Georgia is located in the continents of Asia. It has Russia to the north, the Caspian Sea to the east, Azerbaijan and Armenia to the south, the Black Sea to the west, and Ukraine to the northwest.
The capital is Tbilisi.
The official language is Georgian.
The climate varies with the Black Sea providing warm, moist air, and a humid subtropical maritime climate, while the east side varies from moderately humid to a dry subtropical type.
The staple foods are corn bread, walnut, cheese, deviled eggs, kidney beans, sausage, chicken, turkey, eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes, grape juice desserts and so much more (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_cuisine).
https://www.britannica.com/place/Georgia
KHINKALI (Meat-Filled Dumplings) (https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/khinkali-meat-filled-dumplings):
Dough:
- 2 C all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ C water
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Olive oil, for greasing
- Stir together flour and salt in a medium bowl.
- Make a well in center of dry ingredients and add ½ C water and egg.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
- Set aside.
Meat Filling:
- 4 oz. 80% lean ground beef
- 4 oz. ground pork
- ¾ C water
- 1/3 C yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 TBSP fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 2 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ tsp dried kondari (summer savory) or mild thyme
- ¼ tsp coriander seeds, crushed
- ¼ tsp caraway seeds, finely chopped
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more for serving
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper, or to taste
- 1/8 tsp ground cumin
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- Using a fork or your hands, stir together all meat filling ingredients in a large bowl until ground meat is completely broken up and mixture is well blended.
- Divide dough into thirds.
- Shape 1 dough portion into a ball and roll out to about ¼-inch thickness on a lightly floured work surface. (Keep the remaining dough portions covered with plastic wrap while you work).
- Using a 2-1/2-inch round cutter, cut out 8 dough circles, rerolling dough scraps as necessary.
- Roll each dough circle into a larger 4-inch circle.
- Place about 1 TBSP meat filling in center of each dough circle, and pleat dough edge, gathering top like a pouch to enclose filling.
- When you have pleated all the way around, pinch top edges together firmly, and give the dough a little twist to make a stem and to make sure the khinkali is well sealed (If you don’t want the stems, lightly press the twisted stem down into the dumpling with your finger).
- Place finished dumplings on a piece of lightly floured parchment paper.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and repeat process with remaining dough portions and filling.
- Bring a large pot of salted water and bay leaves to a boil over high.
- Carefully add half of dumplings to water and stir gently with a wooden spoon (without piercing dumplings) to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom of pot.
- Boil until dough is tender and meat is cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Remove khinkali with a spider and drain on paper towels.
- Repeat with the remaining half dumplings.
- Sprinkle khinkali with black pepper, and serve hot.
This was a great recipe to follow. The filling is great!! Though mine are not perfect, I was pretty happy with the outcome and flavor!!
GEORGIAN EGGPLANT WITH WALNUTS (https://explorermomma.com/georgian-food-eggplant-with-walnuts/):
- 3 medium-sized Chinese (or Japanese-long narrow style) eggplant
- 1 C walnuts
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ tsp white wine vinegar
- ½ tsp ground fenugreek (Georgian utskhro suneli)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp red pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ C water
- Cilantro to garnish
- Pomegranate seeds to garnish
- Slice the Chinese eggplant lengthwise to about 1/3 of an inch thick. Use a mandolin slicer or regular knife.
- Lay the eggplant out on towels and salt it liberally.
- Leave for half an hour and turn it over and salt the other side. It should “weep” and the butter liquid seeps out.
- Rinse and pat dry.
- Heat the oil over medium heat and fry the eggplant slices in batches about 2 minutes on each side.
- Remove to a dish and cover.
- For the filling, take out a food processor (or pestle and mortar) and place in it all the rest of the ingredients except the cilantro and pomegranate seeds for garnish.
- Process on high for 40-seconds or so then unplug and push down the sides with a spatula.
- Continue to process on high until thoroughly combined in a rough paste.
- Refrigerate the filling for 2 hours or overnight as the flavors need time to set and blend together.
- Take one strip of the eggplant at a time and fill each with about a TBSP of filling, folding the strip evenly like a book with the filling in the middle.
- Garnish with roughly chopped cilantro and pomegranate seeds.
- Serve at room temperature.
I did find the Chinese eggplant and it made a great vehicle for the filling!! The pomegranates added an extra favor!!
PELAMUSHI (Georgian Grape Pudding) (https://www.lemon8-app.com/likakhomeriki/7235746682699252230?region=us):
- 1 liter grape juice
- 2 C corn flour (or almond flour)
- Almonds (or walnuts, crushed or not) for garnish
- 1 TBSP sugar (optional)
- In a saucepan, combine the grape juice and sugar.
- Place it over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves completely.
- Once the grape juice mixture is hot but not boiling, slowly pour in the flour slurry while stirring constantly. This will help prevent lumps from forming.
- Continue cooking the mixture over medium heat, stirring continuously, until it thickens to a pudding-like consistency and until you can no longer smell and/or taste flour.
- This will take about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the palemushi cool for a few minutes.
- Pour the pelamushi mixture into a dish or bowls and let it cool completely.
- Then refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours or until it sets and becomes firm.
- Once the pelamushi is set, you can garnish it with chopped walnuts or almonds, if desired.
- Serve the pelamushi chilled as a delicious dessert.
I used almond flour on this as well as a low sugar grape juice. I love grape and this tasted very good!!
Here was my overall meal! I recommend it!!
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