Khinkali is one of the most famous dishes of Georgian cuisine, quite fond of Russians. There is an opinion that this dish is practically no different from traditional dumplings due to external and internal similarities. Actually this is not true.
What is Georgian Khinkali?
As mentioned above, khinkali are very similar to dumplings - bags of dough with minced meat. But at the same time, khinkali is an absolutely independent dish with a special cooking procedure. They can be cooked both steamed and on water. But as a filling, not pork or beef is used, but lamb or goat meat. Necessarily fresh, non-greasy, and also without a film.
Features
- To prepare this dish, a special way of creating dough and filling is used. According to the traditional recipe, khinkali was cooked with minced meat, and not ordinary minced meat.
- Another feature is the result of cooking. At the end of cooking, a broth is formed inside the khinkali, which makes this dish much juicier.
- And, of course, the presentation and rules of use. This dish is taken only by hands, holding the tail. First you need to bite off a little dough and carefully drink the broth, and then eat the rest, except for the top of the bag. In traditional Georgian cuisine, it is not customary to eat these tips; they simply stack in a plate.
The following article will provide some examples of how to cook delicious khinkali at home. The resulting dish will not leave anyone indifferent.
Cooking dough
It was previously mentioned that a special dough is used to create this dish. There are several traditional subtleties of its preparation:
- The ratio of flour to water should be strictly 2: 1. This is the only way to achieve the correct consistency.
- Use flour strictly from durum wheat. In traditional Georgian cuisine, this is called "durum." Such a strict rule is explained by the fact that this type of flour is a source of complex carbohydrates and is considered much more useful than soft varieties.
- Before direct use, flour must be sieved. This will increase the tenderness of the finished dish.
- According to the recipe, Georgian dough for khinkalis is kneaded only by hand. To prepare this dish, you can not use mixers or other kitchen appliances. Self-cooking will allow the dough to be saturated with oxygen and become softer.
- It is necessary to prepare the dough in several stages, which takes a lot of time. During the kneading, the dough should be periodically left for several minutes, which will not allow it to fall apart at the time of modeling.
Everyone has his own option of making dough for khinkali. Now almost every housewife prepares the basis for this dish in their own way. However, professional chefs quite often distinguish two recipes:
- Classical.
- With the addition of eggs.
Each of them will be described in detail below.
Classic Dough Recipe
Such a dough has a fairly high density, and therefore it is necessary to handle it carefully. The maximum shelf life after the last stage of dough preparation is one hour in the refrigerator. Further delays will lead to poor taste.
To prepare a test according to the classic Khinkali recipe, you will need:
- 500 grams of durum wheat flour;
- 250 milliliters of water;
- 10 grams of salt.
Cooking
- Half of the prepared flour must be passed twice through a sieve.
- In the resulting slide, make a small depression and add half of all boiled water, salted in advance.
- Start mixing the ingredients with a spatula, periodically adding the remaining water. Repeat the action until it becomes almost impossible to interfere.
- Sprinkle the surface on which the cooking will take place, then put the dough on it and continue to knead. Remember that, according to the traditional khinkali recipe, you need to mix with your hands. Do not try to save time, otherwise the quality of the final product will suffer.
- Having achieved uniformity, cover the base with a damp towel and let it brew for 30 minutes.
- After the specified time has passed, sift the remaining flour and add half to the dough, then continue to knead again.
- After about 25 minutes of kneading, leave the base under a wet towel for half an hour.
- Add the remaining flour and resume the mixing process. At the last stage, it will be difficult to do this, since the dough will become quite dense.
NOTE: Between mixing the dough, prepare the filling! This saves time and avoids long-term storage of ingredients.
Homemade khinkali dough with eggs
To prepare the basis in this way you will need:
- 500 grams of wheat flour;
- 1 egg of the second category;
- 200 milliliters of water;
- 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil;
- 7 grams of salt.
Cooking
- Sift 2/3 of the flour, forming a hill in which with your knuckle to form a depression.
- Dilute the salt in warm water and pour into the prepared “hole”.
- Beat the egg and add to the slide with butter.
- Stir the dough with a spatula for 5 minutes, then leave it under a damp towel for half an hour.
- Having laid the dough on the surface for processing, it is necessary, pouring flour, mix it with your hands for 7 minutes.
- Wrap in cling film and leave for half an hour.
- After the specified period, remove the base from the film and begin to roll out.
Now that you know how to make a traditional base, you can move on to the recipe for cooking the dish itself.
Cooking on the water
Since the methods for preparing the basics of this dish have already been discussed earlier, the further instructions will describe the preparation of the filling with the expectation that you have already chosen the type of test.
NOTE: Before use, check the consistency of the stuffing. If the spoon stuck in it falls, then it is made correctly.
To prepare the filling for khinkali you will need:
- 300 grams of minced meat (preferably made independently from beef or pork, if it is not possible to use meat from a traditional khinkali recipe);
- 1 onion head;
- 1 bunch of fresh cilantro;
- 100 milliliters of cold water;
- salt and pepper.
Cooking
- Finely chop onion and cilantro. To give a better taste, chopped onion is better to grind with your hands. Add onion and cilantro to the minced meat with pepper.
- Sprinkle flour on the table, lay out the dough and knead with your hands. After that, roll it into a cake, the thickness of which does not exceed 2 millimeters, and use a glass to divide it into circles.
- In the middle of each mug put a tea or tablespoon (depending on the size of the base) a spoon of the filling.
- After that, twist the dough clockwise, forming folds and a tail.
- Place a pot on the stove and boil water.
Now you can cook khinkali. How long will it take? Traditionally, this cooking step takes from 7 to 10 minutes. After this time, you need to get the finished khinkali with a slotted spoon and put them on a plate. Add butter and ground pepper to the finished dish.
Steaming
The process of preparing the base and the filling for a couple of khinkals is no different from the previous recipe. Therefore, you can immediately start the description from the preparation stage.
Cooking
- Pour 2.5 liters of water into the main capacity of the multicooker.
- Place the dishes for cooking over water and grease with butter.
- Place a khinkali on it.
- Close the slow cooker and set to “Steam”, usually 45 minutes.
- At the end of cooking, remove the khinkali and, laying on plates, serve.
Total
Sometimes it’s useful to bring some variety into your gastronomic life. And cooking according to one of the described recipes is just such a case. From this article, you learned all the intricacies of creating dough and toppings, as well as how much to cook khinkali with steam or water.
Of course, you can experiment with the filling by adding something of your own, and this is your personal choice.
Enjoy your meal!