Khinkali Mtiuluri Recipe

Put the flour in a large bowl and make a dip. Dissolve the salt in cold water and slowly pour into the flour. Knead a very dense and cool dough. At first, you'll have a hard time kneading, but don't add too much water — the cooler the dough, the better it will retain the juice when it cooks and won't crumble. Process the dough well by hand, wrap it in food cellophane and let it rest for 30-40 minutes. After resting, the dough will become more elastic.

Wash the beef and pork thoroughly, chop it and put it together with the onions in a meat grinder (traditionally the meat was minced, but it turns out to be excellent). Add salt and black pepper to the minced meat. Slowly add cold water to the minced meat and mix well so that the meat should fully absorb the water. The minced meat should become homogeneous, fluffy and slightly liquid (it is this water that turns into the delicious juice of khinkali).

Roll out the rested dough into a layer about 1 cm thick and cut out small circles in a special shape or cup. Roll each small circle one by one into a thin plate (leave the center relatively thick and smooth out the edges well). Place 1 tablespoon of minced meat in the center of the plate. Lift the edges of the dough and start rolling the khinkali (the more wrinkles you manage to make, the better and more beautiful khinkali you will get). At the bottom, gather the wrinkles together in the center, holding your fingers tightly so that you do not get a large "stomach" (remove excess dough).

Meanwhile, before wrapping the khinkali, boil a lot of water in a large and wide saucepan and pour a lot of salt.

As soon as you roll up the required amount of khinkali, stir the boiling water in a circle with a spoon to create a swirl effect, and one by one, put the khinkali in the pot with the stomachs up. Initially, carefully stir the bottom of the pot with a smooth-mouthed foam so that the khinkali does not stick. When the khinkali rises to the surface and turns upside down with the belly, boil for another 7-8 minutes.

Before removal, pour a glass of cold water into the pot (this will stop fermentation, bind the dough and make the khinkali more glossy). Carefully remove the khinkali with foam on a large platter, sprinkle with black pepper and serve immediately while hot!