Khinkali - what kind of dish is this and how to cook it?

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Khinkali is a traditional Caucasian dish. Georgia is considered the birthplace of this dish, but the housewives of Dagestan, Armenia, Abkhazia and many other countries are happy to cook it. From this article you will learn how to cook real Georgian khinkali. Photos of this dish will help you properly arrange it and wrap the dough.

Classic khinkali dough

This recipe will serve you well if you decide to cook dumplings or manti. Making dough on it is very simple, and the set of products that you need is minimal. The recipe is described below.

• Sieve two cups of white flour through a sieve onto a board or work surface. Make a depression in the resulting slide, put a teaspoon of s alt and two tablespoons of vegetable oil in it.
• With one hand, start pouring a glass of ice water into the flour, and mix the dough with the other. When you get a soft and homogeneous lump, cover it with a towel and let it lie down for half an hour.
• When the right time has passed, sift more on the tablea glass of flour and continue kneading the dough. Cover the workpiece again with a cloth and leave for another half hour.
• Sift another glass of flour and knead a firm dough that does not stick to your hands. From it you can cook dumplings, manti or khinkali and enjoy your favorite dishes. This dough is suitable for any recipe.

Georgian Khinkali (with photo)

The requirements for the form and content of classic khinkali are quite strict. Firstly, only lamb or goat meat can be used for the filling, secondly, the size of khinkali should correspond to a walnut, and thirdly, there should be at least twenty folds on the dough. Fortunately, the modern approach to cooking this dish has changed somewhat and has become much softer. Therefore, read how to cook khinkali in Georgian, and feel free to get down to business.

• Sieve one glass of flour through a sieve, pour half a glass of ice water into it, add s alt and a spoonful of vegetable oil. Knead the dough, cover it with a towel and leave for half an hour.
• 150 grams of lamb (can be replaced with lean pork) and 150 grams of beef minced with a knife. Add finely chopped onion, s alt and water. Minced meat should be homogeneous in composition and elastic enough.
• Add another glass of sifted flour into the dough and knead everything together for about ten minutes. After that, leave it for another half hour under the cloth. When the right time has passed, the dough should be divided into several parts.
• Roll each blank thinly on the table with a rolling pin, and thencut circles with a diameter of 15 cm.
• In the center of each circle, put one and a half tablespoons of minced meat. Use both hands to shape the dough into a bag, pinching the edges at the top.
• Boil one and a half liters of water in a saucepan, dip khinkali into it and cook until fully cooked. It turns out such beauty, as in the photo below.

Classic khinkali

This Georgian dish has a lot in common with dumplings or manti that we have known since childhood. For him, unleavened dough, meat filling are prepared in the same way, and finished products are boiled in boiling water until tender. However, there are a number of differences that give a special taste to Georgian khinkali. Recipe:

• For minced meat, chop 350 grams of pork and 500 grams of beef with a sharp knife. If you have a meat grinder with a large grate, then you can skip the meat through it. Peel and chop three onions and five cloves of garlic. Mix the ingredients, add s alt, pepper, suneli hops and finely chopped greens (half a bunch of dill, parsley and cilantro) to them.
• Knead the minced meat well with your hands and add enough water to it - one and a half or two glasses. The filling should be juicy, moist and smooth.
• For the dough, sift four cups of flour, add s alt and water. All ingredients should be mixed well and left to rest for a while under a towel.
• Divide the finished dough into pieces the size of a walnut, and then roll out each piece on a floured table. You should get circlesthe size of a CD.
• Place a heaping tablespoon of minced meat on each flatbread and seal the edges with an accordion, gathering them in the center.
• Boil water in a saucepan, add some s alt and put khinkali into it. Make sure they don't stick to the bottom and cook until done.

Serve ready-made khinkali hot with tkemali or satsebeli sauce.

Khinkali with potatoes

This dish will appeal to those who have given up meat or are trying to reduce their consumption. You can cook it during fasting or fasting days. To make proper khinkali you will need:

• Knead the dough with 400 ml of water, 20 grams of s alt and one kilogram of wheat flour.
• Boil 500 grams of potatoes (with skin), then peel and mash with a potato masher.
• One large onion free from the husk, chop and fry until golden brown in vegetable oil.
• Mix vegetables, s alt them and stir.
• Form khinkali from dough and stuffing and boil them in s alted water until tender.

Serve hot with sour cream or tomato sauce and fresh vegetables.

Khinkali with cheese

Khinkali is not only a meat dish, as most people used to think. There are many original fillings that present us with its taste from a new perspective. Read how to cook cheese khinkali (see photo below):

• Make the basic recipe for unleavened dough.
• To prepare the filling, grate on a coarse grater 500grams of Imeretian cheese and 200 grams of suluguni.
• Melt three tablespoons of butter, let it cool and mix with one egg yolk. Pour the mixture over the cheese, add s alt and pepper. Mix all ingredients well.
• Roll out the dough and cut out pieces with a diameter of 12-15 cm. Put the filling in the center of each of them and pinch the edges in the center.
• Boil water in a saucepan and put khinkali into it with a skimmer greased with oil.

After the products float, they should cook for another 15 minutes. Do not stir them with a spoon so as not to damage the dough. When the khinkali are ready, put them on a plate and serve.

Khinkali with mushrooms

Khinkali is an integral part of Georgian cuisine. Usually they are served on the table with matsoni, cilantro and garlic, and are eaten exclusively with hands. Georgian khinkali is traditionally prepared with meat, but you can experiment with fillings and come up with new flavors. For vegetarians we offer the following option:

• Stir until smooth one kilogram of flour, s alt and 350 grams of water. Knead a firm dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
• 1, 5 kg of champignons rinse under water and cut into cubes. Fry the mushrooms in vegetable oil until half cooked (this process will take approximately 40 minutes).
• Separately fry 200 grams of chopped onion until golden brown.
• Finely chop parsley and cilantro, mix with mushrooms and onions, season with spices,s alt and pepper.
• Roll out the dough thinly with a rolling pin, cut out circles and place the filling in the center of each.
• Shape khinkali and boil them in s alted water.

Remember that you can always make this delicious dish in advance. To do this, you will need a freezer, cutting board and plastic bags. Lay the finished khinkali on a board and put in the freezer. When the pouches are firm, place them in bags and leave them in the cooking chamber until you need to cook dinner for the whole family again.

Khinkali with vegetables

Khinkali is a meat dish that usually does not require additions. However, we suggest you diversify your menu and cook khinkali with vegetables. To do this, we will need:

• Cook khinkali with meat or buy ready-made in a store or cookery.
• Zucchini, two tomatoes and one onion cut into cubes and fry in vegetable oil.
• Add three minced garlic cloves, pepper and s alt to taste to the pan.
• Mix a spoonful of vinegar with two tablespoons of olive oil, s alt and pepper. Pour the prepared mixture over the vegetables, mix everything well and let it brew for about 30 minutes.

Serve hot khinkali with vegetables and your favorite sauce.

Sweet khinkali

Surprise your loved ones and cook for them an original dish with an unusual filling:

• Knead a simple unleavened dough and leave it aside to infuse undertowel.
• For the filling, cut dried figs (300 grams) into four pieces. Soak it in water along with dried apricots and prunes (300 grams each).
• Soak 200 grams of raisins in a separate bowl.
• After ten minutes, drain the water and dry the fruit.
• 150 grams of apples, peel and seeds, cut into cubes and sprinkle with sugar.
• 200 grams of walnuts grind in a blender or coffee grinder. Add dried fruits to them and repeat the procedure.
• Mix nut butter, apples, raisins and powdered sugar.
• Roll out the dough and make blanks out of it, as for classic khinkali.
• Shape the dough and stuffing into bags, boil them in water and serve with honey or pomegranate sauce.

Hinkali at home

The dish prepared according to this recipe is very tasty and juicy. Read how to cook homemade khinkali and get down to business with us:

• In a kilogram of minced meat, add one finely chopped onion, 200 ml of cream (15% fat), a teaspoon of nutmeg and s alt. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
• Knead the unleavened dough, roll it thin enough and cut out the same circles.
• Put a spoonful of minced meat in the middle of each blank and form khinkali. To do this, take the edge of the dough with one hand, and fold it with an accordion with the other. Try not to tear the dough, otherwise all the juice will remain in the pan.
• Cook khinkali in boiling water until tender.

Balkhar khinkal

As we mentionedat the beginning of the article, many Caucasian peoples love and enjoy cooking khinkali. Georgian, Armenian and Dagestan dishes are slightly different from each other. This time we want to tell you how to cook a dish of national Dagestan cuisine. How is khinkali prepared in the mountainous republic? Recipe with photo can be seen below.

• Knead the dough from two cups of flour, 100 ml of milk, 10 grams of yeast and 100 grams of butter. First, put the dough, and when it increases, add the remaining ingredients to it and knead the dough.
• The finished dough should rise twice in a warm place, and only after that you can start forming the blank for khinkal.
• When the right time has passed, roll out the dough, sprinkle with peeled and crushed walnuts (ten pieces are enough) and grated cheese (200 grams).
• Roll up the workpiece and cut into equal parts. Unfold the dough so that it resembles blooming roses, and then place the finished pieces on the grate of a double boiler or mantle.

Serve hot with homemade tomato sauce.

Avar Khinkal

We invite you to cook the national dish of the Avars - another Caucasian people who are not indifferent to khinkali. You can see the recipe with a photo below.

• To prepare the dough, mix 20 tablespoons of flour, 200 grams of kefir, 300 grams of water, s alt and a little soda.
• Knead the dough, roll it into a bundle and cutsquares 5 by 5 cm.
• In a saucepan, boil the meat broth, put the pieces in it and cook them until tender (about six minutes).
• Remove the pieces of dough with a slotted spoon and pierce each with a fork so that they do not settle and remain airy.

Serve khinkal with meat (lamb or beef) and sour cream garlic sauce.

Khinkal in Lezgin style

This simple flour dish is prepared very easily from the simplest ingredients. To make a dinner for four people you will need:

• Divide the lamb into portions, pour them with cold water and cook until cooked, periodically removing the foam.
• While the meat is cooking, knead the unleavened dough with water and one egg.
• Roll out a sheet two millimeters wide and cut it into small squares. Khinkali ready.
• Take out the meat and arrange it on plates.
• Cook the dough in s alted water until done, then remove with a slotted spoon.
• Make a sauce with tomato paste, water, spices, garlic, s alt and pepper.

Serve meat, khinkal and sauce in separate bowls.

Conclusion

The enticing aroma of khinkali will not leave your guests or relatives indifferent. Cook them wonderful dishes and delight them with new flavors as often as possible.