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Recipes with khmeli-suneli

7 recipes that use khmeli-suneli, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Tklapi soup, takes 40 minutes. It is most often cooked with coriander, garlic and onion.

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Tklapi soup

Tklapi are thin sheets of plum purée dried on boards in the late-summer sun around Kutaisi, rolled up and hung from rafters for the winter; dissolved in hot water, they turn into a sharp, fruity base for soups and sauces. This Imeretian Lenten soup is made in the cold months when fresh fruit is gone, thickened with walnuts and lifted with coriander, mint and garlic. If you cannot find tklapi, use dried sour plum leather or a mix of tkemali sauce and prunes. A common mistake is boiling the soup hard after the walnuts go in; they turn oily and the soup splits. Chef's tip: soak the tklapi in hot water first and rub it through a sieve, so the soup is smooth and free of stones or skins.

40 minGeorgianSoupsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kharcho

Kharcho is the soup Tbilisi cooks make when the weather turns cold: beef brisket simmered until it falls apart, then thickened with rice and ground walnuts and given its sour, tangy edge by tkemali plum sauce, with khmeli-suneli, garlic and a lot of coriander. It is spooned into deep bowls in old-town cafés and eaten with shoti bread, and it is thick enough to be a whole meal. A common mistake is adding the rice too early, so it swells into porridge and the soup loses its body. Chef's tip: grind the walnuts with garlic and a ladle of hot broth before stirring them in, so they thicken the soup smoothly rather than floating as crumbs.

140 minGeorgianSoupsSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ostri

Ostri is a dish of the old Tbilisi duqani, the cellar taverns of Sololaki and the sulphur-bath district, where it is served in small clay bowls with bread and a glass of something red: beef cut small, browned and simmered with onion, tomato, a little pickled cucumber and plenty of garlic and hot pepper until thick and glossy. It should be fiery, sour and rich all at once. A common mistake is crowding the pan when browning, which makes the beef stew in grey juices instead of searing. Chef's tip: add the garlic and herbs only in the final minutes, so the stew finishes with a fresh, sharp heat.

100 minGeorgianMeatGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ojakhuri

Ojakhuri simply means 'of the family', and in Tbilisi it is the plate a family orders to share at a weekend lunch, sizzling in a ketsi clay pan: pieces of pork neck or shoulder fried until browned and juicy, tossed with crisp fried potatoes, onion and herbs, sometimes with a spoon of tkemali on the side. This is a pork dish. A common mistake is frying the potatoes with the pork from the start; the meat stews and the potatoes never crisp. Chef's tip: fry the two separately and combine them only for the last 2 minutes, which is how Georgian cooks keep both crisp. Pork pieces this size are safe once the juices run clear and the thickest piece reaches 71 °C.

50 minGeorgianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kupati

Kupati are the coarse, spicy sausages of Imereti, made after a winter pig slaughter and grilled over vine cuttings or fried in a pan with onions; in Kutaisi they are a staple of village feasts. This is a pork recipe: minced pork shoulder with a share of pork heart and liver, seasoned with dried barberries, garlic, cinnamon, khmeli-suneli and hot pepper, stuffed into casings. A common mistake is overfilling the casings, which makes them burst as they cook. Chef's tip: poach the sausages gently first, then brown them; they cook through evenly and stay juicy. Pork sausages must reach 71 °C in the centre.

90 minGeorgianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Abkhazura

Abkhazura is a feast dish from Samegrelo and the old Abkhazian borderlands, still on the menu of Zugdidi restaurants: finely chopped beef and pork, seasoned with onion, garlic, dried barberries, hot pepper and herbs, wrapped in thin, lacy caul fat and grilled over coals or fried until crisp outside and juicy inside. This contains pork. Served with tkemali and raw onion rings. A common mistake is using lean mince, which makes the patties dry; the fat is what keeps them succulent. Chef's tip: soak caul fat in warm salted water for 10 minutes so it softens and stretches without tearing. Minced meat must reach 71 °C in the middle.

55 minGeorgianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kuchmachi

Kuchmachi is supra food from western Georgia, particularly Imereti and Racha: offal, usually chicken hearts and livers or beef tripe and liver, fried with onion and then folded into a spicy walnut sauce and showered with pomegranate seeds. It is served warm or at room temperature in a clay dish, with cold wine and bread. This version uses chicken offal, which is easy to find and quick to cook. A common mistake is overcooking the livers until grainy; take them off as soon as the centre has lost its pink. Chef's tip: fry hearts and livers separately, since hearts need longer. Chicken offal is cooked when no pink remains and it reaches 74 °C.

50 minGeorgianMeatGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with khmeli-suneli