Georgian lamb kharcho soup - step-by-step classic recipes

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It is probably difficult to imagine Georgia without delicious traditional dishes with amazing aroma and taste, which are probably only possible in the southern sunny country. Vegetables and herbs, from which wonderful seasonings and adjika are prepared, exude an amazing aroma and give any dish a unique taste. this is why we admire Georgian cuisine, which I can sing its praises for a long time.

And also the unique Georgian hospitality, which I have not seen in any other country. You immediately become a lifelong fan of both the cuisine and this amazing people. Recipes of traditional folk cuisine are carefully passed down from generation to generation. That is why recipes for satsivi, khinkali, and khachapuri have come down to us, you can’t list them all.

And today I want to share the secrets of preparing one of the popular Georgian dishes - recipes for soup - kharcho. In my family, this dish disappears in the blink of an eye. And all thanks to the amazing aromas that are unique in this dish. And, of course, the little secrets of its preparation.

If you want to get acquainted with Mexican cuisine, then first try to prepare a delicious soup with beans, corn and minced meat, you won’t regret it.

How to cook lamb kharcho with rice - step-by-step cooking recipe

For this soup you will need the simplest set of ingredients - meat, rice and onions. It couldn't be simpler. But the whole “tsimus” consists of seasonings and various additives that give the dish a unique flavor and aroma. At the same time, it is not necessary to have exotic southern spices in stock; traditional ones, which are found in any kitchen, are quite enough.

We will need:

lamb - 800 gr.
rice - 1/2 cup
water - 3 liters
onions - 2-3 heads
tomato sauce - 100 gr.
garlic - 2-3 cloves
parsley - a large bunch
ground black pepper
coriander
Bay leaf
dry Georgian adjika
hot red pepper
cayenne pepper
carnation
cinnamon
salt
sugar

Preparation:

Step 1.

Let's start with meat. Choose young, lean lamb, then the soup will be free of unnecessary odors. Please note that aged lamb does not emit the most pleasant aroma. Therefore, choose your meat responsibly. Cut the meat into small pieces.

Step 2.

In a 3-liter saucepan, bring water to a boil, add salt and send the meat to cook. Add a bay leaf to the broth for flavor. Cook the lamb for a total of 1-1.5 hours.

Step 3.

Wash half a glass of rice and add to the boiling broth. You will still need to cook for about 30-40 minutes.

Step 4.

While the meat is cooking, cut the onion into small cubes and place in a frying pan to fry in vegetable oil. Fry over low heat until transparent.

I recommend adding a pinch of sugar to enhance the taste and caramelize the onions when frying.

Step 5.

When the onion is almost ready, add 4-5 tablespoons of tomato paste.

Step 6.

Grind a few cloves of garlic using a press or grater.

Step 7

Add garlic to the onion sauté. A unique aroma immediately spreads throughout the kitchen.

Step 8

In addition, we add all kinds of spices and seasonings to the frying. Be sure to crush the coriander grains in a mortar, and add adjika, red and cayenne pepper, cloves and cinnamon to taste. Adjust the spiciness of the dish to your taste. I assure you that such a rich set of seasonings will not leave you indifferent.

Step 9

The aromatic soup continues to simmer slowly, and we chop the parsley without sparing. There should be a lot of greenery. In addition to parsley, you can add cilantro, but this herb is not for everyone.

Step 10

That's all. After some simple manipulations, the delicious kharcho soup is ready.

This dish does not require sour cream or other additives or seasonings. The soup exudes a unique aroma. At the same time, thanks to the lamb, it is filling and very tasty.

Description of preparation:

I think everyone will agree that as many housewives as there are, there are as many options for preparing this wonderful soup, because each one adds some special ingredients to it.
And I want to share with you my favorite recipe and tell you how to make lamb kharcho with tkemali, because such a soup, as I confess, turns out the most delicious. In fact, lamb gives the kharcho a special, incomparable taste and makes the soup very satisfying and rich. So if you are one of those people who, like me, adore lamb, then you should also like this recipe for making lamb kharcho with tkemali. Purpose: For lunch / For dinner Main ingredient: Meat / Lamb Dish: Soups / Kharcho Geography of cuisine: Georgian / Caucasian

Homemade Georgian lamb kharcho with walnuts

I offer another traditional and slightly unusual way to cook Georgian kharcho with the addition of walnuts. Nuts are quite often used in local cuisine with eggplants and added to sauces. And they give the soup an original taste and satiety. The classic Georgian version must include plum tkemali sauce with the same name or their pastila. We didn’t have these ingredients, so for sourness, according to the recommendations of Georgian chefs, we add natural pomegranate juice.

We will need:

lamb - 700 gr.
rice - 1/2 cup
water - 2 liters
onions - 2-3 heads
tomato paste - 1 tbsp. l.
flour - 1 tbsp. l.
pomegranate juice - 1/3 cup
crushed walnuts - 1/2 cup
garlic - 2-3 cloves
parsley - a large bunch
cilantro - bunch
black peppercorns
coriander
Bay leaf
hot red pepper
salt

We select any meat for the broth. It is believed that beef should be used in kharcho. But today we have a selection with lamb, I assure you that it turns out to be a gorgeous dish with a pleasant aroma and the right spiciness. Men will certainly appreciate it.

Cut the meat into portions.

Pour 2 liters of water over the meat and bring to a boil. Cook for about 1.5 hours, periodically removing the foam. Don't add salt to the soup yet!

For kharcho you need to use a lot of onions, at least 2 heads, but preferably 3. Chop it into cubes and fry in vegetable oil until transparent.

While the onions are frying, dilute the same amount of flour in 1 tablespoon of water. Stir until smooth.

Place the flour porridge in the frying pan with the onions and continue frying for another 5 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the necessary ingredients.

Using a blender or a regular masher, grind the walnuts along with black peppercorns.

Be sure to grind the coriander grains in a mortar or blender.

Pass the garlic through a press.

Squeeze the juice out of the pomegranate. We will need half a glass. Please note that if you use store-bought juice, it must be sugar-free. The ingredients are ready, set them aside for now.

After the meat is cooked, remove it from the broth. Strain the broth through cheesecloth, and then combine it with the meat again.

This operation can be skipped, and straining gives a clearer broth and retains small bones.

Place the washed rice into the resulting broth and cook for about 10 minutes.

It doesn't matter what kind of rice you use, long grain or round. The main thing is that it does not turn into porridge in the soup.

It's time to season the soup with spices and tomato paste. Place bay leaf, hot pepper and coriander in a pan.

The soup continues to boil, and we add ground walnuts and pepper to the pan.

Cook the kharcho for another 5 minutes and pour pomegranate juice into the pan. You can also add suneli hops or dry adjika.

Using a generous hand, add chopped garlic to the boiling soup. An incredible aroma immediately appears. Remove the pan from the heat.

Finely chop fresh parsley and cilantro and sprinkle on top. Cover the pan with a lid and let it brew for about 10 minutes.

We enjoy the incomparably delicious soup and remember sunny Georgia.

Recipe for soup - kharcho with barley and tomato paste in a saucepan

I won’t lie if I say that kharcho is rarely prepared with barley. Rice is mainly used as a cereal. But there is also such an option. By the way, it turns out no worse than with rice. But everything is learned by comparison, so don’t be afraid to experiment and try new recipes. Moreover, the process of preparing this dish is similar to the classic one, only instead of rice we use pearl barley. By the way, it is extremely beneficial for the body, so feel free to prepare any dishes with this grain.

We will need:

lamb - 800 gr.
pearl barley - 1/2 cup
water - 2 liters
onions - 2 heads
tomato sauce - 100 gr.
garlic - 3 cloves
parsley, cilantro - to taste
black peppercorns
coriander - 1/2 tsp.
red hot pepper - 1 tsp.
khmeli-suneli - 2 tsp.
Bay leaf
salt
sugar

We try to buy fresh lamb and preferably young lamb. I noticed that the older the animal, the more distinct the specific smell. Young lamb meat has no smell, and the meat is soft and tender. Be sure to remove fat and films from meat.

Lamb needs to be cooked for at least 1.5 hours. In a saucepan, fill the meat with water, bring the water to a boil and cook for 1.5 hours over low heat, periodically removing the foam.

Pearl barley takes quite a long time to cook. Therefore, fill the cereal with cold water in advance, and half an hour after the broth boils, put the barley in the pan and cook along with the meat. It takes about 30-40 minutes for the pearl barley to be ready.

Kharcho is a soup in which the more spices and aromas, the tastier it is. Therefore, feel free to add all types of peppers, crushed coriander, Georgian seasoning hops-suneli and bay leaf. Chop the garlic using a knife or garlic press.

Cook the broth until the meat and cereals are almost ready, do not forget to skim off the foam.

Fry the onions in a frying pan in vegetable oil. For golden color when frying, you can add a pinch of sugar, but this is not necessary.

When the onion becomes translucent, add tomato paste to the pan. You can use tomatoes instead of tomato paste. To do this, you need to pour boiling water over them, remove the skin and grind with a blender until mushy.

At the end of the frying, season with chopped garlic. We put it all in a saucepan in the broth.

When the soup is ready, turn off the stove and add fresh herbs. You can get by with just parsley. But if you have cilantro, be sure to add it too, it will add a unique taste and aroma.

Cover the pan with a lid, let the cereal “unheat”, become familiar with all the ingredients and soak in the aromas of the seasonings.

After this, all that remains is to pour it into portioned plates and surprise your family with an unusually tasty and aromatic soup - kharcho.

Kharcho soup with beef

Kharcho soup with beef is more common than with lamb, which is much more difficult to get. And more and more people are choosing low-fat foods for their diet. For kharcho, choose round-shaped rice with a lot of starch.

Components:

beef - 700 g;
onion - 1-2 onions;
tkemali - 4 tablespoons;
butter for frying;
garlic - 3 cloves;
rice - a quarter cup;
tomatoes - 2 pieces;
coriander - 0.5 teaspoon;
dried basil - 0.5 teaspoon;
black pepper - 0.5 teaspoon;
utskho-suneli - 0.5 teaspoon;
parsley or cilantro - 1 bunch;
salt.

Preparation:

Rinse the meat and cook.
While the beef is cooking, you need to prepare the remaining ingredients so that you can quickly add them to the soup. First you need to puree fresh tomatoes. There are several options: grate, chop with a knife, first removing the skin, or use a blender.
Grind the garlic, coriander and other spices in a mortar.
Chop the onion and fry in butter. In Georgia, not refined vegetable oil, but butter or ghee is often used for frying. This gives the dishes a special homemade taste.
Add tomato puree and all the spices to the pan.
Strain the finished broth, add rice, fried onions and cook until it is ready.
At the end of cooking, add tkemali and spices with tomato puree. Bring to a boil, add salt.
Finely chop the greens and also add to the finished kharcho.

Video on how to cook kharcho with rice and tomatoes

Let's diversify the classic recipe a little by adding bell peppers and carrots. Instead of tomato paste, we use fresh tomatoes. And you’ll immediately get another version of the classic kharcho, which I think is in no way inferior to the previous recipes. To do this, just watch the video and repeat all the steps step by step.

We will need:

lamb on the bone – 1 kg
rice – 3-4 tbsp.
tomatoes – 2-3 pcs.
sweet pepper – ½ piece
onion – 1 pc.
carrots – ½ pcs.
garlic – 2-3 cloves
salt and pepper - to taste
seasonings (Abkhaz adjika, hot pepper flakes, Caucasian seasoning)
greenery

As you can see, kharcho soup is very easy to prepare, and the result is invariably pleasing. Thanks to the many different spices and seasonings, the result is a flavorful dish with a minimum of basic ingredients and many different spices.

Ingredients:

Lamb - 2.5-3 kilograms (ribs and neck)
Onion – 700 grams
Carrots – 3 pieces
Tomatoes – 3 pieces
Bell pepper – 1 piece
Head of garlic - 1-2 pieces
Fresh greens - 100-120 grams (cilantro, dill, parsley)
Tkemali – 50 Grams
Rice - 0.5 cups
Spices - To taste (hot red pepper, dried basil, ground coriander, marjoram, bay leaf, ground black pepper)
Salt - To taste

Number of servings: 8-10

Secrets of making delicious kharcho soup

The meat should be fresh, beautiful pink in color, and odorless. Tendons and excess fat must be removed. Most often, beef is used in kharcho, but it works just as well with other types of meat.
Add salt to the broth at the very end of cooking.
You can use any rice, long-grain or round. Try not to let the cereal turn into mush.
Tklapi (dried sour plum pulp) or tkemali sauce are added to the classic Georgian soup. In the absence of sourness, add pomegranate juice.
Kharcho is prepared with the addition of tomato paste or fresh tomatoes.
Onions must be fried and there should be a lot of them.
The number of spices for this dish is not limited, we use it according to our taste - coriander, parsley root, oregano, suneli hops, saffron, various types of pepper, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, dry adjika - the list goes on.
Be sure to add hot red pepper to the broth; you can’t do without it. Determine the quantity according to your taste.
Fresh parsley and cilantro are also required; we add them to the finished dish.
The Georgian version with walnuts is not for everybody. But you definitely need to try it at least once.

So she gave away all the secrets that she knew about kharcho. If you can add to this list from your experience, write in the comments, I will be grateful.

Until then, see you again.

Lamb kharcho soup

Every country has its own unforgettable soups, which are like its calling card. In Thailand, for example, there is Tom Yum soup, in Ukraine Borscht, and in Georgia Kharcho Soup. This tasty and satisfying soup has long taken root in the vastness of our country, and they eat it with great pleasure. There are many recipes for this soup, but each housewife cooks it in her own way. I offer my recipe.