Seven very soulful dishes of Georgian cuisine

Georgian cuisine continues to gain popularity due to its originality, warmth and variety of flavours.

And today we will tell you how to prepare 7 very tasty dishes worthy of a festive table not only in Georgia.

This recipe comes from the mountain village of Shkmeri, located at an altitude of over 1,700 meters above sea level. But in order to try the most delicious juicy chicken shkmeruli, you do not have to go that high: all the products can be found in the nearest supermarket, and the recipe is very simple.

You will need:

• 1-1.3 kg chicken or chick
• 200 ml 20%-x cream or full-fat milk
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 100 ml of water
• ground black pepper
• salt

Preparation:

• Cut the chicken along the breast (you can beat it lightly, wrapping it in cling film) and rub with salt and pepper. Fry in a cast iron pan or bake in the oven until done and crispy golden brown.
• Press the garlic through a press or grate it on a fine grater. Pour the fat in which the chicken was fried into a clean frying pan, add the garlic, stir with a wooden spatula. Then pour in the milk and water. Lightly salt and bring to a boil.
• Cut the chicken into portions and pour the sauce over it. Enjoy!

Pkhali is a traditional Georgian cold appetizer made from greens and nuts. This tasty and healthy dish is made from spinach, nettles, beetroot tops and even cabbage!

You will need:

• 1 kg fresh spinach (you can use frozen)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• a pinch of utskho-suneli (can be replaced with khmeli-suneli)
• 1 onion
• cilantro
• 2-3 tbsp white wine vinegar
• pomegranate seeds for decoration

Preparation:

• Boil well-washed spinach leaves for 2 minutes. Drain the water. Squeeze the cooled leaves well and mince or chop finely with a knife.
• Grind the nuts and garlic in a blender or mince. Add the spices, finely chopped onion, chopped spinach, cilantro and wine vinegar to the nut-garlic mixture. Mix well.
• Form into balls and garnish each with a pomegranate seed.

Rarely does a festive table in Georgia go without turkey, chicken or fish under a delicate bazhe sauce made from nuts and aromatic spices.

You will need:

• 1 kg turkey or chicken
• 1.5–2 cups peeled walnuts
• 4 onions
• 1 tsp flour
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• cinnamon on the tip of a knife
• 1/2 tsp each hops-suneli, Imeretian saffron
• cilantro, pepper, salt

Preparation:

• Boil the turkey or chicken whole until half-cooked. Strain the broth and leave to cool. Transfer the bird to a baking tray, rub with salt and bake at 180 degrees until done, periodically pouring the released juice. Cut into portions.
• Mince the nuts twice (or chop them in a food processor or blender) with garlic and hot pepper (or adjika). Squeeze the resulting nut mass into a separate bowl to release as much oil as possible - pour it over the finished dish. Mix the nut mass with dry spices, salt and finely chopped cilantro (optional).
• Remove fat from the cooled broth (you can replace it with butter) and sauté finely chopped onion in it for about 10 minutes. Add flour and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Then gradually pour in the broth (about 500 ml), add the nut mass and mix everything well. Heat the sauce over low heat, stirring constantly and not bringing it to a boil. Finally, add wine vinegar. For a more delicate consistency, you can rub the sauce through a sieve or beat it with a blender.
• Pour the prepared sauce over the poultry pieces and leave in the refrigerator overnight so that the meat is well soaked. The dish should be served cold.

Lobio means "beans" in Georgian, but this name is also used for the dish made from boiled beans. There are dozens of recipes for this hearty stew, and they are all incredibly delicious. We suggest making lobio from red beans.

You will need:

• 600 g red beans
• 3 onions
• 3 cloves of garlic
• adjika or red pepper
• 1/2 tsp each of dried savory, coriander, utskho-suneli
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• a bunch of parsley or cilantro, bay leaf, salt

Preparation:

• Soak the beans overnight in slightly salted water. In the morning, drain the water, pour cold boiled water over the beans, add bay leaf and put on the fire (the water should cover the beans by 3 cm). After boiling, reduce the heat to minimum. Cook the beans until they begin to boil, stirring occasionally and adding water as needed.
• Remove the pan from the heat and pour the remaining broth into a separate bowl. Mash the beans with a mortar, but don't get too carried away: the consistency should not be uniform.
• Finely chop the onion and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. Grind the chopped garlic, herbs and spices with a pinch of salt in a mortar. Add the fried onion, crushed spices with garlic to the beans and pour in a glass of bean broth. You can add more or less broth, depending on how thick you want the dish to be. Heat over low heat for 10 minutes. Serve garnished with fresh herbs.

Mchadi are lean cornbreads, which in the traditional recipe are cooked in flour and water, without any additives, and fried in a dry frying pan. They are served hot with lobio, satsivi and other dishes. We suggest making chvishtari - this is what mchadi with cheese filling are called.

You will need:

• 2 cups corn flour
• 1 bottle of mineral water
• 1/2 tsp each of salt and sugar
• 300–500 g suluguni or mozzarella
• vegetable oil for frying

Preparation:

• Mix corn flour with salt and sugar. Knead the dough, gradually pouring mineral water into the flour until it reaches the consistency of thick sour cream. You can add a little vegetable or melted butter to the dough.
• Cut the suluguni into bars or slices. Divide the dough into balls the size of a chicken egg. Shape into an oval, like cutlets, and put a piece of cheese inside. The more cheese you can fit, the tastier your chvishtari will be. Seal the cutlets well so that the cheese does not leak out when frying.
• Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and fry the chvishtari on low heat on both sides until crispy, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Another popular and simple dish, which is traditionally cooked in a special clay pan - ketsi. However, if you don't have one, almost any baking dish will do.

You will need:

• 600 g champignons
• 80 g butter
• 100–150 g suluguni or mozzarella
• pepper

Preparation:

• Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Place the mushroom caps (as close to each other as possible) and pieces of butter (half of the total amount) on a ketsi (a frying pan made of red clay or black stone) or in a baking dish. Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and put one in each cap, lightly salt and pepper, and spread grated or diced cheese on top of the butter.
• Bake in an oven preheated to 220 degrees for 20-25 minutes until a delicious cheese crust forms. If you use clay dishes, you should put them in the oven before it heats up, otherwise the dishes may crack. Serve the mushrooms hot and enjoy the taste!

These delicious rolls will captivate your guests with their taste and will look great on the festive table.

You will need:

• 500 g eggplants
• 1 cup walnuts
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp hops-suneli or coriander
• 2 tbsp wine vinegar
• salt
• bunch of cilantro
• vegetable oil for frying
• pomegranate seeds for decoration

Preparation:

• Cut the eggplants lengthwise into slices about 4 mm thick. Sprinkle with salt and leave for 20 minutes. Squeeze out the liquid and fry the eggplants on both sides in vegetable oil until golden brown. Place on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
• Grind walnuts, garlic and cilantro in a blender or mince. Add spices, wine vinegar, salt, mix and dilute the mixture a little with hot water until it reaches a paste-like consistency.
• Spread a layer of nut paste on each eggplant slice. Form rolls. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and herbs.
• Source:http://newsone.ws/everything/sem-nu-ochen-dushevnykh-blyud-gruzinskoy-kukhni-26-01-2016