Georgian dumplings

Ingredients for 5 servings:

• 1 kg minced meat, mixed
• 2 onions
• 1 bunch of parsley, flat, originally coriander greens, finely chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 jar water, warm
• 1 kg wheat flour, type 405
• ½ liter of water
• 1 egg(s)
• Salt
• Flour , for the work surface

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 45 minutes

Khinkali – Georgian national dish

Filling: Place the minced meat in a bowl and mix with the chopped onions, salt, pepper, parsley or coriander, and about 1 glass of warm water. Dough: Place the wheat flour in a bowl, add 1/2 liter of water, salt, and egg, and knead. Sprinkle the table with flour and knead the dough until smooth. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and cut out round pieces using a glass. The cut-out pieces must be rolled out thinly again. Place a tablespoon of meat filling on each piece of dough and fold it upwards from the side, creating many small pleats. Then twist the end into a knot so the dough doesn’t unravel during cooking. Add the finished khinkali to the boiling, salted water, checking occasionally to make sure they don’t stick to the side of the pot. Once they float to the top, let them stand for about 5 minutes. Then scoop them out with a ladle, sprinkle with pepper, and serve. This usually makes a large bowl of khinkali, and they are often not eaten right away. Then they are fried in butter and served again straight away. In Georgia, beer and vodka are drunk with them. Khinkali are eaten with the fingers. You first bite into them very lightly to slurp up the delicious meat juices, and only then is the khinkali finally eaten. You don’t need to eat the dough knot; it goes to the side of the plate and later delights the dogs. There are countless khinkali restaurants around Tbilisi, and people come from far and wide to enjoy them in the evening with friends and to have fun.