Georgian dishes made from cottage cheese. What to try in Georgia from food. Russian-Georgian wine dictionary

Let's talk about the cuisine of the country, where every trip or trip is a bit of a gastro-tour, because the national dishes of Georgia are known throughout the world for their spice, original taste and noble spiciness. What food do we recommend trying in order to understand and “feel” the full power of Georgian gastronomic culture?

Main flavor accents

Herbs: cilantro, tarragon, basil, savory, leek, mint.

Spices: garlic, suneli hops, coriander, Imeretian saffron (marigold).

Sauces:

adjika (spicy made from tomatoes, peppers, garlic and spices);
satsebeli (sweet made from tomatoes, peppers, nuts and fruits);
tkemale (spicy with tomatoes and plums, garlic and paprika);
bazhe (with walnuts and garlic - like chicken satsivi) see below).

Khachapuri

We start seemingly with something “simple,” but what do we really know about khachapuri? The name means: “khatcha” - cottage cheese, “puri” - bread. Essentially it is a flatbread stuffed with cheese and egg. Tourists sometimes call flatbreads with meat that way (in fact, they kubdari) and with beans ( Lobiani), but in Georgia they are never confused. By the way, khachapuri has the status of an intangible monument of cultural heritage of Georgia :). They are eaten here everywhere and always: as a separate dish - snacking on vegetables; as a snack or a snack to everything else.

There are three main types of khachapuri:

Imeritinskie- round flatbreads with young cheese inside.

Megrelian- also round with soft cheese, but sprinkled with suluguni on the outside.

and Adjarian- open “boats” filled with cheese, butter and raw egg. Before eating this khachapur, mix the filling thoroughly so that the egg is cooked :).

🍷 A distinctive feature of khachapuri is that any drink goes perfectly with it :)

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The whole country is proud of them. Once you try it, you will understand that this is LOVE. The main ingredient of khinkali, despite their similarity with our dumplings, is bouillon, which makes khinkali so incredibly juicy. As with khachapuri, there are a lot of types of khinkali and they differ in filling:

kalakuri - with meat and cilantro
mtiuluri - with minced meat
kazbeguri - with minced meat
kakhuri - with minced pork
beef
with lamb

Vegetarian:

with cheese
with potatoes
with mushrooms

Khinkali is eaten with hands, holding the “tail”, which is then thrown away. The main thing is not to spill the precious liquid :). It’s convenient to first take a small bite and drink the broth, and then finish the rest.

🍷 It is customary to eat khinkali with chacha. Moreover: it is believed that they were invented as an ideal snack for chacha :). Women can wash down meat khinkali with red dry saperavi, and vegetable khinkali with some simple tart white (chinuri, tsolikouri, rkatsiteli) or kisi. How to choose wine in Georgia >>

By the way, Georgian women are not at all embarrassed to drink chacha with khinkali (and everything else), so if beautiful tourists want to try it, no one will look askance;)

Two signature national dishes of Georgia

If the previous options are more like “simple food”, then these two representatives are real masterpieces of culinary art, requiring a lot of time, skill and ingredients for proper preparation.

Chashushuli

or Ostri - spicy beef stewed in its juice with vegetables, herbs and spices. Wine, cilantro, basil, coriander and a lot of hot pepper are added to it - be careful! Traditionally considered a “male” dish - Georgians cook it more often and eat it more often.

🍷 Chacha or tart red wines are perfect for chashushuli.

Boiled tender chicken in nut sauce with cilantro, Imeretian saffron (marigolds), suneli and garlic. Every housewife is obliged to cook satsivi well; it is considered festive and is highly revered.

🍷 For satsivi, choose dry white wine with a balanced taste (Rkatsiteli + Mtsvane, Kakhetian wines...); You can take a chance with pink.

National soups

There's nothing to even think about... Kharcho! This is a thick soup with beef, rice, nuts and plums (the latter are added in the form of tkemale sauce or tklapi - dried fruit cakes). In addition to the standard set of spices, they put a lot of garlic in it. By the way, ready-made kharcho mixture is sold everywhere in Georgia and is very tasty. Take it home with Svan salt as a souvenir, and you will remember this magical country for a long time when cooking at home.

Hash - a very interesting Caucasian soup, which is believed to have ritual significance. This is an interpretation of tripe and beef broth,It is served with garlic, pepper, herbs and grated radish. Once prescribed as a cure for fever, as a preventative against colds in winter, and even as an antidepressant.Withanta.

🍷 Interesting thing: khash is never eaten with cognac - only with chacha :).

What to try for the second

In general, traditional Georgian cuisine is distinguished by its sharpness, dense, rich taste, often contains meat, and spices are an integral attribute of it. The most delicious dishes in Georgia are meat dishes.

Traditional poultry stew with vegetables. Initially it was prepared from pheasant, which has now been replaced with chicken for some reason :). Of the vegetables, onions are definitely present, the rest is a flight of the chef’s imagination. The meat turns out tender, the taste is strong, because when stewing it is customary not to add water and all the moisture comes only from the products.

Tender, golden-crusted chkmeruli chicken is first fried until crispy in a ketsi frying pan and then simmered in a light creamy garlic sauce - a great example of how simple ingredients, put together correctly, create incredibly rich flavor. Chkmeruli is sometimes confused with Turkish tabaka chicken, but they only have in common the flattened shape of the carcass and the crust, but the sauces are completely different.

🍷🍷 Dry white wine is perfect for chicken, but beware of using too light wines for chakhokhbili - spices can overwhelm their taste.

- one of the most common second. Essentially it is fried meat with potatoes and onions, served on ketsi. The dish is spicy, of course.

🍷 You can treat yourself to saperavi or stick to proven chacha.

The most delicious Georgian dishes for vegetarians

Despite the fact that Georgians are meat-eating people, vegetarians will also be interested here :). The main vegetable ingredients are beans, beans, eggplants, corn, peppers, tomatoes.

Pkhali — collective name for snacks, which can be based on various products, seasoned with a sauce of walnuts, pepper, garlic, cilantro, onions, suneli hops and wine vinegar. Usually vegetables andfreshtops: spinach(most common option), beets,cabbage, Swiss chard... the ingredients are lightly blanched or left raw. Sometimes pkhali are meat or fish - check!

🍷 Depending on the ingredient, choose different wines. For the most common spinach vegetables, you can take thin white ones from Imereti or Racha. If you don't know what they'll serve, just order local - it always goes well with vegetables.

Lobio made from beans. They can be very different depending on the region: cold appetizers (like pkhali), hot stewed beans or fried green beans... one thing is for sure: Georgians know a lot about beans and cook them perfectly with enviable consistency! ;)

In the first photo - cold pkhali from lobio, in the second - hot lobio in a pot

Badrijani- amazing eggplant dishes. Like pkhali, they differ by region. These could be rolls with minced vegetables, eggplant caviar, a version of pkhali made from lightly poached vegetables with nuts... Be sure to try fried eggplants, in which a spicy curd mass with nuts is wrapped in a roll. For everyone who loves this noble vegetable - a must have!

- in fact, this is an analogue of our lecho or European ratatouille. It is based on stewed eggplants, any vegetables can be added to them, and a classic local set of spices. Adjapsandal is served hot or cold.

🍷🍷🍷 For cold beans and eggplants you can take white, it's hot them - red, for love Chacha will suit you ;).

Chvishtari— suluguni cubes fried in corn dough. They are especially good hot, while the delicious cheese still stretches and melts in your mouth...

Mchadi- a corn flatbread, which in western Georgia is served instead of bread.

🍷 There is no need to invent a bicycle here: for dishes made from Suluguni and corn, take the local “rusk” - you won’t go wrong.

Fermented milk drinks

We recommend trying it with fermented milk matsoni(or matsun) is a traditional fermented milk drink originally from Armenia, which has spread widely in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. It is this that serves as the starter for real khachapuri. A vegetarian soup is made from matsoni called cheshamanda. It is thickened with flour, seasoned with eggs, nuts, onions and herbs.

Sweets

Surprisingly, there are no complex cakes and pastries in traditional Georgian cuisine. This is probably due to the abundance of fruits and berries in the vastness of the region, but they don’t bother with complex recipes.

Churchkhela

You will see it literally at every step: it hangs from the counters in multi-colored clusters, and is eaten by both village children and businessmen in restaurants. What are these strange sticks, so different from the delicacies we are used to?

Churchkhela is the oldest sweet in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. According to legend, it appeared as a high-calorie snack for travelers because it does not spoil for a very long time. It is made like this: walnut kernels are strung on a thread, dipped in evaporated and flour-thickened grape juice, then dried in the sun. Real tasty churchkhela should be rich in color, matte and hard. “Whitish” churchkhelas are made from unripe or low-quality grapes, with chalk added to the juice to reduce acidity. Shiny churchkhelas are smeared with oil to give them brightness. Soft churchkhelas have the unpleasant property of melting in luggage :).

Pelamushi, or Tatara

in restaurants:delicate grape pudding(Obe sure to try it!);

in everyday life: thick chilled grape jelly, served with nuts. In fact, churchkhela is made from hot pelomushi, that is, the taste will be familiar.

Tklapi

Flatbreads made from dried fruit puree. They can be made from a wide variety of fruits and berries: plums, cherries, apricots, peaches, figs... They are rarely consumed as an independent dish, but Georgian housewives regularly use them as an ingredient in dishes and sauces: kharcho, chakhokhbili, tkemale. Take a couple of pieces home with you and experiment in the kitchen ;)

Of course, in big cities, those with a sweet tooth can easily find European confectionery shops where all kinds of desserts are presented, but in the periphery you will have to subsist on churchkhela and store-bought candy bars - be prepared;)

In the photo - a showcase of a confectionery shop in Batumi

This article is far from a complete description of the gastronomic world of the region, which is too rich and beautiful to fit into one story or one trip. But for the first acquaintance it will be enough for you :). The main thing is not to be afraid to experiment, and the traditional cuisine of Georgia will forever take pride of place in your sophisticated gourmet heart. We hope that you will travel with us and invite you to our trips!

P.S. Don't forget to say THANK YOU to the manager of hikes in Georgia, Vasily, for taking the trouble to write such a detailed guide for his tourists;)

P.P.S… and share the article with your friends!💙

Georgian cuisine is multifaceted and varied. This is an ideal country for every lover of gastronomic masterpieces. Local chefs surprise not only with delicious pastries and excellent cheeses, which are served with rich, strong chacha and wines. National Georgian meat dishes are also signature. Who hasn’t heard about Georgian kebab, tabaka chicken or the most tender satsivi? Who hasn’t at least once tasted khinkali that melts on your lips? Georgians combine any type of meat, be it pork, young calf, fresh lamb or poultry with vegetables, dough or side dishes, into a real delicacy.

Meat delicacies

When you are in the country on business or as a traveler, be sure to stop by local cafes and try Georgian cuisine so that you can repeat the ones you like at home when you return. Before you place an order, look at the photos of the offerings on the menu to know exactly what to expect.

Soups

First of all, pay attention to hot soups. Dining “first”, “second” and “third” is common not only in Russia. Fully filled with meat and sprinkled with spices and herbs, they do not at all resemble our light chicken broths. Almost always, one plate of thick and viscous liquid can completely saturate you. A few of them:

- has existed for many years, and therefore has been modified more than once, supplemented with various herbs and spices. You can prepare it in Georgian or Megrelian, but in any version three ingredients remain unchanged - beef, walnuts and tklapi, in other words, formed into lavash and dried sweet and sour tkemali plum puree. The latter is often replaced with pomegranate juice, tomato paste or fresh cherry plum. An incredible aroma, pungency and notes of bitterness are given to the soup by chopped herbs and an abundance of garlic. It always turns out satisfying, with a lot of grounds.
The basis is a fatty beef leg broth with garlic, which is boiled for 8-10 hours. As a result, it is similar to our jellied meat, but it is consumed hot. The recipe does not contain any herbs or vegetables, so cooks sometimes sprinkle the broth with chopped dill. It is famous for its beneficial properties: it strengthens bones and joints, adds vital energy and effectively relieves hangovers, so it is usually consumed in the morning, for breakfast.
– a thick, pasty soup made from tender chicken breast or turkey meat. Its consistency is created by a certain amount of corn flour, and its spicy aroma is created by herbs, a high content of spices and eggs. The latter must be skillfully added to the composition so that they do not curl, but completely dissolve. To create an unusual taste and slight sourness, you can add a couple of drops of lemon and pomegranate juice to the soup.

Main dishes

If you are not a fan of liquid hot food, the cookbook of Georgian national recipes using meat or poultry contains many other delicious snacks and nutritious dishes.

- These are local dumplings, where the meat is originally wrapped in dough in the form of a small bag. Typically, beef or lamb is used as a filling, combined with cilantro, bitter onions and garlic. They eat this treat exclusively with their hands, first biting into the shell to drink the delicious meat juice, and then everything else. Georgians consider the top ponytail tasteless and throw it away.
– one of the most delicious meat delicacies in the country. These are pieces of chicken generously seasoned with nut sauce, to which ground spices are added: cloves, cinnamon, coriander and chopped fresh herbs. The sauce takes a long time to prepare, spices and chopped nuts are boiled until a creamy consistency is formed, and only at the end the poultry and onion pieces are thrown into it.
Mtsvadi is the Georgian name for our classic kebab. If you expect to feel the pleasant aroma of fried meat or bite into a finished piece of it, soaked in smoke and incredibly soft, you will be truly disappointed. Georgians have a slightly different attitude towards the dish, the preparation of which is considered a whole ritual in our country. It is much better to try mtsvadi in a Georgian restaurant in Russia - there they will make it more tender, well soaked and more familiar in taste.
- easy to implement, roast lamb, which during the stewing process is imbued with the smell and taste of eggplant, fresh tomatoes, sweet peppers, onions and carrots. This dish is usually served in clay pots, generously sprinkled with herbs and bay leaves.
– Georgian meat dish made from young lamb. The peak of its preparation occurs at the time when not quite ripe tkemali fruits hang on the trees. It is in their pulp and squeezed from tarragon and sweet onions that fresh lamb is stewed, combined with vegetables, cilantro, parsley, finely chopped garlic and hot pepper. The classic cooking recipe also includes a spoonful of dry white wine, which makes chakapuli even more tender and adds a slight bitterness and sourness.
Ojakhuri is another masterpiece on the table of Georgian traditional cuisine. Translated, “ojahi” means family, which means the dish is ideal for a delicious family dinner. These are pieces of meat (pork or beef), cooked in the form of a roast with potatoes, generously crushed with herbs and spices. Coriander, savory, suneli hops, garlic, cilantro seeds, juicy dill leaves make its taste unique, its smell intoxicating, and its appearance appetizing.
or ostri - a dish of Caucasian cuisine, which translated from Georgian means “stew”. It is based on the pulp of a pig or cow, sometimes it is replaced with chicken, as well as mushrooms, beans and other vegetables. This is an easy and quick way to feed your household tasty and satisfying meals. Its classic presentation in restaurants across the country is done in kets. Usually, no side dish is provided for the meal.
Yakhni is a Georgian beef dish. It requires beef breast, chopped into small pieces and boiled in a thick sauce of walnuts and seasonings. In appearance, it resembles a thickened soup, something between broth and sautéed vegetables. In Adjara, the dish is called wedding and is prepared in huge portions in cauldrons. This is a spicy and juicy treat that is best enjoyed with a piece of fresh pita bread or a slice of freshly baked bread. They eat it hot and fresh.
- one of the most famous recipes of Georgian cuisine, which has been popular in all corners of our planet for many decades. It is easy to repeat at home using instructions with photos or video recipes. This is chicken, fried under pressure with pepper in a special frying pan, strewn with herbs and spices. The best additions for it are garlic sauce or melted butter. In Imereti, it is served with pureed blackberries mixed with garlic and cilantro.
also sometimes called "tabaka chicken", but it is prepared a little differently. This happens in several stages. First, it is cut along the breast, marinated with salt and pepper, fried over low heat, and then baked in the oven, generously doused with a milk sauce made from full-fat sour cream and 33 percent cream with a lot of cilantro. Thanks to the last component, the meat turns out tender and soft, aromatic and original in taste.
Dolma is the Georgian equivalent of our cabbage rolls, with the difference that instead of a simple cabbage wrapper, the lamb is wrapped in grape leaves, which give a pleasant sourness. The recipe allows you to mix minced meat for the filling with steamed rice, and then boil the twisted bags in a spicy tomato sauce.

National Georgian cuisine has given the world at least several delicious dishes that we enjoy eating to this day. Suluguni, khachapuri, tkemali, adjika - all this comes from Georgia. Do you want to get to know the recipes of Georgian cuisine better? Then let's continue...

From the point of view of gastronomic preferences, the residents of Georgia can be conditionally divided into Western and Eastern (relative to the Suram Pass). In the West, they prefer hot sauces and suluguni, while in the east, even the hottest adjikas have a relatively mild taste (compared to Western ones), and among the cheeses they eat here, salty-spicy Kobi cheese is more popular than suluguni.

As for bread, in the west of the country flatbreads, pita breads, gomi and other types of bread are more often prepared from corn, and in the east wheat bread is more common (the influence of Persian cuisine is evident).

Georgians also have different tastes when it comes to meat: in addition to beef, Westerners eat mainly turkey and chicken meat, while Easterners eat lamb. But fish dishes are not popular throughout Georgia, because the nearest sea is not so close...

If we talk about some non-standard features of Georgian cuisine, then it is definitely worth noting the popularity of nuts (hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts), which in this country are added not only to baked goods and desserts, but also to other dishes (from appetizers to soups) . And, of course, the tradition of flavoring almost any dish with all sorts of hot and sour sauces like tkemali and adjika deserves special mention.

At this delicious moment, we, unfortunately (or fortunately), are forced to interrupt the theoretical acquaintance with Georgian culinary traditions and move on to an even more delicious practical part - to study recipes for Georgian dishes.

There is a belief among Georgians that when God distributed the earth among the peoples, the Georgians were busy and had no intention of participating in the general fuss. They sat and leisurely drank wine and ate barbecue. The Lord was so touched by this that he took and gave them Georgia - the land that he saved for himself.

Everything in Georgia is connected with food, feasts and wine! Take any painting by any Georgian artist, and you will definitely see images of stately Georgian men at a generously laid table, on which there is certainly wine. What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear "Georgia"? Of course, these are lobio, satsivi, khachapuri, suluguni, tkemali... Names that sound like music!

We offer you the 10 best recipes of Georgian cuisine. You can start cooking at home now, or you can go on a gastronomic tour of Georgia with the popular culinary blogger Anastasia Tretyakova and learn from local residents and chefs!

1. Khachapuri

These fluffy flatbreads with gooey cheese inside will drive you crazy. It's impossible to stop! You pinch off a piece, then another piece and another... Khachapuri comes in several types: in Adjarian - in the shape of a boat, with an egg added on top of the cheese filling, in Imeretian - in the form of a flatbread with cheese filling made from Imeretian cheese, in Mingrelian - in in the form of a flatbread with cheese filling, sprinkled with cheese on top. Try making Imeretian khachapuri.

Ingredients:

Matsoni or kefir 500 ml
Milk 200 ml
Chicken egg 3 pcs.
Melted butter 100 g
Vegetable oil 100 g
Flour 800-1000 g
Dry yeast 10 g
Sugar 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Imereti cheese (or Adyghe cheese, soaked feta cheese) 1 kg
Butter 75 g
Sour cream 1 tbsp. l.
Yolk 1 pc.

Cooking method

Add a pinch of sugar and yeast to warm (not hot!) milk, pour in a little sunflower oil (2 tablespoons), sprinkle with flour and place in a warm place for 15 minutes.
Add matsoni (kefir), one egg and half of the pre-sifted flour to the yeast mixture. Stir, gradually adding cooled melted butter, salt and remaining flour. From time to time, pour a few drops of vegetable oil into your palm so that the dough does not stick to your hands.
Form the dough into a ball, sprinkle with flour and let it rise for 1 hour. Stir and leave to rise again for another 1 hour.
Grate the cheese on a coarse grater, add the egg and stir in the softened butter.
Divide the dough and filling into 5-6 parts. Roll each part of the dough into a flat cake 1 centimeter thick, lay out the filling, leaving 3-4 centimeters from the edge. We connect the edges, turn them over with the tucks down and carefully roll them out to a thickness of 1 centimeter. Grease the khachapuri with a mixture of yolk and sour cream and prick it several times with a fork. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 180-200 degrees. Grease with butter, let cool slightly and serve.

2. Pkhali

Truly, Georgian dishes can please vegetarians too! Pkhali is an appetizer in the form of a pate of boiled (stewed) vegetables with nut dressing. Pkhali can be made from young cabbage, green beans, eggplant, beets or beet tops, or spinach. Pinch off a piece of fresh lavash, spread it on the pkhali, put it in your mouth and close your eyes with pleasure!

Ingredients:

Spinach leaves 500 g
Shelled walnuts 75-100 g
Large onion 1 PC.
Garlic 2-3 pcs.
Cilantro 1 bunch
Pomegranate 1 pc.
Utskho-suneli or hops-suneli 1 tsp.
1 tbsp. l.
taste
Walnut oil optional

Cooking method

Wash the spinach thoroughly and place it in a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes, set aside and let drain. We squeeze it out.
Grind walnuts, garlic, onions, herbs in a meat grinder or blender. Add spices, salt and pepper. Knead. We also pass the squeezed spinach through a meat grinder. If the mass turns out to be liquid, squeeze it again.
Mix spinach with nut dressing. Add a little wine vinegar. Place the resulting mass in the form of balls, sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and lightly sprinkle with walnut oil.

3. Lobio

Lobio translated from Georgian means “beans”. There are many variations of lobio, differing from each other in the types of beans used, additional ingredients and seasonings. But the recipe for lobio requires onions, vegetable oil and wine vinegar. In addition to these basic ingredients, you can use walnuts, Imeretian cheese, tomatoes, tklapi, seasoning it all with cilantro, celery, basil, leeks, mint, thyme, black or red pepper, Imeretian saffron, cinnamon, cloves, hop mixture suneli and garlic.

Ingredients:

Beans 500 g
Large bulbs 2 pcs.
Cilantro 1 large bunch
Garlic 3-4 cloves
Salt, adjika, suneli hops, ground coriander taste

Cooking method

Soak the beans overnight in cold water. Chop 1 onion fairly large, add to the beans and cook with the lid closed until the beans are ready. During this time, the onion will practically dissolve and give off all its flavor. The beans should be completely soft and mash into a paste with a spoon.
Chop the cilantro and chop the garlic. Cut the second onion into thin half rings. Mash the beans so that some of the beans remain intact. Stirring constantly, add adjika, coriander, suneli hops, and salt.
Then turn off the stove and immediately add chopped herbs, onions and garlic. Stir, cover with a lid and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Serve lobio with roast pork or gomi (corn porridge).

4. Satsivi with chicken

These are pieces of chicken soaked in a delicate sauce with a tart, nutty aroma. The fresher the nuts, the more delicate the taste and aroma. Cinnamon, cloves, and Imeretian saffron give this dish a truly Georgian flavor. Not a single Christmas table is complete without satsivi.

Ingredients:

Chicken 1 pc.
Shelled walnuts 500 g
Onion 4-5 pcs.
Garlic 1/2 head
Cilantro 1 large bunch
White wine vinegar or pomegranate juice 1 tbsp. l.
Ground coriander 1 tbsp. l.
Ground Imeretian saffron 1 tbsp. l.
Ground cinnamon on the tip of a knife
Salt, pepper to taste
Butter for greasing

Cooking method

Boil the chicken. Strain the broth and cool. Finely chop the onion and fry until transparent for about 10 minutes. Finely chop the cilantro.
Grind the nuts by passing them through a meat grinder or using a food processor. Mix them with spices and chopped cilantro. Crush the clove buds and add to the nut mixture along with cinnamon. Dissolve the nuts with a ladle of cooled broth to a paste. Grind the garlic with salt, add to the nuts and stir.
Place the remaining broth (1.2-1.5 liters) back on the fire. When the broth boils, reduce the heat and, stirring constantly, gradually add the nut mixture. Then bring the sauce to a boil and let it simmer for a few minutes. Add sautéed onions and pieces of boiled chicken fillet, let the dish boil again, add vinegar. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes.
Turn off, cover with a lid and let it brew. Satsivi can be served hot or cold with fresh shoti bread, cooked in a special tone oven, or with gomi (corn porridge).

5. Chakhokhbili

Chakhokhbili is a hot, aromatic chicken stew, moderately spicy, with a bright and rich taste, since it is cooked in its own juice with minimal addition of liquid. The name of this dish comes from the Georgian word “khokhobi”, which means “pheasant”. But don’t be upset if you don’t have a carcass of freshly shot game in your refrigerator. Feel free to use chicken.

Ingredients:

Chicken 1.5-2 kg
Onion 3-4 pcs.
Large tomatoes 4 things.
Tomato paste 2 tbsp. l.
Fresh hot pepper 1 PC.
Garlic 4-5 cloves
Adjika 1 tsp.
Cilantro 1 bunch
Utskho-suneli and coriander 3/4 tsp each
Vegetable oil approximately

Cooking method

We carve the chicken and cut it into pieces. Finely chop the onion and sauté in a separate bowl until transparent. Place the chicken in a pan with thick walls (preferably cast iron), add vegetable oil, salt and simmer over low heat under the lid for 20-30 minutes in its own juice. Add onion to chicken.
Cut the tomatoes into cubes and simmer for 3-4 minutes, then add tomato paste and simmer for a few more minutes. Add tomato dressing to the chicken. If there is not enough liquid in the pan, you can add a little water.
Chop half of the cilantro. Add adjika, cilantro, peeled and chopped hot pepper to chakhokhbili. Simmer the chicken for another 30-40 minutes. The chicken should literally fall apart into fibers. Now add utskho-suneli, coriander and chopped garlic. Salt, add the remaining half a bunch of cilantro, mix, cover with a lid and turn off. Let stand for 15 minutes and serve.

6. Kharcho

Kharcho means "beef soup". Thick, scalding, spicy, rich, aromatic, spicy beef soup with nuts, tkemali plums, herbs and garlic. Initially, the recipe uses beef, but you can make kharcho from both lamb and chicken.

Cooking method

Beef brisket 1 kg
Walnuts 200 g
Rice 1 cup
Onion 4-5 pcs.
Cilantro 1 large bunch
Parsley 1 large bunch
Garlic 3-4 cloves
Hot pepper 1 pc.
Khmeli-suneli, bay leaf taste
Salt, freshly ground black and allspice taste
Tklapi 2 pieces (10x10

Cooking method

Slice the brisket, add water, bring to a boil, skim off the foam and cook for 1.5 hours. At this time, soak the tklapi in water in a small bowl.
Chop the onion coarsely and sauté until transparent. Place the rice in the broth, bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. At this time, chop the garlic and chop the hot pepper. Chop the nuts with a knife or pass through a meat grinder.
Mix pepper, nuts, garlic. Stir in a small amount of broth. Place the spicy nut mixture into the pan with the broth. Add chopped greens there. Then add tklapi (or 5-6 tablespoons of tkemali, or 1 can (450 grams) of pureed tomatoes), salt, pepper, bay leaf, let simmer for 10-15 minutes and turn off.

7. Khinkali

“Bags” of elastic thin dough with a spicy and juicy meat filling. Don’t offend Georgians by comparing them to our dumplings. And God forbid you use a fork and knife! Khinkali is eaten only with your hands! We tilt the khinkali a little, bite the dough, sip the hot broth, making characteristic sounds, then add simple garlic sauce (finely chopped garlic with water) or satsebeli into the hole with a spoon and enjoy the filling... Leave the tail on the plate. The weakest eater is determined by the number of such tails. Don't lose face!

Ingredients:

Wheat flour 500 g
Water 300 ml
Mixed minced meat (fat pork + beef) 500 g
Onion 2 large
Garlic 2-3 cloves
Cilantro 1 bunch
Salt to taste

Cooking method

First we prepare the minced meat. Add chopped onion and garlic to the meat. Then gradually add water into the minced meat: as much as the minced meat can take. For 500 grams of minced meat we need approximately 100-150 milliliters of water. After this, add finely chopped cilantro.
Knead the dough from flour, salt and 150 grams of flour. Roll out the dough. Place 1 heaped tablespoon of minced meat in the middle of each sheet of dough (knead the minced meat again before laying it out).
We gather the edges of the dough with an accordion as tightly as possible. The more folds you get, the better. Ideally there should be 19 of them.
Tear off the excess dough on top and place the khinkali on a cutting board lightly sprinkled with flour. We lower the khinkali into boiling water (broth) and wait for them to float up. Cook for literally another 2-3 minutes and remove. Place on a plate and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

8. Adzhapsandali

Purple glossy eggplants, pot-bellied red sweet peppers, juicy carrots, sugar tomatoes, onions, garlic, aromatic herbs and spices - all these colors and flavors are intertwined in one dish called ajapsandali. Vegetables for ajapsandali are stewed in a large cast iron cauldron without adding water, and it is especially tasty the next day.

Ingredients:

Eggplants 1 kg
Tomatoes 500 g
Sweet pepper 500 g
Onion 250 g
Carrots 250 g
Hot green pepper 1 pod
Garlic 1 head
Cilantro, parsley, basil 1 bunch each
Utskho-suneli (khmeli-suneli) 2 tsp.
Imereti saffron 1/2 tsp.
Salt, freshly ground black pepper taste
Vegetable oil approximately

In general, over the past trips I have accumulated a lot of delicious photos! I thought, why shouldn’t such goodness go to waste... Absolutely all the dishes on the list, where there is a photo, were subjected to my personal tasting. No rewriting from Wikipedia in the style of “just to write, and more.” If there is no photo, then this is the goal for my next trip. This dish will not be on the menu above either - it’s more convenient to use the article to identify dishes by name.

Georgian dishes made from dough

Imeretian Khachapuri

Flatbread or pie with cheese. Dough, dough and more dough. Have you returned from Georgia? - throw away the scales.

Khachapuri in Imeretian style

Khachapuri in Megrelian

It differs from the Imeretian one by the presence of cheese on top. Otherwise exactly the same. We don't buy scales.

Khachapuri in Megrelian

Khachapuri in Adjara, or as it is also called “adzharuli”, is a kind of cheesecake with cheese, butter and a fried egg in the middle. Beautiful and delicious! Due to its characteristic elongated shape it is sometimes called a “boat”. One such shell - and you are neutralized until the evening.

Adjarian-style khachapuri peeled

Relatively recently (at least that’s what they say) a new variation of the traditional Adjarian-style khachapuri appeared, the so-called. peeled khachapuri in Adjarian style. All the pulp on the sides (the one that is inside) is completely cleaned out. Anyone who eats such khachapuri can only be content with the crispy crust. Here nutritionists can breathe a sigh of relief (after all, they know that fresh soft dough is quite harmful to digestion). Friends, don't overeat!

Adjarian-style khachapuri peeled

Lobiani

Pie filled with boiled beans. The photo shows the “puff” version.

Layered lobiani

Meat pie with spicy Georgian seasonings. Made in Svaneti.

Svan corn cake with cheese: corn flour and fresh suluguni cheese fried together.

Chvishtari at Malat cafe in Mestia, Svaneti

Khachapuri made from thin layers of boiled dough. A kind of Georgian lasagna. The main principle of preparation is that the dough is unsweetened and the cheese is salty.

In Tbilisi

Corn tortilla. That's all. Quite bland for my taste.

Mchadi at Maspigelo restaurant in Tbilisi

Nazuki

Sweet “buns” (see size) from the village of Surami (on the road from Tbilisi to Kutaisi). Real science can only be obtained here. The recipe is passed down from generation to generation.

Nazuki

Penovani- puff khachapuri;
Guruli- Gurian khachapuri from the Guria region, respectively. Baked in the shape of a crescent. Chopped boiled egg is added to the cheese filling;
Rachuli- khachapuri from the Racha region. It has a square shape. Spread egg yolk on top;
Chahrakini- pie with beet tops and cheese;
Gomi- corn porridge. It is not seasoned with salt and spices. Served with cheese or satsivi sauce;
Elarji- if you add cheese to gomi, you get elarji.

Cold dishes

A snack of vegetables and herbs mixed with nuts. Often the dish comes as an assortment of vegetables such as spinach, beets and eggplant. One serving is enough for a company of two or three people.

Pkhali at the Khinkali House restaurant in Tbilisi

The Georgian name is “Nigvziani Badrijani”. Badrijani translated from Georgian means eggplant. Main ingredients: eggplant, walnuts, vegetable oil, garlic and spices.

Pickles. Served as an assortment. Perhaps, from all the diversity, it is worth highlighting the so-called. dzhonjoli (a plant from the Red Book) - pickled flowers of the bush (or small tree) of the same name and green pepper. The latter is, of course, spicy.

Mtsnili at the Khinkali House restaurant in Tbilisi

Bean dish. Served in a clay pot both hot and cold. In addition to beans, this dish also includes dry red pepper and herbs.

Lobio at Laila restaurant in Mestia, Svaneti

Suluguni

Cow's cheese. The taste is quite salty and therefore it is better to combine it with something more bland.

Sulguni cheese

Matsoni

A fermented milk product made from milk (cow, sheep or goat) using a special starter culture. I would call matsoni a full-fledged Georgian yogurt. Although it happens that they drink it.

Matsoni

Chogi- vegetable appetizer of baked beets, onions and dried dogwood (such a berry);
Gebzhalia- fresh mint, matsoni, khacho cottage cheese and chinti cheese;
Mzhaveuli- pickled Georgian pickle;
Imereti cheese- a young cheese named after the region of the same name in Georgia. One of the most common lightly salted cheeses is the basis for most khachapuri;
Nadugi-cream curd cheese, tender and tasty;
Gooda- spicy mutton (sheep) cheese.

First meal

Beef soup with rice, tomato and spices on a special sour base made from dried tkemali plums. A distinctive feature is the thickness characteristic of this dish. Moderately spicy.

Kharcho at Maspigelo restaurant in Tbilisi

Chikhirtma

Chicken soup with flour, eggs and coriander. They are usually prepared with poultry broth, sometimes with lamb. A distinctive feature is the complete absence of vegetables. Not sharp.

Chikhirtma at Shavi Lomi restaurant in Tbilisi

Beef broth soup. A rich broth that is obtained by boiling beef on the bones with the addition of carrots, onions, garlic and herbs. Being a broth, it goes well with bread.

Beef tatariahni

Matsoni soup with mint

Soup made with potatoes (or rice) with traditional Georgian spices.

Matsoni soup with mint

Hashi- tripe soup, cooks for quite a long time. Traditionally eaten in the morning for a hangover;
Shechamandy- vegetarian soups. There are both lactic or fruit-sour, and nut based;
Ostry- like spicy food (second course), only soup.

Main courses of Georgian cuisine

Georgian version of dumplings. Traditionally, they eat it with their hands, and they need to bite it so as not to spill a single drop of the wonderful meat juice. Operating principle: take a bite, drink the juice, eat the rest. The filling can be very varied: from meat to vegetable. Cheap and satisfying.

Meat on a spit, shish kebab. Kebabs in Georgia are not marinated and therefore may seem a bit dry to many. In principle, in most cases this is true. But the mtsvadi in the photo was juicy.

Mtsvadi in one of the cafes in Ushguli, Svaneti

Pork fried in a clay pot with potatoes, onions and seasonings. I recommend trying it at the Maspingelo restaurant in Tbilisi, where this photo was taken. To say that it is very tasty is to say nothing! The portion should be enough for two.

Ojakhuri at Maspigelo restaurant in Tbilisi

An exclusively Adjarian dish - you can try it in Batumi restaurants. The composition consists of veal, mushrooms, onions, sour cream, cilantro and the seasoning khmeli-suneli, which is popular in Georgian cuisine. Served in a clay pot. A portion can be ordered for two.

Kaisa at Tavaduri restaurant in Batumi

A dish of young lamb or veal meat, cooked in wine with a lot of herbs and tkemali (wild plum). The photo shows the author's performance at the Litera restaurant in the Tbilisi Writers' House.

Chakapuli at Litera restaurant

Kababi

Kababi is the same Turkish kebab, only in Georgian style. Elongated cutlets, sprinkled with onion and sumac (a spice), wrapped in flat lavash bread (or without it).

Kababi at Kakhelebi restaurant

Vegetable saute in the Georgian style. The dish itself can be added to Caucasian cuisine as a whole. Specifically in Georgia, it is prepared from eggplants, tomatoes and sweet peppers with the addition of onions, garlic, cilantro and basil. When recommending Georgian cuisine to friends, I always mention my Batumi ajapsandali as one of the most delicious dishes I have ever tried in Georgia.

Adzhapsandali in Batumi Cafe Gardens

Borano in Kobuleti

Suluguni cheese fried in butter, complete with corn flour and egg. It’s better to order for breakfast - it’s very high in calories. But you can kill your little worm almost until the evening.

Borano in Kobuleti

Megrelian kharcho is prepared from veal, walnuts and tomato paste with the addition of dry white wine. Seasonings include: cilantro, young coriander, saffron and suneli hops. Not to be confused with kharcho soup - these are two completely different dishes. They have only one thing in common: Megrelian kharcho and kharcho soup - those dishes of Georgian cuisine that are definitely worth trying at least once.

Kharcho Megrelian in Sazandari in Batumi

Elarji

A Megrelian dish based on corn grits and flour, plus suluguni cheese. If cooked correctly, it melts in your mouth.

Elarji at Dadiani restaurant in Tbilisi

Gebzhalia

A cold dish originally from Megrel. Prepared from young Imeretian cheese with the addition of mint. Served with cottage cheese (naduga) sauce or matsoni sauce.

Gebzhalia

Mashed potatoes with Imeretian cheese. It is also called “elardzhi in Svan” (elardzhi is an independent dish). It is prepared mainly in the Georgian region of Svaneti. By the way, it is better to season Georgian dishes in this region with Svan salt. That's more interesting.

A dish of veal or beef stewed in tomatoes. Moderately spicy. Served in earthenware. Ostri is the second name of the same dish. I personally was not able to identify any significant differences in the recipe, and most importantly, the taste, when tasting both. Maybe you know? - write, please, in the comments.

A dish of chicken stewed with tomatoes, onions, herbs and wine. The latter is hardly noticeable, if not completely absent.

A lamb dish with vegetables, potatoes, all kinds of herbs and traditional Georgian spices. Reminds me of vegetable stew. Traditionally prepared in clay pots.

Minced meat with rice and herbs, wrapped in grape leaves. Served with garlic sauce (matsoni is a fermented milk product similar to yogurt or curdled milk).

Roast veal liver (heart or kidneys) with herbs, Georgian spices and garlic. Translated into Georgian, jigari means “insides”. In general, the dish is not for everyone, although it is quite tasty (if you know how to cook it, of course).

Kupaty

Georgian sausages. First they boil it, and then fry it in a frying pan or coals.

Kupaty

Muzhuzhi- Georgian jellied meat based on pork;
Satsivi- one of the most difficult dishes of Georgian cuisine to prepare. A poultry dish (mostly chicken) combined with chopped walnuts, sauce and seasonings. Don’t try to order it in restaurants - real satsivi takes at least 3 hours to prepare. Served cold.
Kaurma- spicy lamb stew with vegetables and spices;
Chkmeruli- chicken in creamy garlic sauce cooked in ketsi.

Georgian bread

Shoti puri

Georgian bread baked in a large round oven “tone” (also called tandoor), which is a large clay vessel half buried in the ground.

Shoti puri at Maspigelo restaurant in Tbilisi

Georgian lavash. The dough contains only water, flour, salt and no yeast. Like shoti, tone is baked in a clay oven at high temperatures, which is why it becomes so soft and airy. Hello nutritionists!

Madauri at Sazandari restaurant in Batumi

Sauces

Nut sauce with spices. I can say that in my personal rating of sauces, Bazhe rightfully occupies a leading position and has not yet lost it to anyone. If you prepare it correctly, pleasure is guaranteed. Airy, vaguely reminiscent of artichoke cream soup.

Tkemali (wild plum) sauce with spices, garlic and herbs. Goes well with fish, meat, poultry, potato and pasta side dishes.

Churchkhela in the Wallmart supermarket in Batumi

Homemade churchkhela in Kakheti

Grape juice boiled with cornmeal. Served chilled as jelly.

Pelamushi in one of the cafes in Batumi

Homemade pelamushi

Gozinaki- a dessert made from walnuts and honey.

Epilogue

It is highly recommended to check your satiety level after each meal you eat. "How?" - you ask. Well, for example, you can turn on this track* and try to dance to the beat. Weak? But Georgians can... Master classes can be obtained directly in Georgia.

P.S.

Friends, if you know any dishes of Georgian cuisine that are not on this list, please write their names in the comments below. I will add them to my dictionary and take a beautiful photo in one of the restaurants in Georgia. Why in Georgia? Yes, because only Georgia has the most correct portions... 😉

Friends! Thank you for reading to the end. I get a bonus for showing interest, and you get a bonus for registering via the link. This is how we will say thank you to each other.