Ispanakhis Pkhali

Georgian spinach pounded with walnuts, garlic, and blue fenugreek into a cool green paste

Origin: Tbilisi, Georgia

From the journey of Spinach.

Pkhali is not a dish so much as a method, and the spinach one is the version most Georgians would name first. The formula is constant: a vegetable cooked and squeezed dry, then pounded with a paste of walnuts, garlic, coriander, vinegar, and the Georgian spice mixtures, and served cool in small mounds or rolled into balls with pomegranate seeds pressed on top. Spinach, beetroot, and aubergine are the classic three, and a Georgian table sets them out together so the plate reads red, green, and near-black. Walnuts are the whole architecture. Georgia uses them as other cuisines use dairy or oil, ground to a paste that thickens, enriches, and binds, and the same technique produces satsivi, badrijani nigvzit, and half the country's sauces. The nuts must be pounded rather than blitzed if the paste is to release its oil properly and hold together. The seasoning is what places it. Utskho suneli, blue fenugreek, is a Georgian speciality with a sweeter, hayish character quite unlike ordinary fenugreek, and it appears alongside dried marigold petals, which Georgians call imeruli saphrana and use where a Persian cook would reach for saffron: for colour and a faint bitterness, at a fraction of the price. Georgia sits on the route the spinach took westward out of Persia, and the Caucasus adopted it early and completely. It is a supra dish, part of the cold spread that opens a Georgian feast before anything hot arrives.

Ingredients

Spinach

800 g spinach, washed

Walnut Paste

200 g walnut halves
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 whole onion, finely chopped
1 large bunch fresh coriander, leaves and tender stalks
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp utskho suneli (blue fenugreek)
1 tsp dried marigold petals (imeruli saphrana), or a pinch of turmeric
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
0.25 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1.5 tsp salt, or to taste

To Finish

4 tbsp pomegranate seeds
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves

Method

Wilt the spinach in a dry pan or in boiling water for two minutes until fully collapsed, then drain and cool under cold water to keep the colour.
Squeeze the spinach very hard in a cloth until it is nearly dry, then chop it finely.
Pound the walnuts with the garlic and salt in a mortar, or pulse in a processor, until they form a coarse oily paste.
Work in the onion, fresh and ground coriander, blue fenugreek, marigold, cinnamon, and cayenne.
Add the vinegar a spoonful at a time until the paste loosens slightly and tastes sharp.
Mix the chopped spinach thoroughly into the walnut paste until evenly green and cohesive.
Taste and adjust the salt, vinegar, and cayenne. It should be nutty, sour, garlicky, and only faintly warm with spice.
Shape into small balls or mound onto a plate, chill for at least thirty minutes, and press pomegranate seeds and coriander leaves on top before serving.

Notes

Blue fenugreek (utskho suneli) and dried marigold are the two spices that make this Georgian rather than generically Caucasian. Both keep for a year and both appear in khmeli suneli, the Georgian blend, which can stand in for them at 2 tsp. Use walnuts that are fresh. Old walnuts turn rancid and there is nothing else in the dish to hide behind. It keeps three days refrigerated and improves on the second. Make the beetroot and aubergine versions alongside for a proper pkhali plate: the same walnut paste, with 500 g of cooked beetroot or of fried and chopped aubergine in place of the spinach. Serve as part of a cold supra spread with badrijani nigvzit, fresh herbs, and bread.

The Gastrographer

Name: Ispanakhis Pkhali
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Georgia
Ingredients: 800 g spinach, washed; 200 g walnut halves; 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped; 1 whole onion, finely chopped; 1 large bunch fresh coriander, leaves and tender stalks; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp utskho suneli (blue fenugreek); 1 tsp dried marigold petals (imeruli saphrana), or a pinch of turmeric; 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon; 0.25 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste; 3 tbsp red wine vinegar; 1.5 tsp salt, or to taste; 4 tbsp pomegranate seeds; 2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control