Khinkali

Georgia's twisted soup dumplings, pleated at least nineteen times, held by the knot and drunk before they are eaten

Origin: Tbilisi, Pshavi & Georgia

From the journey of Wheat.

Khinkali come with a protocol, and Georgians will teach it to a visitor within about four seconds of the plate arriving. You pick the dumpling up by the twisted knot at the top, never with a fork. You bite a small hole in the side and drink the broth out first, because that broth is the point and losing it onto the plate is the mark of an amateur. You eat everything except the knot. The knots stay on the plate and are counted at the end, which is how a Georgian table keeps score. The broth is not added. It is made by the filling: raw minced meat is worked with a great deal of water, onion, and herbs into a loose, almost sloppy mixture, and as the dumpling boils the meat firms and releases that water back as hot stock inside the sealed wrapper. This is the same principle as a Shanghainese soup dumpling arrived at independently, and it is why the wrapper has to be both thin and strong. The pleating is where the craft sits. Nineteen folds is the number usually given as the minimum and a good cook manages considerably more, with the thick twist of dough at the top left deliberately undercooked and chewy. Mountain versions from Pshavi and Khevsureti, the highland districts where the dish originates, are filled with unseasoned lamb and are the older form; the Tbilisi kalakuri or town version adds coriander and a mix of pork and beef. The only seasoning that touches a finished khinkali is black pepper, ground coarsely over the plate. There is no sauce, no vinegar, no dip. Georgians are firm about this in a way that is worth respecting.

Ingredients

Dough

  • 500 g plain flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 260 ml cold water, approximately

Filling

  • 300 g minced beef
  • 300 g minced pork
  • 2 onions, grated or blitzed to a pulp
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 200 ml cold water or light stock
  • 1 small bunch coriander, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 0.5 tsp ground caraway or blue fenugreek (optional)

To serve

  • 2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper, to serve

Method

  1. Make the dough with cold water, working it into a firm, tight dough and kneading for a full ten minutes. It should be noticeably stiffer than a pasta dough.
  2. Rest it covered for forty minutes. A rested dough stretches instead of tearing, which is what the pleating demands.
  3. Mix the meats with the onion pulp, garlic, herbs, salt, pepper, and caraway.
  4. Now beat the cold water into the filling a little at a time. It will look wrong: loose, wet, almost pourable. That is exactly right, and it is where the broth comes from.
  5. Roll the dough thin and cut discs about 12cm across, keeping the rest covered as you work.
  6. Roll each disc thinner still at the edges, leaving the centre a touch thicker so it can hold the weight.
  7. Put a heaped tablespoon of the wet filling in the middle. Lift the edge and begin folding it over on itself, working round in small pleats and holding the gathers between finger and thumb.
  8. Aim for at least nineteen pleats. Gather them all up at the top, twist firmly, and pinch off the excess knob of dough so the top is sealed tight.
  9. Bring a very large pan of well-salted water to a rolling boil and stir it into a whirlpool before dropping the khinkali in, which stops them sticking to the base.
  10. Cook for seven to eight minutes from when they float. Do not crowd the pan; they need room.
  11. Lift them out with a slotted spoon, drain well, and pile them on a dry platter. Never serve them sitting in water.
  12. Grind coarse black pepper over the plate. Pick one up by the knot, bite a small hole in the side, drink the broth, then eat the rest and leave the knot.

Notes

The wet filling is the whole trick and it will look like a mistake in the bowl. Beat the water in properly rather than stirring it, and chill the filling for twenty minutes before assembling if it feels too slack to handle. The dough must be stiff and well rested or the pleats will tear. Seal the twist hard, since a leaking khinkali empties into the pan and is lost. Serve them dry on a warm plate and eat them with your hands. No sauce is offered in Georgia and none is needed; coarse black pepper is the only accompaniment.

The Gastrographer

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Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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