Name: Meat-filled khinkali dumplings
Ingredients: coriander seeds; garlic clove; salt; fresh medium-hot chilli; ground beef; ground cumin; cilantro; meat broth; egg; all-purpose flour; minced onion; water; mild thyme; plain flour; ground pork; dried kondari; summer savory; butter; black pepper; caraway seeds; water; coriander

Carla Capalbo

Meat-filled khinkali dumplings

Khinkali ხინკალი ხორციო

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium
Makes about
24

Appears in

Tasting Georgia

By Carla Capalbo

Published 2017

About

Khinkali are Georgian soup dumplings. In the high Caucasus mountains of Kazbegi, the khinkali are usually stuffed with lightly spiced meat. For the Master Recipe on how to form the dumplings.

This filling can be made of beef, pork or a mixture of both. Make sure there is some fat in the meat. If your meat is very lean, add an extra 30 g / 1 oz butter or 2 tablespoons oil to the meat mixture. Meat khinkali are supposed to be juicy: your aim is to trap a little of the broth inside the dumplings.

Preparation 60 minutes

Cook 10 minutes

Ingredients

For the Dough

260 g / 9 oz / 2 cups plain/all-purpose flour
1 egg, at room temperature
120 ml / 4 fl oz / ½ cup water
1 tsp salt

For the Meat Filling

100 g / 3½ oz ground beef
100 g / 3½ oz ground pork
40 g / 1½ oz / ⅓ cup minced onion
2 tbsp minced coriander / cilantro
¼ tsp minced fresh medium-hot chilli, or to taste
30 g / 1 oz / 2 tbsp butter, melted
½ cup water or meat broth
freshly ground black pepper
4 g / ⅛ oz / 1 garlic clove, minced
¼ tsp dried kondari (summer savory) or mild thyme
¼ tsp coriander seeds, crushed
¼ tsp caraway seeds, finely chopped
⅛ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt

Method

Mix the dough ingredients together by hand or in a food processor until they form a ball (if necessary, add a little more flour or water). Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for 4–5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean tea cloth while you prepare the filling.

Mix all the filling ingredients together in a large bowl. Use a fork or your hands to make sure the ingredients are really well blended and all the meat has been broken up.

See for instructions on how to make, cook and eat the khinkali. Serve them with lots of ground black pepper.