soup.

Add tkemali and steamed saffron, hops-suneli to the soup.

Peel the garlic, chop the herbs and grind everything together with salt. Add to soup when rice is ready.

Let the soup simmer for a few minutes, adjust to taste by adding lemon juice, salt, and sugar.

And now the kharcho soup is ready.

How to cook “Georgian soup “Kharcho””

1. Place the meat in a saucepan and fill it with water (about 2.5 liters). Bring to a boil and cook in salted water for 90 minutes.

2. Be sure to remove any foam formed during boiling.

3. Peel the onion and cut into large pieces.

4. Peel the sweet peppers and cut them into small cubes.

5. Wash the tomatoes, cut into medium-sized cubes.

6. Heat a frying pan with olive oil, add onions.

7. Fry the onion until golden brown and add bell peppers, tomatoes, and a spoonful of tomato paste.

8. Pour in a tablespoon of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Simmer everything for about 15 minutes.

9. Place the cooked vegetables into the prepared broth.

10. Immediately add the washed rice and mix everything well.

11. Add bay leaf to the pan and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Remove soup from heat. Peel the garlic and chop it finely, chop the cilantro, mix.

12. Add garlic and herbs to the soup.

13. Stir, salt and pepper the soup to taste, cover the pan with a lid and let the soup brew.

14. Serve the finished soup hot, garnished with a sprig of herbs.

Megrelian kharcho recipe

• Young beef (brisket) – 250 g
• 2 tbsp. spoons of shelled walnuts
• 1 carrot
• Purple onion – 1 pc.
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• Half a cup of rice
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 tbsp. spoons of tkemali
• Greens (dill, parsley and cilantro)
• Herbs and spices (dried cilantro, dill and parsley)
• Water
• Salt

The ideal meat for Megrelian kharcho is fatty veal breast. It is better to take cartilaginous bones. They must be cleaned of films and tendons. Below is the technology recipe:

1. Cut the meat into small pieces
2. Boil the broth over low heat for an hour (1 liter of water/250 g of meat)
3. There is no need to add salt and spices. This is done at the very end of cooking. There is no need to add water. So it’s better to adjust the amount of broth right away.
4. Vegetables are being prepared. Cleaned and cut into pieces. The onion is cut lengthwise, the carrot into cubes. The garlic is peeled and finely chopped either on a grater or in a mortar. Garlic can be ground together with salt and walnuts. This makes a nut dressing.
5. Instead of tomato paste, two tomatoes are added. It is better to scald them with boiling water, remove the hard skin and seeds. Leave only the pulp. If there are no fresh tomatoes, you can add paste or tomato.
6. The greens are finely chopped. It is better to use the leaves and remove the stems.
7. Tkemali sauce can be replaced with fresh cherry plum cut into pieces. It is sour and will give the kharcho the desired sour taste.
8. Add carrots, onions and tomatoes to the broth. Now cook the kharcho over low heat, stirring for 20 minutes.
9. Next, spices are added. You can add hot pepper, ground or other hot seasonings. It is recommended to add a glass of dry white wine or serve it in a glass to the table.
10. The rice is washed and added to the broth with vegetables and seasonings. It is better to choose a variety of hard rice that does not boil and does not turn the soup into porridge.
11. Garlic-nut dressing is added and cooked for another 5 minutes.
12. Finally, add the herbs and set aside. Kharcho soup is infused for another 5 minutes and then served. The recipe is quite simple and easy to prepare if you have the desire.