Achma

Achma - layered cheese pie - refers to Georgian cuisine, often considered to be a kind of khachapuri. The dish has a specific technology of preparation, it turns out nourishing, many cooks rank Acma as a category of festive dishes. Having no experience in making Georgian cheesecake, this process will have to take a lot of time and be prepared for the fact that the first culinary experiment will not be entirely successful. But over time, you will fill your hand and will do acma quickly and easily, delighting your loved ones not only on holidays, but also on weekdays.

Cooking Features

The composition of the ashma is simple - dough and pickled cheese, but the technology of making this Georgian cake is unique. The result is a dish that has no analogues. Before you start preparing the breakfast according to the chosen recipe, it does not hurt to get acquainted with the peculiarities of this process. Then you will not make mistakes and be satisfied with the result.

Achma - a multi-layered cake, in addition to the upper and lower layers, has from 4 to 8 layers of dough, sandwiched with cheese filling and butter. Therefore, the dough for the ashma needs to be rolled very thin. It is important that the dough is soft, but dense and elastic, not torn as a result of subsequent manipulations with it. If you do not have a great culinary experience, you should not threaten a large pie the size of a baking sheet, it is advisable to limit yourself to a small one, making it in the usual form with a diameter of 20-26 cm.
All layers of dough, except the top and bottom, must be boiled before assembling the cake. It is convenient to do this in a wide container; some housewives use a basin for this. The dough is dipped in boiling water for literally 15 seconds, then removed with a slotted spoon, washed with cold water and dried, laid out on a towel.
In Georgia, they prefer to use Imereti cheese, which has a fairly mild flavor, or its mixture with suluguni (usually in a one-to-one) ratio. However, any type of pickled cheese (cheese, feta), as well as Adygei cheese will do. You can choose their ratio, based on your taste.
Bake the cake in the oven, heated to 180-200 degrees, until its upper layer is lightly browned. It usually takes 40-60 minutes. It does not make sense to spend extra time in the oven, since all the ingredients used for its preparation are ready for use without heat treatment - only the lower and upper layers of the dough, which are baked first, need it.
They eat the hot chocolate, but it should not be cut immediately, but 10-20 minutes after being removed from the oven, otherwise the cheese will drag on and stick to the knife. Some housewives cut the cake before putting it in the oven.
Serve as possible as a main course or as a supplement to tea. To her often offer green onions, fresh greens.

If the achma is not eaten whole, you can put it in the fridge, and the next time before serving, just warm it in the oven or microwave.

The classic recipe for achma

Composition:

chicken egg - 5 pcs .;
butter - 0, 4 kg;
wheat flour - 1 kg (not counting the cost of rolling the dough);
matsoni - 0, 4 l;
Imereti cheese - 1, 5 kg;
salt - 5-10 g.

Method of preparation:

Break eggs into a bowl, add salt to them, whisk together.
Enter matsoni. In the absence of this fermented milk product, you can use a mixture of sour milk and sour cream in the ratio of 1: 1.
Beat the eggs along with the yogurt.
Sift flour. Pour it into pieces and stir, knead the dough.
Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Of these, two parts should be 20-30 percent larger than the rest.
Melt the butter.
Chop grated cheese or cut into layers and chop very finely with a knife. You can crush the cheese with a fork. If it was not possible to get Imereti cheese, replace it with Adygei and Suluguni. They can be taken equally or in a 2: 1 ratio.
Roll out one of the large pieces of dough into a layer, the size of which will be several centimeters larger than the size of the baking sheet on which you will bake the cake.
Place the dough on a baking sheet.
Roll out one of the small pieces of dough. The seam should be the size of a baking sheet.
Boil water in a basin or other container. Dip the dough into it, after 15 seconds, carefully remove it with a slotted spoon, put it in a colander, rinse with cool water.
After straightening, place the dough on a terry towel.
Lubricate the layer of dough on the baking sheet. Put the dough on the towel. Grease it with butter, put a fifth of the cheese.
Roll out, weld the next layer. While you need to work with smaller pieces of dough.
After drying the boiled dough, put it on the cheese, grease with butter, put on it a quarter of the remaining filling. Keep collecting the cake until small pieces of dough run out. Cheese by this time, too, should come to an end.
Lubricate the upper layer with oil. Roll out the remaining large piece of dough, put it on top. Connect the extreme pieces of dough, pinch the edges of the cake.
Cut the cake into portions.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Put a pan in it. Bake the cheese for about an hour until its top layer is browned.

If the achma turned out to be high, tender, juicy and nourishing, while appetizing looks, you coped with the task perfectly well.

Achma with Suluguni and Adyghe cheese

Composition:

chicken egg - 2 pcs .;
wheat flour - 0, 25 kg;
water (cold boiled) - 40 ml;
vegetable oil - 40 ml;
salt - a large shchipot;
butter - 150 g;
Adyghe cheese - 0, 2-0, 25 kg;
Suluguni - 0, 2-0, 25 kg.

Method of preparation:

Sift flour. In the center make a recess. Break eggs into it. Sprinkle with salt. Pour in vegetable oil and cold water. Stir, starting from the center and gradually mixing the flour at the edges. First, it is convenient to stir with a fork, then you need to knead the dough with your hands. Roll the dough into a ball, sprinkle with flour, cover with cling film, leave for half an hour.
Cut Adygea cheese into small pieces, then chop them up with a fork. Suluguni grind grated with large holes. Combine both types of cheese, mix.
Melt the butter.
Divide the dough into 8-10 parts, depending on the size of your shape: the larger its diameter, the larger the dough pieces must be, otherwise it will be difficult to roll it into layers of the desired size.
Roll out one piece of dough so that the diameter of the formation is about 4 cm larger than the diameter of the mold. Put the dough in the form, grease with a thin layer of butter. It will be convenient to do it with the help of a culinary brush.
Roll out the second part of the dough. Dip it for 10-15 seconds in boiling water, catch with a slotted spoon and transfer to a container filled with cold water. Drain, laid out on a towel. Put in shape.
Grease with oil, put a few spoons of cottage cheese filling. Cheese should be distributed so that it is enough for all layers of the future achmy.
Roll out, boil, cool and dry the next piece of dough. Collect the next layer of the pie. Keep collecting the cake until 2 pieces of dough remain. Cheese by this time you need to use all.
Roll out, boil one of the remaining dough pieces, put on the cheese, brush with butter.
Roll out the last dough. Do not boil, put it on top of the previous layer. Seal the edges of the cake so that it is closed.
Heat the oven to 200 degrees, put the cake form into it, bake it for 30-40 minutes.

It remains to take the achma out of the oven, let it stand for 15 minutes, cut it and invite everyone to the table. This is one of the simplest options for cooking ashma, but our inventive compatriots came up with another, using Armenian lavash.

“Lazy” achma from Armenian lavash and cheese

Composition:

Armenian lavash - 6 pcs .;
white cheese - 0, 7-0, 8 kg;
kefir - 0, 5 l;
chicken egg - 3 pcs .;
garlic - 2 cloves;
dill - to taste;
butter - 50 g.

Method of preparation:

Chop the cheese finely with a knife.
Beat the eggs, mix them with kefir, passed through a press with garlic and chopped dill. Whisk with a whisk to obtain a uniform composition.
Four pita bread cut into pieces according to the size of the pan or pan, leave two whole.
Put a whole pita in the form. Its edges will hang, so it should be.
Dip a piece of another pita in kefir-egg mixture, put in shape. Put a piece of cheese on top. Dip the next piece of pita in kefir, put it on top. Put cheese on it. Keep collecting the cake until the cheese ends. Cover it with the last piece of pita bread. Pour the remaining kefir-egg mixture on it. Put the whole pita bread on top. Lay the ends of the lower and upper pita so that all sides of the cake are hidden under them.
Smear the top layer of pita with butter.
Place the oven in a preheated 200 degree oven for 20 minutes.

The cake prepared according to this recipe differs from the traditional ashma, but it also turns out to be tasty and satisfying.

Achma is one of the traditional dishes of Georgian cuisine, it is a layer cake with cheese filling. The food is loved by many of our compatriots. If you make such a dish often, its preparation will no longer seem difficult.