Khinkali

KHINKALI are Georgian dumplings that became very popular in Baku. They look like little pleated pouches with a knob on top and filled with ground meat, usually lamb or beef, mixed with finely chopped onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Traditionally, Khinkali are eaten with hands, you hold their knob and take a bite off the side, and suck out the broth. Then you eat the rest of the Khinkali.

Ingredients for dough:
2-3 cups flour
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup water

Ingredients for filling:
1 lb (450 g) grounded lamb or beef with 15% fat
1 small size onion
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Preparation:
Preparing the filling.
In a bowl, combine the grounded meat with finely chopped or grounded onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Mix the filling well, add one tablespoon of water and refrigerate for an hours while making and resting the dough.
Preparing the dough.
Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the egg, salt and water, and start kneading the dough until it is soft and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball, cover with a plastic wrap, and set aside for 30 minutes to rest before rolling.
Preparing the khinkali.
Dust your working place with flour. Divide and form the dough into the size of golf balls. Roll out each ball into circles and put about a tablespoon of the filling in the center of each circle.

Bring the sides together above the filling to form a pleated pouch and twist the top into a knot.

Besides securing the filling inside the dough, this knot serves as a knob to hold khinkali when eating. Usually this knot/knob is quite tough and is not eatable.

Cooking Khinkali.
Place Khinkali one by one into the salted boiling water and gently mix them with a wooden spoon, so they don’t stick together. Lower the heat and simmer them for 10 minutes until dough is tender. Remove from the water and serve while still hot. Pour on them melted butter and sprinkle with chopped herbs. Serve with Turshu (sour plum sauce) or yogurt-garlic sauce.

Bon Appétit! Enjoy!

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