Make Authentic Georgian Kharcho: Mother's Recipe

Kharcho is an integral part of Georgian cuisine. The soup is made from beef, it is thick, aromatic, and very hearty. For us, living in the cold Urals, it is the perfect winter soup — it can quickly warm you up after a long walk in the frost. Traditionally, the kharcho recipe was shared by the Georgian mother of our journalist.

Properly prepared kharcho always turns out thick, spicy, hot in taste, with an abundance of herbs and Georgian spices. For preparation, we will need 1 kilogram of medium-fat beef pulp, 2 large onions, 3 tablespoons of tkemali sauce, 2.5 tablespoons of ground walnuts, 6 cloves of garlic, dried hot red pepper, 50 grams of tomato paste, 2-4 tablespoons of rice, dill, parsley, cilantro, 2 small celery stalks, 2 bay leaves, 0.5 teaspoon of saffron, 1 teaspoon of coriander, 1 teaspoon of khmeli-suneli (Georgian spice blend), 0.5 teaspoon of utskho-suneli (blue fenugreek).

To start, wash the meat and cut it into small pieces. Place it in a pot, cover with water, and put it on medium heat. The beef cooks for about an hour and a half — this way it won«t become overcooked or remain tough. When the water starts to boil, use a skimmer to remove the meat foam until the broth becomes clean and clear. While the meat is cooking, add the bay leaf, a whole peeled onion, and two small celery stalks to the broth.

While the meat is cooking, prepare the soup dressing. Pour two to four, depending on the amount of water, tablespoons of rice into a cup and rinse the grains. Set aside for a short while. Walnuts can be bought already ground, or you can grind them yourself. We took whole walnuts, sorted them, cleaned them of debris, and ground them. For the soup, we need two and a half tablespoons, so set them aside in a separate cup as well.

Among the ingredients, there is tkemali sauce — from the eponymous variety of sour plum. For the soup, we used homemade sauce that we made ourselves. However, besides that, you can use the tkemali plum itself or tklapi (a fruit leather) made from tkemali. If you don«t have any of these, of course, you can take ready-made tkemali sauce from the store or use any other sour plum.

Add chopped cilantro with garlic, spices, and a couple of spoons of tkemali to the broth and stir, cook for about a minute. Then, pour in the walnuts. Stir the soup again and cook for another minute. Finally, throw chopped cilantro, parsley, and dill into the broth and stir again. Turn off the heat. The soup is ready!

Earlier, our journalist«s mother shared how to make satsivi — chicken in walnut sauce.