Megrelian Khachapuri - delicious cheese cakes

Georgian cuisine is famous for its diversity. Many of her dishes made Georgia famous all over the world. Satsivi, Chakhokhbili, Khinkali and other dishes like to cook in many countries. Nevertheless, khachapuri is the hallmark of Georgian cuisine. The history of this baking originates in the Middle Ages. Once, the women of one of the distant mountain villages in Imereti decided to experiment while baking bread and placed either cheese or cheese crumbs in the dough. As a result, a Georgian khachapuri cake appeared. Its name was formed from the merger of two words - “puri”, which means “bread” in Georgian, and “khacho” - “cottage cheese”.

Pride of Georgian cuisine

Despite the lack of a single recipe for making these pies and the fact that each region cooks them in their own way, the main condition for khachapuri is that there should be a lot of cheese in it: almost as much as dough. Butter cake with cheese filling today is called "khachapuri-imeruli" in Georgia. But in Megrelia the love of cheese led to the fact that the hostesses at the insistence of their men began to not only put the cheese inside the cake, but also sprinkled them on top. So there was a famous recipe - "megrelian khachapuri". It could also be called a “spotted pie”, because when baked, cheese crumbs turn redder than a cheese-free surface and a spotting effect appears. But in Soviet times, only two types of khachapuri were known: from puff pastry folded with an envelope, and Adzharian cheese pie in the form of a boat with a “fried” in the middle. Puff pastry khachapuri in Georgia is called "foaming". And not simple, but yeast puff pastry is taken. But in neighboring Armenia, air khachapuri is baked in the form of a triangle, square or rectangle from yeast-free puff pastry. They are also very tasty and appetizing in appearance. However, the Armenians will probably have to rename this baking, since Georgia has patented both Mingrelian and Khachapuri, Imereti and Adjara, and several dozen of its national dishes, and even chacha. And those who will cook these dishes not from the products specified in the patents will be forced to pay a fine.

Mingrelian Khachapuri. Recipe

Of course, the penalty is imposed on those who cook khachapuri for commercial purposes, for us, simple housewives, this ban, of course, does not apply, so you can improvise. Nevertheless, I want to introduce you to the classic Megrelian khachapuri recipe.

Cooking dough

To do this, we need:

• 1 tea mug (300 g) of warm milk (water can be);
• 15-20 g of dry yeast;
• 20 g (1 tablespoon) granulated sugar;
• 1 tsp salts;
• 4 tbsp. tablespoons of sunflower oil or 40-50 g. margarine or butter in melted form;
• 2.5 -3 cups (the same one that measured milk) flour.

Cooking method

Pour boiled and cooled down to 32-34 degrees milk into a bowl, dilute yeast and sugar in it, shake with a whisk and leave for 12-15 minutes. Then add sifted flour and salt to the bowl and knead the dough, add oil at the very end. Form a bun from the dough and place it in a spacious plastic bag, tie the open part with a knot and leave it in a warm place for 1 hour. Then, without untying the knot, stretch the bag (lower the dough) and wait another 30 minutes.

Cooking stuffing

300-400 g of cheese (you can use suluguni, soft Imereti cheese, feta cheese, even Russian cheese, Armenian homemade cheeses), rub through a coarse grater or mash with a fork, if necessary add slightly softened butter (if the cheese is low-fat), 1 egg and stir everything well. If the cheese is completely fresh, then you can salt.

Cooking Megrelian Khachapuri

We take out the dough from the bag, knead it slightly and use a rolling pin to form a cake 30 cm in diameter on the table, after sprinkling it with flour. Lubricate it with cheese filling. We pinch the ends and form a large pie with a seam in the middle. Sprinkle the place of the seam with flour, round the ends, squeezing from the sides, turn the seam down. Using a rolling pin, carefully roll out a round cake, again with a diameter of 30 cm. Carefully transfer to a greased baking sheet. Shake 1 egg in a cup and pour it on a cake, spreading over the entire surface. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes. Pierce with a fork in several places and bake in an oven heated to 200 degrees for 15-20 minutes. That's all, the rosy, fragrant and damn delicious Georgian Mingrelian khachapuri pie is ready. Good appetite.