Spinach Phali is a national Georgian dish. It is being prepared for a daily family dinner and for a celebration. Literally, “phali” is translated as “vegetable paste”. The main ingredient in this dish can be spinach, beetroot leaf tops, nettle foliage, and vegetable roots or legumes, such as beans.
Spinach is the most traditional Georgian ingredient for Georgian spinach phali. Consider the most interesting and delicious options for cooking dishes, which contain a large number of vitamins, minerals and trace elements. In addition, food is a dietary supplement that promotes weight loss. So, let's start cooking.
First option
For four small portions of Georgian spinach phali, we need ingredients such as:
- spinach - 500 grams;
- peeled walnuts - 50 grams;
- onion medium-sized - 1 piece;
- chopped coriander - half a teaspoon;
- garlic cloves - 3 pieces;
- pomegranate - 1 \ 4 part;
- black pepper - optional (for lovers of spicy dishes);
- hops – suneli - half a teaspoon;
- vinegar (preferably wine) - no more than two tablespoons (but generally to your taste);
- a small bunch of cilantro - about 50 grams;
- red hot peppers - optional.
Cooking method
First you need to wash the spinach, cut off the roots, remove all the old yellow or spoiled leaves. Put spinach leaves for five minutes in boiling water. Leave them in a colander until excess water has drained.
If necessary, the leaves can be pressed by hand, but not too much, otherwise the paste will be dry. Next, the spinach is ground in a meat grinder or blender until smooth.
To make a nut dressing, you will need walnuts, fresh cilantro greens, onions and garlic. It is necessary to grind all this through either a meat grinder or a blender. Then it’s worth adding suneli hops, coriander, pepper and salt. Then you need to mix everything until smooth.
In the next step, the cooked paste of spinach leaves is mixed with cooked nut dressing and vinegar. That's all, the dish is ready!
Spinach phali with nuts can be served on a plate, leveled and nicely decorated with pomegranate seeds. There is another feed option. To do this, it is worth rolling the mass portionwise into small balls. In the recess of each you need to put a few grains of pomegranate. Serving a meal largely depends on the development of your imagination and the availability of free time.
Second way
You can create a truly festive mood for yourself and your loved ones by preparing a more colorful version of phali made from spinach and beets. The following ingredients are required:
- small beets of medium size;
- a bunch of spinach;
- 6 medium cabbage leaves;
- a bunch of cilantro;
- 70 grams of walnuts (pre-peeled);
- 2 garlic cloves;
- half pomegranate;
- two tbsp. tablespoons of vinegar.
As a seasoning use:
- a pinch of salt (as much as possible);
- a teaspoon of coriander;
- a teaspoon of hops – suneli;
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper;
- half a teaspoon of saffron.
Cooking order
- Boil the beets until cooked, cool, peel and mince or grind in a separate bowl.
- Spinach needs to be cooked (for about 5 minutes), then squeeze it well or leave it in a colander until excess moisture merges. If necessary, you can squeeze the leaves by hand. Then spinach is chopped in a blender or meat grinder in a separate bowl.
- The next step is refueling. To do this, grind walnuts with garlic, cilantro, you can add to taste other herbs, for example, parsley. To the resulting mass add saffron, coriander, hops-suneli, vinegar, salt and pepper. Refueling is divided into 2 equal parts. One mixes with beets, the other with spinach. Then everything is thoroughly mixed until homogeneous masses of different colors are obtained.
- When the dish is almost ready, we proceed to the design of its festive serving. To do this, take pre-prepared leaves of cabbage, sprinkle them with boiling water so that they become softer and more flexible. Then we cool them. On the cutting board we lay the first leaf of cabbage. Lubricate it evenly with beetroot filling. Gently put the second sheet on the first. Then grease it with spinach too. Grease the third leaf with beets. We turn the resulting design tight as a cabbage roll, and let it brew and soak for 10 minutes. Repeat this procedure for the remaining leaves of cabbage and filling.
- Cut the prepared rolls into portions 1.5 cm thick and lay on a plate, decorate the dish with pomegranate seeds on top.
The Georgian spinach phali dish is ready in Georgian. Enjoy your meal!
Third option
Consider another simple recipe that Georgian cuisine is famous for . Phali from spinach is very similar in the way of cooking to this dish. Eggplant Phali is a delicious dish. And for the preparation does not require large financial costs for the ingredients. Another advantage is the minimum cooking time.
To prepare this dish we need:
- 3 eggplants;
- 70 grams of walnuts;
- 1 bunch of cilantro - 50-70 grams to taste;
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped coriander;
- 3 garlic cloves;
- salt and black pepper.
Cooking steps
First, carefully wash the eggplant, cut off the ends with leaves, pierce each of them with a fork or knife 4-5 times. On the baking sheet, pre-oiled, put the eggplant. Then set to bake for 40 minutes in the oven at a temperature of 180 degrees. To facilitate the work of washing the pan after cooking, it is better to use aluminum foil, which can be previously laid out on it and greased with oil.
Eggplant readiness can be determined by piercing them with a fork or knife. If the appliance comes in easily, remove the pan from the oven. Eggplant must be transferred to a separate bowl. Then cover and wait until it cools completely. Cold eggplant is cut in half, all the pulp is carefully taken out, which is then cut into small pieces. The sizes of the pieces are not particularly important, because the dish will still be crushed.
Eggplant, peeled garlic, washed and dried cilantro, and nuts are loaded into the blender. Everything is ground to a homogeneous mass. Then seasonings are added : coriander, salt and pepper to taste. You can also add lime or lemon juice, hot chili pepper and olive oil to this dish.
Eggplant phali can be served as an independent dish decorated with pomegranate seeds, or as a dressing for potatoes. Enjoy your meal!
Conclusion
Now you know how to cook phali from spinach in Georgian. We shared some recipes. And you can choose the right cooking option for yourself.