Friday 27 June 2014

Making Khinkali (ხინკალი)


All nations have a national dish and Georgia is no different but trying to find the perfect example of mothers cooking is often akin to seeking the Holy Grail. Here is one such quest satisfied.

There are two national dishes in Georgia. Khachapuri (ხაჭაპური), which is a cheese bread, fried in the pan, the best I've eaten was in Tusheti and made by the women who made the cheese, which was a bit of a head start. Khinkali (ხინკალი) this is a dumpling made of twisted knobs of dough, stuffed with meat and spices. Sounds simple but so is the perfect Yorkshire pudding until you try it. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about Yorkshire pudding is a savoury dish. It's batter baked in the oven and eaten with roast beef. Heaven.

On our return to Nazy's from our glorious trip with the shepherds, Nazy's mother promised to make Khinkali for us. The following blog entry is a master class in the art of the perfect Khinkali. I promise you they are exquisite - if you like boiled dumplings. Most Georgians would give their right arm for a meal of these.










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My feeble attempts were appreciated but I think everyone was just being kind.




Once boiled the Khinkali were taken to the table for a feast fit for kings. You can see the Khachapuri piled up in the foreground cut into fours.


Khinkali is great re-fried  for breakfast with strong coffee


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