Khinkali is the main dish of Georgian cuisine.Of course, in the world of culinary, there are hundreds of variations on the theme of minced meat or vegetables and dough.

But khinkali is distinguished from all of them by the amazing tenderness of the filling and the unusual shape, because sculpting them is a whole art.

And a pleasant pastime for the whole family is the same as for us, for example, making dumplings.

They brought a step-by-step recipe with a photo of how to cook khinkali at home.

Below you will find 2 ways of kneading dough and several options for various fillings, because Georgian cuisine is not only wine and meat, it is also cheese,, and vegetables.

How Khinkali appeared

In Georgia, as you know, there is no just food, and any meal instantly turns into a holiday.

Accordingly, each dish has its own legend.

According to one of them, after the war with the Persians, the only surviving warrior returned to the village with a severe wound in the neck.

Since it was difficult for him to eat, and only flour, lamb, onion and garlic were found, the hostess cooked tender minced meat, and to make the dish more nutritious, she wrapped it in dough.

This is how khinkali appeared.

Like the entire cuisine of Georgia, the history of the appearance of this dish is covered with a beautiful legend.

How to cook khinkali at home - a step by step recipe with a photo

Let's start with the test. In the classic version, only water, flour and salt are used in Georgia.

There are variations in cooking with butter and egg, but keep in mind that this dough will turn out to be denser at the exit. We'll cover both options.

Khinkali dough without eggs

You will need:

1. 1 glass of ice water
2. 3 cups flour
3. 3 pinches of salt

Step by step cooking:

1. Sift the flour through a sieve into a bowl.
2. With your fingers we make a depression in the slide that appears.
3. Pour in ice water and salt, then mix thoroughly so that there are no lumps.
4. Knead the dough until it stops sticking to your hands.
5. Cover the bowl with the dough with a towel and set it aside and start filling. During this time, it will settle and fit.

Tip: The dough for Georgian dumplings can also be kneaded in a bread maker.

Khinkali dough without egg

Khinkali dough with egg

You will need:

1. 3 cups flour
2. 1 egg
3. 3 tbsp. l. vegetable oil
4. One and a half glasses of ice water
5. 1 tsp salt

Step by step cooking:

1. Sift the flour through a sieve into a deep bowl.
2. We make a deepening, add the egg, salt and oil.
3. With one hand, we begin to thoroughly knead the dough, with the other, gradually pour in ice water.
4. We knead until a dense homogeneous state without lumps and go to deal with the filling. During this time, the dough will have time to come up.
5. The finished dough according to both cooking recipes can be stored in the refrigerator for three days by wrapping it in cling film.

Already rolled out dough for Georgian dumplings with egg

Tip: before starting sculpting, we knead both versions of the test again.

Filling options for khinkali

The most common filling variations involve minced meat. It can be lamb, beef, chicken, or a mix of several types at once.

It also contains onion, garlic, cilantro, Svan salt, suneli hops.

So that inside the finished khinkali there is not only meat, but also a little aromatic broth, half a glass of water is poured into the minced meat.

For those who adhere, we have prepared alternative filling options.

Pumpkin

Khinkali with pumpkin

You will need:

1. 400 g pumpkin pulp
2. 150 g suluguni cheese
3. 1 onion
4. Salt to taste
5. 1 tsp hops-suneli

Step by step cooking:

1. Finely chop the pumpkin, grate the cheese.
2. Mix all ingredients.

Potato

Khinkali with potatoes

You will need:

1. 4 large potatoes
2. 1 onion
3. 300 g suluguni
4. Salt to taste

Step by step cooking:

1. Boil the potatoes, turn them into mashed potatoes.
2. Grate the cheese. We combine all the ingredients, salt and pepper to taste.

Mushroom

Khinkali with mushrooms

You will need:

1. 1 kg of champignons
2. 2 onions
3. Salt to taste
4. Ground black pepper to taste
5. Half a bunch of cilantro
6. Utskho-suneli to taste (can be replaced with any other Georgian spices)

Step by step cooking:

1. Finely chop the mushrooms and onion and fry in vegetable oil until tender.
2. Mix with spices and finely chopped cilantro.
3. At the end, salt and taste the minced meat before sculpting so that it is salty enough.

Cheese

Khinkali with cheese

You will need:

1. 3 tbsp. l. butter
2. 300 g suluguni cheese
3. Half a bunch of cilantro
4. Half a bunch of parsley
5. Black pepper to taste

Step by step cooking:

1. Grate the cheese.
2. Mix with melted butter and finely chopped herbs.

Spinach

Khinkali with spinach

You will need:

1. 2 bunches fresh or 300g frozen spinach
2. 200 g of suluguni cheese
3. 1 onion
4. Salt to taste
5. Ground black pepper to taste

Step by step cooking:

1. Cut the spinach and fry in a pan with finely chopped onions.
2. Salt and pepper to taste at the end of cooking.
3. If you have frozen greens, you do not need to defrost them first.
4. Combine the filling with grated cheese and start sculpting.

How to make khinkali at home - a step by step recipe with a photo, modeling and cooking

While we were filling, our well rested. Now it's time to start sculpting.

Roll out and cut the dough with a knife or glass

Initially, we roll out a layer about 1 cm thick, then cut it with a knife into squares about 4x4 cm in size.

You can also use a glass for cutting blanks.

After which we roll each such piece to a thickness of about 3 mm, sprinkle with flour and stack on top of each other.

Then put the required amount of filling in the center of each square with a spoon and tightly clamp the edges so that you get several folds. The more, the better.

Put the filling in the center and form folds

For this you need to lift the edges up and start joining in the manner of pleated or corrugation.

Ideally, a professional modeler has 36 of them.

The folds must be formed in such a way that there is no room for water to enter during the cooking process.

However, you should not immediately hope for an ideal result - you will get perfect khinkali only after a long training session.

Over time, you will learn how to sculpt the perfect Georgian dumplings.

At the end of this article, you will find a detailed video tutorial on how to speed up this difficult process.

After fixing the workpiece, the excess dough on the upper edge must be pinched off or cut off and carefully clamped so that the filling does not fall out in boiling water.

Before cooking, we put the amount of khinkali on a plate - this way they have a flat bottom. The rest are frozen.

Cook khinkali in boiling salted water for 10-15 minutes. Stir from time to time so that they do not stick to each other.

Perfect khinkali

Before serving, sprinkle the plate with black pepper, lay out the khinkali and serve.

Tip: The dish is eaten hot. They take the dough as a "stump", eat the base, drink the broth, and throw away the rest.

What to serve the dish with

With everything that is so loved in Georgia: herbs, fresh vegetables, traditional spices and ... Among the most popular are tkemali, satsibeli, satsivi.

Tip: after boiling, Georgian dumplings are sometimes fried in a pan. They will turn out to be rosy and crunchy in taste.

Sour cream-based garlic sauce or . The dish is served without cutlery, since it is accepted by hand.

How to cook khinkali at home, as well as learn how to sculpt them perfectly, you will learn from this step-by-step video recipe: