How to cook kharcho soup is a regular recipe. Homemade kharcho soup recipe. How to cook kharcho from pork

Soup-kharcho is a magnificent dish of Georgian cuisine, which simply radiates the aroma of a real mountain fire and a quiet night on a mountain ledge. But how to cook kharcho soup, a simple recipe for which you can now appreciate, without tkemali? The main thing is to buy beef. If you get a different type of meat, kharcho will turn into just an ordinary spicy soup.

So, to prepare an incredibly delicious kharcho soup, you need to have with you:

half a kilogram of beef brisket (this part of the carcass is most suitable for making kharcho soup);
the same amount of fresh tomatoes;
100 g of top quality rice;
cilantro and parsley in the amount of 4 branches of each of the herbs;
allspice (only 4-5 peas, no more);
a little onion (3-4 heads are enough);
fragrant dill in the amount of 2 sprigs;
a clove or even two garlic;
half a pod of hot red pepper, but if it is not there, then you can change it to a teaspoon of ground;
suneli hops are needed approximately in the amount of 1-2 tsp;
Salt, one teaspoon is enough.

Cooking method

Soup kharcho does not require the use of tkemali. The first action, which will mean the beginning of cooking, is to cut into small pieces (about 30 g each) fatty beef brisket. Then remove the veins and bones from the meat, rinse well and put in a saucepan. It is necessary to add water to the meat in the amount of 8-10 glasses, and then put on fire. When the water begins to boil, remove the foam, leaving the pan on the fire for another 40 minutes, so that the meat is cooked until half cooked.

While the meat is cooking, take care of the rest of the products. First of all, tomatoes. Scald them with boiling water and remove the thin skin, and then turn them into a gentle puree using a blender. Take oil or fat (from the broth), add to an empty pan, and then fry the finely chopped onion in it for 10 minutes, maintaining medium heat. Remove the meat from the broth and put it in a saucepan with onions, cover with a tight lid and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, strain the meat stock. In a saucepan with meat and onions, put the tomato puree cooked in a blender, sweat the resulting mixture for about 10-15 minutes. Add the remaining strained broth in the first pot. When the soup begins to boil again, add rice to it and cook for another 20 minutes. Approximately 10 minutes before readiness, you can put all the cooked spices: crushed garlic cloves, suneli hops, salt, chopped herbs, hot pepper, bay leaf. When the soup is ready, the laurel leaf must be removed from the pan and discarded. The soup is ready.

Kharcho soup is considered a traditional Georgian dish. Generous housewives serve it to the table, wanting to please the guests. The recipe for the first course has spread around many countries and is firmly rooted in the kitchen book of many families. According to tradition, kharcho is prepared on the basis of beef with the addition of chili peppers. However, for those who do not like spicy, you can exclude the burning component. The housewives use pork, chicken and lamb as meat, it all depends on personal preferences. Consider the popular cooking technologies in order.

Features of cooking kharcho soup

From the Georgian language kharcho is translated as "beef". It is easy to guess that the soup is prepared on the basis of cow meat. However, there is no canon as such. When mentioning kharcho soup, it is often explained what kind of meat the dish is based on. Many housewives vary the recipe at the discretion of the family, which does not make the soup less tasty.
As a rule, the first course is characterized by sourness and sharpness, which is achieved by adding chili peppers. The so-called "tklapi" is used as the acidic component. It is prepared from unripe cherry plum, often growing in the southern regions. Due to the unique technology of obtaining tklapi, the composition is also called pita bread based on cherry plum. Plums and dogwood are pureed, then laid out in a thin layer on a baking sheet covered with parchment. After that, the composition is dried in the oven or under the sun.
An alternative option for adding sourness to the kharcho dish is the addition of tkemali - cherry plum sauce to the composition. As a rule, it is difficult to obtain basic components in other countries. In most cases, the ingredients can be purchased in native Georgian stores or kneaded on your own. If it is not possible to use an acidic component, replace it with tomato paste, cherry plum pulp, lemon (put in soup when served), pomegranate juice, adjika, purchased tkemali.
Chili peppers will help to give the soup a spicy spiciness, while both dried chopped composition and a fresh copy are suitable. In the latter case, you should be careful. At the moment when you start chopping a vegetable, inflammation may appear on your hands. For this reason, it is recommended to carry out manipulations with gloves.
If kharcho is prepared on the basis of rice, it is preferable to use a composition of long rather than round grains (not forbidden). It is important that the rice is not steamed. Before cooking, pour the cereal with cold water, let it brew for about 3 hours. During this period, the liquid will suck out the starch. If there is no time for soaking, rinse the product 10 times. Such a move will provide the soup not with a cloudy, but with a translucent consistency without a whitish tint.
Georgian chefs are very generous, they never spare food. In kharcho soup, one cannot save on meat and greens; a different behavior indicates the greed of the hostess. It is preferable to use fresh bunches of dill, parsley, celery. Some cooks prefer to supply the dish with mint leaves (in moderation).
If we talk about seasonings, they are added taking into account personal wishes. An obligatory spice is suneli hops. The loose composition includes dried bay leaf, red pepper (chili), lemon balm, fenugreek, etc. Some recipes involve the addition of suneli-utskho. After adding seasoning to hot dishes, a characteristic aroma of nutmeg appears.
If we talk about the consistency of kharcho soup, it is so thick that the product is more likely to be sauces or second courses of a different kind. As a rule, according to tradition, lavash is dipped into the composition. If we talk about tomatoes added to kharcho, they are first peeled off (the procedure is called blanching). To do this, make a cross cut on the surface of the tomato, then scald the vegetable with boiling water.
As mentioned earlier, kharcho is prepared on the basis of beef. However, experienced housewives prefer to replace it with pork, chicken, lamb. Choose meat with fatty layers to make the dish rich. Traditionally, garlic is added to kharcho. It can be passed through a press or used in its entirety, it all depends on individual preferences.

Soup kharcho: a classic of the genre

onion - 3 pcs.
rice (preferably long grain) - 60 gr.
beef meat - 550-600 gr.
carrots - 1.5 pcs.
walnut - 45 gr.
fresh dill - 40 gr.
fresh parsley - 20 gr.
tkemali - 40 gr.
garlic - 5 cloves
seasonings
chili pepper - 1/3 pod
fresh mint - 1 sprig

First you need to prepare the broth. To carry out the procedure correctly, wash, dry and chop the brisket into cubes (approximately 3 * 3 cm in size). Make sure that there are no separate fatty pieces in the soup.
Send the product to a container, fill it with filtered cold (!) Water, bring the composition to a boil at low power. Boil the soup for about two hours.
At this time, start processing vegetables. Chop the onion into thin half rings, then chop into small slices. Peel the carrots and cut into thin strips.
Do not rush to send onions and carrots to the broth, tkemali is poured first. Scoop up 40 gr. sauce, mix, wait 10 minutes. Send chopped vegetables to the pan, cover with a lid, cook for half an hour.
Take walnuts, fry them in a hot frying pan without adding vegetable oil. The duration of heat treatment is usually 5-7 minutes. After this, the kernels must be passed through a blender, making flour out of them.
Pass the garlic cloves through a press, combine with nuts, add to the soup. Send washed or soaked rice here, cook until the grains swell. As soon as this happens, add your favorite spices.
Evaluate the taste of the soup, if necessary, salt, pepper, add more suneli hops. Send a third of the chili inside, simmer the composition for 5 minutes. If kharcho is not sour enough, add pomegranate juice or tomato paste.
Wash and chop the greens, season the soup with it. Do not rush to turn off the burner, otherwise kharcho will quickly turn sour in the presence of fresh herbs. Continue heat treatment for 5 minutes. After the expiration date, add a sprig of fresh mint, cover, let it brew for half an hour.

Soup kharcho with fish

peppercorns - 5 pcs.
laurel leaf - 6 pcs.
onion - 1 pc. (large)
salt - to taste
parsley root - 1 cm.
celery root - 1 cm.
long grain rice - 160 gr.
sea fish (any) - 350 gr.
garlic - 3 cloves
tkemali - 45 gr.

Fish for kharcho soup is cooked in vegetable broth, choose marine life with the maximum degree of fat content. Pour 1.5-2 liters into the pan. filtered water, add peas, salt. Grate the celery root and parsley, stir into the total mass.
Send the bay leaf, garlic passed through the crusher, into the pan. Peel the onion, cut it into 2 or 4 parts, send it to the broth. Cook the composition on medium power for about 25 minutes.
While the broth is ready, gut the fish, cut off the fins and remove the scales. Wash, chop into large slices, place in the broth. Depending on the size, the fish should be cooked for 20-30 minutes.
10 minutes after the start of processing the fish, send the washed or soaked rice to the pan. Cook kharcho soup until the rice grains are ready. Finish the procedure by adding tkemali (5 minutes before turning off the burner).
Experienced housewives prefer to decorate fish kharcho with mint leaves and fresh herbs. Absolutely everything will do: cilantro, dill, parsley, celery.

boneless chicken - 350 gr.
onion - 2 pcs.
garlic - 4 cloves
walnut (peeled kernels) - 120 gr.
tomatoes - 6 pcs. medium size
salt - to taste
seasonings - optional
fresh parsley - 30 gr.
fresh dill - 40 gr.

Chicken fillet can be replaced with legs to end up with a rich broth. Some housewives prefer to cook kharcho based on domestic duck or broilers. Choose parts that have the maximum amount of fat streaks.
Wash the meat, cut it into small cubes, marinate in salt and spices. Pour vegetable oil into the pan, fry the chicken until golden brown. After that, pour some filtered water into the pan, simmer the product for another 10 minutes.
The broth can be prepared after pre-roasting. To do this, move the entire contents of the pan into a thick-bottomed saucepan, fill with water, cook for 35-60 minutes. The duration of languishing depends on the shape of the meat; “homemade” specimens take longer to cook.
Chop the onion into half rings or small squares. Pass the garlic through a press, add to the onion. Fry over low heat until brown. Make sure that the composition does not burn.
Make an X-shaped incision on the tomatoes, dip in boiling water and leave for 40 seconds. After this period, remove the skin, chop the tomatoes into cubes, add to the broth.
Toast the walnut kernels in a dry frying pan for 7 minutes. After that, grind the composition into dust using a blender or garlic crusher. Send the nut to the soup, after 10 minutes, supply the first dish with salt and seasonings.
Chop fresh herbs, optional parsley and dill. Cilantro, celery, etc. are also suitable. After adding the greens, cook the soup for another 3 minutes, turn off the stove and let the kharcho brew for half an hour. Serve with a mint leaf.

Soup kharcho with lamb

lamb (brisket) - 550 gr.
parsley root - 20 gr.
onion - 1 pc.
ground black pepper - to taste
salt - to taste
rice - 145 gr.
tkemali - 35 gr.
adjika liquid - 30 gr.
tomato paste - 20 gr.
garlic - 4 heads
fresh parsley - a third of a bunch
fresh dill - 1 bunch
chili pepper dry - on the tip of a knife
olives or black olives (for garnish)

Lamb-based kharcho soup is prepared from low-fat tenderloin, brisket is best. Rinse the product with running cold water, dry with napkins or towels, chop into small pieces (size 3*3 cm).
So that the meat does not lose juice during the cooking process, fry the pieces in a pan with the addition of vegetable or butter. 5 minutes of heat treatment is quite enough (during this period, the lamb will be covered with a crust).
2 minutes before readiness, add the parsley root, after rubbing it on a fine grater. Move the meat to a saucepan, fill with warm drinking water and send to the stove. Chop the onion, send it to the meat.
Salt, pepper the dish, add dry chili pepper, mix. Boil the broth for 1 hour, then add the washed or soaked rice. Pour in liquid adjika, tkemali, tomato paste.
Pass garlic through a crush, mix with chopped dill, parsley and cilantro (optional). Cook until the rice is ready, then let the soup brew under the lid for another half hour. Serve with a lemon wedge and olives.

rice (any, but not steamed) - 140 gr.
pork pulp - 550 gr.
walnut (peeled kernels) - 80 gr.
onions - 3-4 pcs.
tkemali - 50 gr.
garlic - 4 cloves
dill (fresh) - half a bunch
parsley (root) - 10 gr.
seasonings - to taste

Wash the pork, dry it with paper towels, chop the meat into cubes. Pick up an enameled pan, send the meat into the cavity and pour 2 liters. water. Cook the tenderloin over low heat for 2 hours. Throughout the languor, remove the foam with a slotted spoon.
After the specified period, remove the meat, pass the broth through 2 layers of gauze, then boil again. Send the pork inside, add pre-soaked or washed rice. Chop the onion, grate the parsley root, send the vegetables to the broth.
Add seasonings after 10 minutes. Fry the walnut kernels in a dry hot frying pan, mash in a mortar. Mix the mass with tkemali sauce, throw into the soup. Boil for a quarter of an hour, then add the garlic passed through the press.
Kharcho will be ready in 10 minutes. Grind the greens, sprinkle the finished dish with it, let it brew for half an hour. Some housewives prefer to supply the soup with pork with mint leaves and a slice of chili pepper.

Soup kharcho: a recipe for a slow cooker

garlic - 7 cloves
carrots - 1 pc.
vegetable oil - for frying
Bulgarian red pepper - 2 pcs.
onion - 1 pc.
chicken fillet - 0.5 kg.
long-grain rice (not steamed) - 150 gr.
potatoes - 3 tubers
fresh parsley - 1 bunch
fresh dill - 1 bunch
bay leaf - 5 pcs.
ground black pepper - on the tip of a knife
salt - to taste

Wash the chicken, dry with paper towels, remove the film. Chop the fillet into small cubes, peel and chop the onion into half rings. Chop the carrots into strips, do the same with bell peppers. Remove the skin from the potatoes, cut into cubes about 1.5 * 1.5 cm in size.
Rinse the rice 7-10 times until the water is completely clear. If desired, you can pre-soak the grains, leaving them for 4 hours in cool water. Pour vegetable oil into the multicooker bowl, send onion half rings, chopped carrots and bell peppers into the cavity.
Turn on the "Roast" mode, set the timer for 10 minutes. Stir constantly so that it does not burn. When the vegetables are fried, remove them, do the same with the chicken pieces (processing time is 25 minutes).
Mix chicken with vegetables, add chopped potatoes, rice. Pour with warm filtered water, set the "Stew" function, cook the soup for 1.5 hours. An hour after the start of cooking, add chopped herbs and garlic, salt, pepper, add spices.

Kharcho soup is considered to be a traditional Georgian dish. It is served at the table at family holidays, cooked as a main dish for lunch or dinner. Consider recipes based on pork, beef, lamb, fish, chicken. Add chili peppers at your discretion, replace tkemali with pomegranate juice, sour tomato paste or cherry plum sauce. Pour your favorite seasonings, the most suitable are marjoram, saffron, suneli hops, bay leaf, black pepper.

Video: principles of cooking kharcho

Kharcho soup is the highlight of a number of first hot dishes even today, and not every housewife includes it in her family's diet. The recipe for this exotically attractive rich and spicy aromatic soup came from Georgia, but its preparation has not become a big secret. It is enough to get acquainted with the correct best kharcho soup recipes and try them out in your personal culinary practice - and you will be able to invite friends to a family dinner - kharcho soup!

As a rule, kharcho soup is boiled with beef, which is directly indicated by the translation of its name into Russian from Georgian: “beef soup”. According to all the strict rules of the "genre", it needs a special dressing - tklali (dried plum puree), which is difficult to find at any time, and without it the classic kharcho soup will not work. Approximately enough, you can use tkemali sauce, but that's just it is not on all the shelves of our stores. The last hope for pomegranate juice, although the loss of a special aroma is not ruled out.

The recipe for the traditional kharcho soup must contain rice, onion, garlic, suneli hops and spices. Some of our chefs also include tomatoes, but this is not for everybody. In Georgia, hot kharcho soup served at the table is sprinkled with chopped cilantro (coriander).

Well, if there are no strict rules for cooking this spicy kharcho soup in Georgia itself, then we are given the opportunity to choose the kharcho soup recipe that is closer to your “stomach”.

What ingredients are needed to make kharcho soup?

You need to start with meat - optimally: fatty on the bone, possibly chicken, but not lamb, as many are mistaken. The beef should be separated from the bone, cleaned from the film and cut across the fibers into small, approximately equal pieces.

Rice is assumed to be of any shape, but rice chaff and parboiled rice grains are excluded.

1. Classic kharcho soup recipe

If you trust our recipe and, following it correctly, prepare this dish, then you should get an almost real Georgian kharcho soup. The list of its ingredients includes beef, rice, onion, prunes and Georgian spices that can give kharcho soup that special flavor that brought him such wide popularity.

Ingredients:

beef brisket - 300 grams;
rice - 100 grams;
onion - 2 onions;
fresh garlic - 3-4 cloves;
prunes - 3 pieces;
hot chili - 1 pod;
hops-suneli and tklali - 1 tablespoon each;
tomato puree - 50 grams;
vegetable oil - 1 tablespoon;
salt, fresh herbs - by preference;
drinking water - 7 glasses.

Cooking classic kharcho like this:

Cut the beef brisket into small approximately equal pieces and put in a suitable saucepan, pour two glasses of water into it so that the meat is covered. Cook over high heat for 5 minutes.
Finely chop fresh peeled onions, fresh garlic and cilantro, mix with suneli hops, tomato paste, vegetable oil and simmer for two minutes with constant stirring over high heat in a separate bowl.
Add tkemali, prunes, salt, ground pepper and rice to the finished mixture - put all this into hot meat, pour in the remaining 5 glasses of water and continue to cook over high heat for no more than 10 minutes.
Soup kharcho is ready, removed from the fire - pour into deep portioned plates, sprinkle finely chopped dill and parsley on top - and it's nice to eat!

2. Kharcho soup recipe with tomatoes

The recipe for this version of kharcho soup does not contain the hard-to-find Georgian tkemali sauce, but at the end you will get a very tasty soup due to the aroma and spiciness that the use of tomatoes and well-chosen seasonings gives.

Ingredients:

beef on the bone - 500 grams;
fresh onion - 3 medium onions;
rice cereal - 4 tablespoons;
ripe fresh tomatoes - 4 pieces;
fresh garlic - 1 clove;
salt and pepper - to taste;
spices: basil, suneli hops, bay leaf - by preference.

Cooking kharcho with tomatoes:

In a small saucepan, cook the whole piece of beef on the bone for an hour and a half under a lid over moderate heat. Salt the broth to taste after an hour of cooking, after which the meat is removed and the broth is strained.
Fry finely chopped onions in a pan in vegetable oil until soft, put the meat cut into equal pieces into it and continue frying for another 5 minutes. After lowering the heat under the pan, pour a few tablespoons of broth into it, mix everything and continue simmering for 15 minutes.
While the meat is stewing, prepare the tomatoes: wash, cut the skin crosswise, put in a suitable bowl and pour boiling water over it, drain the water after a few minutes, cool the tomatoes, remove the skin, randomly chop and put into the pan with meat and onions. Mix everything and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.
Put the pot with the broth on the fire until it boils, after which put the meat stew with vegetables into it. After the next boil, start the rice, reduce the heat. After 5 minutes of boiling, add spices to the kharcho soup.
Finely chopped greens and crushed garlic put in the soup at the end of cooking. Kharcho soup is ready. Remove the pan from the heat and let it brew for a while under the lid. You can serve with.

3. Homemade chicken kharcho soup recipe

This kharcho soup recipe is for those who prefer broths. In addition, in Georgia, this version of kharcho soup is widely acceptable. It is important to cook it in the best traditions and with love.

Ingredients:

chicken - 700-800 grams;
wheat flour - 40 grams;
peeled walnuts - 200 grams;
tomatoes - 3 fresh ripe tomatoes;
onion - 2 onions;
fresh garlic - 3 teeth;
hops-suneli - 1 teaspoon;
crushed coriander seeds - 1 teaspoon;
coriander greens - a few branches;
spices: capsicum, allspice, black ground, cloves, Imeretian saffron, bay leaf and salt - to taste.

Cooking chicken kharcho soup like this:

Boil chopped chicken meat until half cooked in broth - 2.5 liters. Fat during cooking can be removed in a separate bowl.
Put finely chopped onion into a deep frying pan with the removed chicken fat and simmer it until tender. Remove chicken pieces from the broth, transfer them to a pan with stewed onions and continue to simmer under the lid with stirring for 10-15 minutes. Pour flour while stirring and continue simmering for five minutes under the lid.
Transfer the contents of the pan to a saucepan with broth, after boiling, cook for up to 10 minutes. Add the grated tomatoes and plum puree to the boiling kharcho soup and cook with them for another 5 minutes, then add the walnuts crushed with garlic and all the spices that you have chosen from the list of ingredients, including salt to taste. The last period of cooking kharcho soup is 10 minutes. The soup is infused under the lid and is ready to be served.

When preparing kharcho soup, it is very important not to “overcook” with spices and keep the balance of spices and spices that will create the overall impeccable taste of this interesting dish. Be especially careful with hot spices - pepper of any kind, which can drown out the rest of the bouquet of aromas of kharcho soup.

Coriander (cilantro) also requires a special approach due to its pronounced aromatic data. If this is your first time including it in a dish. it’s better to leave the chopped cilantro on a separate plate and everyone can put this sharp spice on their plate at their own “fear and risk”. In the process of creating kharcho soup, it is important to follow the technology of the recipe and the list of ingredients, but this does not deprive you of copyright for personal creativity - experiments are permissible within reasonable risk. The most important thing is to cook with love!

Kharcho is perhaps the most famous national dish of Georgia. Georgian kharcho soup is the hallmark of any Georgian restaurant. There are a lot of kharcho soup recipes. All of them have one thing in common - it is cooked only on beef broth. An obligatory ingredient of any Georgian kharcho is rice, walnuts and tklapi - thickened plum pulp (plum marshmallow).

In Georgian, kharcho soup sounds “dzrokhizs horstsi kharshot”, which can be translated as “beef meat in broth”. Few people know, but the dish in its original form is beef in walnut sauce. There are always arguments about the recipe for soup: how to cook it, what kind of meat, how to cook the real one, what kind of Georgian rice should be, etc.

There are no reliable sources indicating the period of history when the Georgian cuisine was replenished with a new dish. As well as there is no data on the classic Georgian kharcho soup recipe. Most likely, the first recipes appeared at about the same time when the Caucasian peoples mastered the breeding of livestock and agricultural crops. In the 2-3 century AD. rice appeared in the Caucasus. Wild plums grew on the territory of modern Georgia in ancient times.

Due to all the peculiarities of the development of animal husbandry and agriculture in the Transcaucasus, it is generally accepted that real kharcho is prepared only from beef, rice and plum marshmallow. In the summer months, when cooking it, tklapi can be replaced with fresh plums, cherry plums or tkemali sauce.

The soup combines a pleasant, delicate and delicate taste of beef broth with an almost imperceptible taste of rice, sourness of tkemali, aromas of fresh herbs and spicy walnuts. The special taste and smell of hot kharcho soup causes a burning appetite and pushes all other things into the background.

soup ingredients

Ingredients;
400 grams of beef on the bone;
4 tablespoons of rice;
3 tablespoons of tkemali (or a piece of tklapi ¼ sheet A4);
½ cup walnuts;
1 head of garlic;
1 bunch of parsley;
1 bunch of cilantro;
1 teaspoon hops-suneli.

How to choose products for kharcho soup

Start cooking kharcho soup with a choice of products. Beef for broth for real kharcho should be taken only the freshest and highest quality. Very fatty beef, as is usually written in recipes, is not worth taking, this is not entirely healthy and excess fat will not allow the flavor to fully open up.

The broth for the cook can be compared to the canvas for the artist. The perfect portrait will look ugly if the canvas is poorly primed. The task of the broth is to convey to the guest the range of emotions that the chef has invested in his culinary masterpiece.

For a rich kharcho soup, it is better to choose beef on the bone. The meat should be dense and elastic, and not have foreign odors. In natural light, beef is light red in color without a grayish or greenish tinge. The broth made from the meat of an old animal is more aromatic, but the meat itself is tougher.

Broth Recipe

There are two completely opposite views on the same product - the first broth for kharcho. All culinary specialists are divided into two camps: those who believe that during the first cooking the meat releases all the most harmful substances into the water, and those who believe that the first one is richer in taste and contains the most useful amino acids and trace elements. Each camper chooses for himself. Only one recipe can be considered universal, if you are not 100% sure of the quality of beef, then it is better to drain the first one.

rice recipe

Any rice can be used, but round-grain rice is best suited for kharcho. The grains of such rice, round and thick, boil well. Due to the peculiarities of processing, the grains undergo mechanical grinding, after which fine rice dust remains on the grains. The layer of dust from the grains must be washed off by rinsing the rice well in water 5-6 times or soaking it for 20 minutes.

Now it is almost impossible to taste Georgian kharcho soup cooked with real tklapi. An excellent substitute for tklapi is tkemali sauce. It is easy to prepare at home, but you can also use ready-made. Vinegar or citric acid are the simplest, but not the most delicious and healthy products that can add sourness, which is obligatory for Georgian kharcho soup.

greens recipe

Greens are a must for any Georgian dish. When choosing parsley, cilantro, dill, note that the leaves and stems should be bright green and resilient. In fresh greens, the roots are white and without severe damage. The taste and smell of fresh parsley or cilantro is strong and fragrant. To strengthen it, before adding to the kharcho, the greens should be washed in cold water.

And if it is served on the table on a separate plate with vegetables, then it is better to rinse in warm and slightly acidified water. But not hot, because high temperatures destroy most of the beneficial vitamins: kharcho will be tasty, but not healthy. It is better to store bunches of greens in a glass of water in the refrigerator or frozen in the freezer.

There are two requirements for garlic for Georgian kharcho soup. Garlic should be firm and dry. Small heads have a more delicate aroma and delicate taste. In ripe garlic, the cloves are well palpable. Sprouted heads should not be taken, they have practically no useful substances left.

Kharcho soup recipe, classic

Rinse the beef well under cold water. Put the meat in a large saucepan and pour 2 liters of water. It is better to cook beef in one large piece. Finely chopped meat during cooking loses a lot of nutrients and becomes dry. If the broth boils strongly, then its taste improves, but the quality of the meat drops very much, and vice versa, barely boiling, it allows you to save the taste of the meat. Cook beef according to the recipe on low heat for about 2 hours, removing the foam. If there are difficulties with the foam and the broth is cloudy, then it is better to strain it.

When the meat is cooked, it is taken out of the broth, separated from the bone and cut into large portions. Cooked meat separates well from the bone while hot. Put the cut pieces back into the boiling broth. A little more and kharcho is ready.

Then add washed rice, a few sprigs of cilantro and parsley. Experienced cooks recommend tying the greens into small bundles at the first laying and removing them before serving. Bouillon cook for about 10-15 minutes. The rice should be slightly soft but not overcooked. Long-grain rice boils at the ends during prolonged heat treatment, which immediately evokes an association with a dish from a factory canteen, so its use for cooking kharcho is not desirable.

At the end of cooking, add crushed roasted walnuts. To roast nuts, you can use both a frying pan and a microwave, only in both cases the nuts must be mixed well so that they do not burn. The degree of roasting is easy to determine by smell. Crushing a walnut is best in a mortar or a wooden crush in a wide cup, avoiding hitting the nutshell and partitions.

Then add crushed garlic, finely chopped parsley and cilantro (2/3 of the bunch), salt, tklapi or tkemali to the slowly boiling broth. In kharcho soup, sourness should be felt. For cutting greens, you can use scissors - very quickly and conveniently. The classic kharcho soup recipe does not include carrots, onions and tomatoes.

And last, according to the recipe, spices are put in kharcho soup. Suneli hops as a high-tech product, everyone knows the name, but no one knows exactly how it is made. Therefore, it is better to take a ready-made version. The main ingredients of suneli hops are dill, basil, coriander, hot red pepper, marjoram, saffron.

Cover the finished kharcho soup with a lid and let it brew for at least 15 minutes. Before serving kharcho, finely chop the remaining 1/3 of the greens and add in portions to each plate.

Non-classical kharcho soup recipes

Carrots, onions and tomatoes are often added to the dish. This gives taste and is more familiar to European gourmets. The carrots are cut into large pieces, and the onion into strips and added before laying the rice. If you add tomatoes to the kharcho, then it is better to take whole sweet cherry tomatoes. They give a very unusual taste and extravagant look to kharcho.

There are many more kharcho soup recipes than we have described here, it is difficult to make it at first, but then it is not difficult. It's all about patience and skill, as usual. For those who want to immediately try the real Georgian kharcho soup, we strongly recommend visiting a Georgian restaurant in Moscow, fortunately, they are represented in sufficient quantities in the city. Here you will always find a warm welcome and delicious food. Enjoy your meal!