Soup Kharcho

Most world cuisines have first courses that they can be proud of. In Georgia, it is kharcho - rice soup with beef, made from a special set of products and has a unique savory taste. The traditional recipe involves the use of walnuts, garlic and an unusual ingredient - tklapi. This product is a dried plum puree, often cherry plum. Outside of Georgia, it is impossible to get it Tomato paste will not replace it. It is acceptable to use prunes instead of tklapi, plum puree or tkemali sauce, while tomatoes or pasta from them act as a supplement. The presence of an alternative allows you to cook kharcho at home, regardless of what region the chef lives in.

Cooking Features

Observing the instructions accompanying the recipe, even an inexperienced hostess can cope with cooking kharcho. Tips from experienced chefs will not be superfluous if you want rice soup to turn out identical to the one cooked by Georgians.

For kharcho it is better to choose long grain rice - there is less starch in it. It should be washed several times, until the water drained from it becomes completely transparent. Some even soak rice cereal for a couple of hours in cool water so that less starch remains on it. If you ignore these requirements, the soup will turn cloudy.
Translated from Georgian kharcho means “beef soup”. If you follow the traditional technology, you need to cook it in beef broth, however, options for cooking soup on other types of meat are acceptable. Some of these recipes are even classified as classic.
Classic Kharcho recipes do not include the use of potatoes. If you come across this ingredient as a part, you are dealing with a variant adapted to Russian cuisine that is very different from the Georgian one.
Pepper gives the savory taste of the soup. It is better to add fresh chillies, having previously cleaned it of seeds and finely chopped. This component should not be too much. It is important that he didn’t beat the taste of the soup with his spite, but only strengthen it.
The unique aroma of kharcho is due to the seasonings and spices that are put into it. This is hops-suneli, cilantro. You can add them with parsley, dill, fenugreek, mint. Do not put a lot of greens in the pot when cooking, it is better to put it in plates before serving the soup to the table.
When cooking soup, you should follow the recommendations on the method of processing products, the time of their preparation. Putting the ingredients in the soup should be in the order indicated in the recipe. Otherwise, the appearance and taste of the finished kharcho may be far from ideal.

There is no single recipe for kharcho, each Georgian woman prepares it in his own way. The proportions indicated in the recipe can be changed at your discretion.

Beef Kharcho

Composition:

beef (brisket or scapula) - 0, 4 kg;
water - 1, 5-2 l;
long grain rice - 50 g;
carrots - 100 g;
onions - 150 g;
walnut kernels - 50 g;
garlic - 6 cloves;
tkemali - 100 ml;
bitter peppers - 20 g;
hops-suneli - 5 g;
fresh greens (cilantro, dill, parsley) - 100 g;
salt, coriander - to taste.

Method of preparation:

Wash a piece of beef, cover it with cold water, put it on the stove. On medium heat, bring to a boil, remove the foam, add salt. Reduce the intensity of the flame and cook the meat on low heat for an hour. It will be ready when it begins to separate easily from the bone.
Wash and clean the carrots. Cut it into thin straws or chop on a grater.
Remove the peel from the onion, cut it into thin half-rings.
In a dry frying pan, lightly fry the walnuts, after breaking them into pieces.
Peel the garlic. Cut the teeth into small pieces.
Place half the garlic in the mortar, put the roasted nuts in the same place. Spread it.
Peel seeds from seeds, chop them thoroughly with a knife.
Finely chop fresh greens.
Remove the prepared meat from the broth, cool it and separate it from the bone. Cut into portions or small pieces, return to the pan.
Add boiled water, bringing its amount to the original volume.
As soon as the broth begins to boil again, add tkemali or a piece of tklapi about 10 cm in size, having previously soaked it in water.
After a couple of minutes, enter the carrot, after another 5 minutes - onions. Cook on low heat for 20 minutes.
Rinse the rice thoroughly and put it in the pan. Stir and continue cooking for 10 minutes.
Add walnut-garlic paste. Stir the contents of the pan. Boil 15 minutes.
Add the pepper, the remaining garlic, seasonings and half the prepared greens. You can add a little pomegranate juice - it will give the dish extra sourness, slightly change its color.
Let the soup boil for another 5 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover the pan with a lid, let the soup stand for 10-20 minutes.

Spreading kharcho on plates, sprinkle it with greens. Do not forget to add meat to each plate. The dish turns out so fragrant that hardly anyone can resist not to try it.

Kharcho lamb with prunes

Composition:

lamb breast with a bone - 0.5 kg;
water - 1, 5-2 l;
rice - 80 g;
pitted prunes - 50 g;
onions - 0, 25 kg;
bitter peppers - 15 g;
walnut kernels - 50 g;
garlic - 4 cloves;
tomatoes - 0, 25 kg;
tkemali - 50 ml;
hops-suneli - 5 g;
bay leaf - 1 pc .;
allspice - 3 pcs .;
salt, black pepper, fresh herbs - to taste.

Method of preparation:

Wash the meat, put it in the pan. Bay with cold water, bring to a boil. Boil 1, 5-2 hours, not forgetting to remove the foam. The broth at this time should boil barely.
An hour after boiling the broth, add salt and prune cut into thin strips.
Peel the bulbs, cut each into 4 pieces. Thinly cut.
Crush nuts, garlic and bitter pepper, peeled from seeds. Pound them in a mortar.
Slice the tomatoes crosswise on the side opposite the stem. Boil them and clean them.
Cut the tomatoes into large pieces, removing the seals in the stalk area. Beat the tomato pulp with a blender or rub through a sieve.
Combine the tomato mash with a spicy mass of nuts, pepper and garlic. Stir well.
When the meat is completely soft, put onions in the soup.
Wash the rice and send it to the pan. Boil 15 minutes.
Pour tomato sauce into pan, mix. Continue cooking for 10 minutes.
Put seasonings and spices, if necessary, add salt. Pour in tkemali, stir. Add greens.
Cook for 5 minutes, remove from the heat and leave for 10-15 minutes under the lid.

Kharcho from mutton turns out to be nourishing and fragrant, with spicy sourness, moderately spicy. Will appeal to lovers of Caucasian cuisine.

Chicken Kharcho

Composition:

chicken - 1, 2-1, 3 kg;
water - 3 l;
rice - 100 g;
onions - 0, 25 kg;
carrots - 0, 25 kg;
adjika - 5 ml;
tomato paste - 20 ml;
vegetable oil - 40 ml;
tkemali - 40 ml;
walnut kernels - 70 g;
garlic - 3 cloves;
fresh parsley - 50 g;
fresh basil - 25 g;
celery greens - 25 g;
wheat flour - 20 g;
salt, pepper, bay leaf - to taste.

Method of preparation:

After washing the chicken, divide it into large pieces, fold it into a saucepan.
Bay with water, bring to a boil. Remove the foam, reduce the heat.
Salted. Add the whole onion and carrot cut into 2 pieces. Cook until cooked chicken.
Remove poultry meat and vegetables from the broth, strain it.
Separate the chicken meat from the bones, cut and return to the broth.
Unused onions and carrots, peeled, chop. Onion should be finely chopped, grate carrots.
Fry vegetables in vegetable oil, sprinkle with flour, mix. After 2 minutes, add a mixture of tomato paste, tkemali and adjika. Extinguish 2-3 minutes, remove from heat.
Pound finely chopped garlic with nuts.
Rice rinse well.
When the broth boils, put rice in it. Boil for 10-15 minutes.
Enter the fry, continue cooking until the rice is soft.
Add walnut-garlic paste, half of finely chopped herbs, spices.
Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, then let it stand for 10-15 minutes under the lid.

The remaining herbs sprinkle the soup when serving to the table. This version of cooking kharcho differs from the traditional one in that it uses vegetable roasting for it. Broth also cooks a little differently. Used another set of greens, in which cilantro is replaced by celery.

Knowing the principle of cooking Georgian kharcho, you can cook this soup and pork. For this more suitable recipes, which are cooked beef or lamb soups.

Many housewives make kharcho without nuts, tkemali completely replace tomato paste, use frying. These options are acceptable, but significantly different from the traditional. Identical to the classic Georgian kharcho, the soup made from them will be gone.

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