Kharcho is a national first dish from Georgia. The classic version cannot be cooked without grated walnuts, beef and tklapi (dried, finest plates of plum puree). The latest product adds piquancy to the soup. Tklapi can be replaced with acid plum, pomegranate juice, tkemali, but not with tomato paste! In this case, the kharcho will no longer be a Georgian dish, but will become something incomprehensible.
How to cook kharcho soup or any other Georgian dish? Just add a lot of greens. Georgian housewives use absolutely everything - from saffron to cilantro and parsley that everyone knows.
History of occurrence
The time of appearance of this first dish in Georgia is still unknown. Once upon a time, beef cooked in peanut sauce and tklapi was called kharcho. Over time, rice was added to the composition, and at the moment, Caucasian housewives consider it a traditional kharcho, which was prepared from rice, tklapi, walnuts and beef. Nevertheless, in every Georgian village, any hostess will tell you how to make kharcho soup tasty and with its secret ingredient. The basis of the basics is always a steep beef broth with sourness, a delicate shade of walnuts and an exciting aroma of herbs and spices.
Currently, the recipe has been simplified and modified. Now in kharcho you can find pearl barley, unusual vegetables and almost any meat, including chicken.
The Soviet period is heavily inherited in Georgian cooking. People's Commissar of Foreign Trade of the USSR Anastas Mikoyan agreed with the cook of the dining room in the Kremlin, and he was separately served with kharcho cooked on lamb broth. Having learned about this situation, Stalin ordered the cooks to serve mutton soup to absolutely everyone. And even according to Soviet GOST, kharcho is fixed as lamb soup.
So, how to cook kharcho soup?
Meat selection
The traditional recipe involves beef broth, but since we are not in Georgia, we can choose the meat component according to our taste preferences and wallet. Regardless of whether it is lamb, beef, chicken or pork, it is important that the meat is fresh. The best parts of carcass for kharcho are beef on bones, pork ribs or boneless flesh, lamb brisket, neck or shoulder blade and chicken thighs and breast.
Films and tendons must be removed from thoroughly washed meat (required), and then, if desired, excess fat and bones are removed from the meat. There is an opinion that the broth on the bone is more saturated and fragrant. In the case of cooking meals for losing weight, all fat is better to remove.
Finished meat is taken from the broth, the latter is filtered through a sieve. The meat is cut into pieces, while if there are bones, then they need to be removed, and throws back into the broth. After all these actions, you get a soup base.
Cooking nuances
How to make kharcho soup? At first glance, everything is elementary, but everywhere there are secrets.
In the already cooked broth, you can lay any rice, but not steamed and not crushed. For example, round-grain rice, even when boiled, will retain an attractive appearance.
It is during the cooking of rice that fried onions, laurel leaves, slightly crushed peas of black pepper, chopped walnuts, cherry plum or tklapi are introduced into the soup. Very rarely, but still add tomatoes to the kharcho, but they must be necessarily without a peel.
All spices are added at the very end of preparation. Whether it is chilli, saffron, suneli hops, adjika or coriander.
It is important to remember that if children will also enjoy the soup, then do not abuse spicy spices.
After removing the soup from the fire, finely chopped garlic, chopped rosemary, parsley, cilantro, celery are placed in it.
It is also interesting that in each recipe not only the composition is different, but also the cooking time, as well as the sequence of adding certain products. In Russia and Belarus, potatoes, carrots and bell peppers are added. In Italy, do not spare olives and fresh basil. And in France they modify the classic recipe for themselves and do not cook soup without parmesan and cashew nuts.
Immediately after cooking, they do not eat kharcho, he needs time to insist - from half an hour or more.
Variety of recipes
How to cook traditional taste kharcho soup? There are a lot of options, and we will definitely focus on the most interesting ones. But first, consider the classic.
Classics of the genre
How to cook beef kharcho soup? The classic recipe to realize is not so difficult! As usual, start by checking stocks in our kitchen.
Ingredients:
- beef on the bone - 400 grams;
- water - 2 liters;
- round grain rice - 4 tablespoons;
- cilantro - a pair of branches;
- parsley - a pair of twigs;
- walnuts - half a faceted glass (previously fried);
- garlic - one head;
- greens - optional;
- tklapi - one strip (or tkemali - 3 tablespoons);
- hops-suneli - 1 teaspoon.
Cooking
The washed meat is poured with two liters of water and cooked for at least two hours. Next, the meat is extracted, and the broth is decanted. The meat is cut into pieces and returned to the broth. Rice is poured there, chopped parsley and cilantro are added. At the moment when the rice is already softened, roasted walnuts are poured. Before removing from heat, finely chopped garlic, herbs, spices, and salt are introduced into the soup. Kharcho cannot be without sourness, otherwise it is already some other dish.
Lamb and Prune Kharcho
How to cook at home kharcho soup with prunes? In fact, everything is much simpler than it seems.
Ingredients:
- lamb brisket on the bone - one kilogram;
- prunes - 100 grams;
- ground walnuts - a glass;
- long-grain rice - a glass;
- ripe tomatoes - 5 pieces;
- onions - 6 heads;
- parsley - 50 grams;
- cilantro - 50 grams;
- garlic - 4 cloves;
- green chilli - 1 piece;
- tklapi - strip 10 x 10 centimeters;
- laurel - 1 leaf;
- allspice - 1 teaspoon;
- spices - optional;
- salt, black pepper - optional.
Cooking
Cut the meat into medium-sized cubes and pour in two liters of water. Once it boils, remove the foam and cook for two hours. After an hour of cooking, finely chopped prunes and salt can be added to the broth. After the meat is cooked, the remaining ingredients are added: chopped onions, quarters, rice and bunches of greens. All this should boil for at least fifteen minutes. Chop the garlic and grind with salt and pepper. Send the same hot pepper and finely chopped greens there, pound everything to a puree state. Pour walnuts, peeled tomatoes, a ram of lamb broth into this puree and mix it all. From the soup, extract bunches of herbs and add crushed mashed potatoes with broth. Sprinkle kharcho with pepper and add spices if they are not enough. Before removing from heat, the soup is flavored with tklapi, bay leaf and parsley.
Chicken Kharcho Soup
How to cook this soup and what is needed for this? A set of products can scare, but the result is worth it!
Ingredients:
- chicken - 1 kilogram;
- carrots - one thing;
- celery - optionally;
- parsley - optional;
- vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons;
- onions - one head;
- wheat flour - one tablespoon;
- round grain rice - half a faceted glass;
- peas - one teaspoon;
- coriander seeds - one teaspoon;
- dried parsley, dried basil, dried mint, dried tarragon and suneli hops - half a teaspoon each;
- adjika - one teaspoon;
- ground cinnamon - optional;
- tkemali - 3 tablespoons;
- ground walnuts - half a faceted glass;
- garlic - 3 cloves;
- chopped greens - 4 tablespoons;
- salt is optional.
How to make kharcho soup? Both the recipe and the photos are a kind of helpers. So let's turn to the recipe for starters.
Cooking
For this variation, kharcho broth is cooked from chicken, unpeeled onion heads, celery root and carrots. After it boils, cook for at least one and a half hours, periodically removing the foam. While the broth is cooked, you can do the frying. Fry the finely chopped onion in vegetable oil until lightly golden, along with grated parsley. After adding flour, fry for some more time. After one and a half hours, remove meat and vegetables from the broth. Add chopped meat, rice, salt to the strained broth. Grind peppercorns and coriander. As the rice boils, wait 10 minutes and lay the nuts, all the spices, adjika and tkemali. Stir, cook until rice is cooked. Pour crushed garlic into the soup removed from the fire and generously season with cilantro, celery and basil. What the finished soup looks like, you can see in the photo below. Appetizing, isn't it?
Add spicy: with chili and beef
Since even a novice cook can cook kharcho soup at home according to this recipe, we will not be particularly distracted by unnecessary conversations. Let's get started!
Ingredients:
- beef tenderloin with cartilage - 500 grams;
- water - 5 liters;
- round grain rice - half a faceted glass;
- tklapi - the fifth part of a faceted glass;
- garlic - 5 cloves;
- chopped walnuts - half a faceted glass;
- parsley is the root;
- wheat flour - one tablespoon;
For spicy dressing:
- chopped parsley - 2 tablespoons;
- chopped basil - half a teaspoon;
- cilantro - a tablespoon;
- hops-suneli - 3 teaspoons;
- grated coriander - half a teaspoon;
- ground red pepper - half a teaspoon;
- saffron strings - optional.
How to cook beef kharcho soup? The action algorithm is simple.
Remove the films from the meat, cut into small pieces and fill with water, cook for two hours. Remove the boiled meat from the broth, strain the last and load it again with meat, but this time with rice. Add salt and bring to a boil. Boil for at least 10 minutes. Fry onion half rings with flour in a pan and send to soup. Add parsley root, laurel leaf, black pepper, coriander.
When rice al-dente is ready, pour nuts and tklapi into the kharcho. Add greens generously and boil for another six minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to insist under the lid. Ground garlic and minced cilantro and basil are added after the soup is infused. Bon Appetit!
Variations with pork: simple and delicious!
How to cook pork kharcho soup? In principle, nothing complicated. Ordinary soup, only with an abundance of Georgian seasonings.
Ingredients:
- pork pulp with fatty streaks - 400 grams;
- round-grain rice - half a faceted glass;
- carrots - 1 medium size;
- onions - the middle head;
- potatoes - one big;
- garlic - a whole head;
- tkemali - 100 grams;
- hops-suneli - 2 teaspoons;
- walnuts - 50 grams;
- sunflower oil - optional;
- greens - optional;
- salt is optional.
How to make kharcho soup? The recipe is simple.
Pour pork with water, add salt and cook. After boiling, remove the foam and boil for another half hour. Wash rice in several waters, cut potatoes into cubes. After half an hour, both rice and potatoes are added to the broth. From onions and carrots, frying for soup is prepared. Walnuts are chopped and mixed with tkemali, crushed garlic, suneli hop. The spicy mixture is introduced into the soup and mixed. Wait for the kharcho to boil, and turn off the fire. Let it infuse for at least half an hour, after which add a lot of greenery and serve on the table in portioned plates.
In a slow cooker
We have already looked at how to make beef kharcho soup. You can take the recipe from any of the widest assortment, adding certain seasonings and herbs if desired. Let us dwell on the next variation, and to help ourselves we will attract the now so popular kitchen appliance.
Ingredients:
- beef - kilogram;
- long-grain rice - half a faceted glass;
- chopped walnuts - half a faceted glass;
- natural pomegranate juice - half a faceted glass;
- onions - 3 heads;
- parsley - one root;
- cilantro - optionally;
- hot pepper - 1 piece;
- tomatoes - 2 pieces;
- hops-suneli - one teaspoon;
- garlic - 5 cloves;
- laurel leaf;
- wheat flour - one tablespoon;
- sunflower oil - 2 tablespoons;
- salt, pepper - optional.
How to make kharcho soup? A step by step recipe involves the following steps:
Step 1. Cut all the necessary ingredients: onions into thin quarters, meat into medium slices, grate the parsley root, grate the nuts with garlic and pepper in a mortar.
Step 2. Choose a baking mode and fry the onion with the parsley root in the bowl for 7 minutes before acquiring a caramel color. Add beef to the onion and fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 3. Dilute flour in a glass of boiled water and pour into the meat.
Step 4. There, add all the pomegranate juice and 2 liters of purified water. Introduce grated tomatoes and nuts, spices, salt and a leaf of laurel into the soup.
Step 5. Switch to extinguishing mode for an hour and a half.
Step 6. Add garlic with herbs at the end of cooking. Sprinkle with plenty of greens before serving.
Culinary Tricks
How to cook kharcho soup? Step by step we analyze the process and give tips:
- The broth needs to be transparent. To do this, after boiling the meat, the broth is filtered until transparent. During the cooking of meat, onions, carrots whole are added to the pan.
- You can add an additional flavor accent, previously fried meat in a bowl in which the broth will be cooked.
- The combination of cherry plum and beef, even if the rest of the ingredients necessary for the traditional recipe are missing, will turn any variation into a real kharcho.
- Tkemali need to choose the most acidic. An ideal option would be a sauce made from unripe plums. For a change of taste, you can mix in equal proportions tkemali and satsebeli.
- Delicious kharcho soup will be obtained using polished or steamed rice. The fact is that such processing of cereals helps her not digest and maintain an attractive appearance in the first courses. But rice cannot be carried away, otherwise the soup will become porridge with meat.
- To arouse appetite and give the dish a pleasant aroma, crushed garlic is put after removing the pan from the heat.
- Kharcho can not be poured on plates at once, he needs to give time to insist, absorb all the tastes and aromas.
- Georgians do not put onions in soup. They cut it into the thinnest half rings, scald it with boiling water and add it directly to the dishes before serving. Thanks to this approach, kharcho is filled with new taste shades.
Homemade Tkemali
When Georgian women are asked how to make kharcho soup (the recipes are different, sometimes altered beyond recognition, in addition, they are known to have their own in every family), they always reply that without tkemali, nothing will work. How is this famous Georgian sauce prepared?
Ingredients:
- dark plums - 500 grams;
- cherry tomatoes - 5 pieces;
- garlic - 4 prongs;
- cilantro - the stem;
- salt is optional;
Cooking
Plums and tomatoes are poured with boiling water, boiled over the fire until soft. Then grind through a sieve, put it back into the pan. Suneli hops, garlic, cilantro and salt are sent to mashed potatoes. Allow to boil and pierce with a blender. The resulting mass is poured into a convenient dish and stored in the refrigerator.
Serving and serving kharcho
There are many articles on how to cook kharcho soup, and there are a lot of photos of ready-made dishes, but for some reason there is very little information on how to serve this dish. Fill this gap.
This first dish is usually presented in clay deep cups or in pots. First, the meat is laid out at the bottom, and then it is poured with soup.
A more modern serving option is in a bun. First, a bread cover is cut out, and then a bread crumb is taken out and kharcho is poured in its place.
The accompaniment to the soup is Armenian lavash. In most cases, it is served empty, but you can wrap chopped herbs and soft cheese in pita bread. This filling perfectly shades the sharpness of the kharcho. No less popular are garlic buns and light crackers.
Khachapuri (Georgian cheese cake) is also in perfect harmony with kharcho.
Rarely, but still there are times when with onions bring onions, yoghurt and wine vinegar. Onions are added to the soup. Matsoni serves as a sauce for pita bread or bread.
Soup with corn porridge and herbs is also served.
With kharcho you can drink chacha or red wine.