The origins of this dish are often debated. Some culinary experts believe that the classic of the genre is Armenian beef khashlama. Others are sure that Georgia was the birthplace of the dish. We won’t go into details, because it’s completely unimportant! The main thing is that with minimal effort we can prepare a delicious and satisfying dish for the whole family. Moreover, we will use not one, but several types of meat, which is quite acceptable. The khashlama recipe with photos on our website will help you go through the cooking process step by step.
How to cook lamb khashlama
In countries where this dish is considered a national food, the recipe for lamb khashlama does not contain an exact indication of the number of ingredients. It is important that there is a lot of everything - meat, vegetables, and herbs. It is advisable to choose the meatiest vegetables, from which the most juice will be rendered. And you don’t have to spare onions at all - there should be a little less meat. But accuracy is important to us, so write down the necessary ingredients.
You will need:
- lamb - 3 kg,
- onion - 2 kg,
- bell pepper - 1 kg,
- tomatoes - 1 kg,
- salt, ground black pepper - to taste.
Cooking process
- Take a cauldron with thick walls or a pan with a wide bottom.
- Cut the onion into thick half rings, place 1/3 of the resulting volume on the bottom of the dish.
- Peel and cut the bell pepper into strips, place 1/3 of the resulting volume on the onion.
- Chop the tomatoes and place a third of them on top of the peppers again.
- Place half of the lamb, cut into portions, on a bed of vegetables. Salt and pepper the meat, add your favorite spices.
- Place a layer of vegetables on the meat in the order of onions, peppers, tomatoes.
- Place another layer of meat, salt and pepper.
- Place the vegetables again in the same order and close the lid tightly.
- Place the cauldron on low heat. The ingredients will release juice and simmer slowly. The lid must not be opened to prevent steam from escaping.
- Leave the dishes on low heat for 3.5-4 hours.
Khashlama
A simple and nutritious dish that is common throughout Transcaucasia. Despite its apparent complexity, lamb khashlama is very easy to prepare at home, as it consists of simply chopped meat and vegetable ingredients and laid out in layers. As for the first ones, if you want, you can take beef or veal, but keep in mind that the meat should be fatty.
Ingredients:
- Broth (or water) - 100 ml
- Semi-dry red wine (or light beer) – 100 ml
- Onions - 4-5 pcs.
- Bell pepper (fresh or frozen) - 4-5 pcs.
- Tomato (fresh) – 4-5 pcs.
- Meat (pork, veal, chicken) - 700 g
- Seasoning (salt, black pepper, coriander)
- Carrots (usually not added, but it turns out more nutritious) - 2 pcs.
Cooking steps:
Cut the meat (lamb, pork, veal, chicken) into medium pieces.
Onions, peppers, carrots (usually carrots are not added to this dish) in half rings or rings.
My peppers are frozen.
Tomatoes are cut into rings immediately before placing in a cauldron (or pan with thick walls and bottom).
Layer onions and meat. Salt, season with coriander. I didn’t have coriander, so I used Adyghe salt (this is a mixture of salt and dry herbs).
Next is a layer of pepper, a layer of carrots.
A layer of tomatoes, cut into rings. Salt again.
Next we repeat the layers. The last one should be from tomatoes. I got three layers. Sprinkle with herbs on top. Mix wine (preferably dry or semi-dry red, some people use light beer) and broth (or water). And pour it into the cauldron in a circle. Liquid should be 200-250 g per 1 kg of meat.
Place on medium heat for 15 minutes. Simmer without a lid. When the meat and vegetables have settled a little, reduce the heat to low, cover it with a lid and simmer for 1-2 hours over low heat from the moment it boils. Check the readiness of the dish by checking the meat. Serve with boiled potatoes.
How to cook beef khashlama
Lamb is not the most popular type of meat in our country. Therefore, beef khashlama will become more familiar to every housewife. So let's get started!
You will need:
- beef - 3 kg,
- onions - 2 kg,
- tomatoes - 2 kg,
- carrots - 2 kg,
- bell pepper - 1 kg,
- eggplants - 1 kg,
- greens - 2 bunches,
- salt and spices - ground black pepper, bay leaf.
Cooking process
- Wash, peel and cut the vegetables into small pieces.
- Wash, dry and cut the meat into medium-sized pieces. It is more convenient to do this with plates 0.7-1 cm thick in order to lay them in layers.
- Divide the vegetables into 3-4 parts.
- Layer onions, carrots, eggplants, then peppers and tomatoes.
- Place the beef on the resulting pillow, salt and pepper, add herbs and spices, and bay leaf.
- Place a layer of vegetables and a layer of meat again. Continue until you run out of ingredients. The top layer should be vegetable.
- Cover the lid tightly and place the cauldron over low heat. Simmer for at least 3 hours without opening the lid.
Khashlama in Georgian
- Time: 3.5 hours
- Number of servings: 6 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 180 kcal per 100 g.
- Purpose: for lunch.
- Cuisine: Caucasian.
- Difficulty: easy.
Although Armenia and Georgia are geographically located close to each other, khashlama is prepared differently in these countries. Georgian oriental beef dishes do not contain vegetables. Here they value the taste of meat and do not “spoil” it with other products. A minimum of ingredients, a little inspiration and a bit of soul are required to create a delicious culinary masterpiece.
Ingredients:
- beef breast on the bone – 2 kg;
- spicy adjika – 2 tbsp. l.;
- bay leaf – 3 pcs.;
- peppercorns, salt - to taste;
- onions – 2 pcs.;
- vinegar - 1 tbsp. l.;
- water – 2 l;
- greens - a bunch.
Cooking method:
- The meat is washed and cut into pieces. Then you need to dry it, sprinkle with spices, and put it in a pan.
- Pour water over the beef, let it boil, skim off any foam that forms.
- Cook the meat for about 3 hours over low heat, covered.
- Add salt, bay leaf, pepper.
- The meat must be removed, cut into portions, and returned to the pan.
- Marinate the onion with vinegar for 10 minutes.
- Serve beef with pickled onions, herbs and adjika.
Each Caucasian people prepares khashlama in its own way. You can choose a recipe with a lot of vegetables or no vegetables at all, with the addition of water, wine, beer, or a method that does not require cooking liquid. Whatever version of khashlama you choose, there are several tricks for an ideal result:
- The longer beef khashlama is cooked, the tastier it will be.
- Products should boil or simmer over low heat under the lid.
- The marinade will help speed up the stewing process. For 1 kg of beef, take 1 lemon and squeeze the juice out of it. Add spices, pour lemon juice over the meat pieces, and let them stand in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Pieces of marinated beef will become soft faster.
Pork khashlama soup: step-by-step recipe
The recipe, adapted to Russian cuisine, has received many interpretations. Since our families are not as large as in the Caucasus, the volumes of ingredients should be smaller. There is one “but” here. If the amount of vegetables is reduced, the Chuvash dish may burn during cooking, since the volume of evaporated juice will be less. To prevent this, you can add water to the cauldron.
Pork khashlama is one of these quick, economical dish options. Experiments with it led to the addition of alcoholic beverages to meat to speed up cooking. This is how khashlama appeared on beer (a light, foamy drink should be added instead of water) and even with wine. Of course, this has little in common with the classic recipe. But it also has the right to life, since the taste of khashlama is excellent; see the recipe with photos below.
You will need:
- pork ribs or pork pulp - 1.5 kg,
- potatoes - 6-7 pieces,
- eggplants - 2 pcs.,
- sweet pepper - 3 pcs.,
- tomatoes - 5-6 pcs.,
- carrots - 1-2 pcs.,
- onions - 2 pcs.,
- garlic - 5-6 cloves,
- water or beer - 500 ml,
- salt, spices.
Cooking process
Step-by-step recipe with photos.
- We cut the tomatoes into fairly thick rings, about 7mm thick, and line the bottom of a large pan with them. Let's add a little salt.
- The next layer is pieces of meat, quite large, no need to chop. Let's add salt to this layer too.
- Finally, the top layer - cover the meat with tomato rings and add salt again.
- If you like it spicier, you can add black, red, or white pepper. Or add a piece of chili to the pan.
- All. It's time to put the pan on the fire. Don't forget to cover it with a lid!
Attention! Do not add water! Tomatoes and meat will give a lot of juice; water will only spoil our dish.
And the second very important note: the fire needs to be very low, just minimal. Then nothing will burn, but it will stew properly.
- This will take quite a lot of time, 2-3 hours, depending on the quality of the meat. In any case, you will achieve the necessary softness, and if the meat is on the bone, it will separate easily.
- After about two hours, try the meat for softness; if you want it softer, let it simmer some more.
- Place greens (coarsely chopped) on top at the end of cooking. 10-15 minutes before the end.
- That's all! Our classic khashlama recipe is ready! Simple, really! How delicious! This dish can be prepared while waiting for guests. It is easy to heat up and everyone likes it and everyone can handle it. At least all my guests really like it.
Recipe for pork khashlama with beer and potatoes
When I go on vacation with my loved ones, I don’t have a question about what to cook; there will definitely be khashlama. Why am I making this choice? Everything is simple, firstly it is very tasty, satisfying and nutritious, and secondly it is very simple, you just need to prepare the necessary ingredients, put them in a pan, put it on the fire and wait. Be patient, the smells will be “divine”.
Various vegetables are used in khashlama, the main thing is that there is a lot of them, so take a large saucepan or cauldron. Be sure to have a lot of onions and herbs. They take their favorite meat, but the peoples of the Caucasus use lamb. I like to cook with pork ribs, with potatoes and beer.
I estimate the quantity of products for khashlama; the main thing, as I already said, is that there be a lot of them.
For a 12 liter cauldron I use:
- Pork ribs - 2 kg.
- Tomatoes - 2 kg.
- Bell pepper - 4 pcs.
- Potatoes - 2 kg.
- Onion - 2 kg.
- Light beer - 1.5 liters
- Greens - take a lot
- Spices (chili pepper, ground black pepper, paprika, dried garlic)
As I already said, the recipe is very simple, you just need to prepare the ingredients, namely:
- cut ribs into portions
- cut the tomatoes into rings or half rings
- chop the pepper into strips
- onions as well as tomatoes - in rings or half rings
- If the potatoes are large, divide them into several parts, and if they are small, you can leave them as is.
Now we take a large pan (in my case a cauldron) and lay the products in layers.
The first layer is meat or ribs. Be sure to salt and sprinkle them with spices.
The second layer is the onion. Take a lot of onions, don’t skimp. In the end, it will boil down and release its juice and aroma to the dish. You won't see it in the finished dish.
The tritium layer is coarsely chopped potatoes.
Now add salt and spices again.
The fourth and fifth layers are bell peppers and tomatoes.
I advise you to take a tomato, just as much. After all, the juice they give will saturate every product in the cauldron, and the more juice the better. Also, for the same reason, tomatoes are placed on top, so that when the juice drains, it envelops all the food.
At this stage you also need to add salt and sprinkle with spices.
The final layer is a lot of chopped greens.
Take your favorite greens: dill, parsley, cilantro, green onions, basil.
Now I fill everything with beer. For a 12 liter cauldron I take 1.5 liters of light beer.
I like khashlama to have a lot of broth, so I add more water. You need enough water so that the ingredients are not completely hidden.
All that remains is to light the stove and install the cauldron.
At first, the fire in the oven should be strong so that the khashlama boils faster. Then you need to maintain only a small fire so that the dish simmers.
You can forget about it for 2 hours.
After 2 hours the dish is ready! Stir it and serve it on plates.
Khashlama - tasty and fast
A very easy to prepare, tasty and healthy dish of Caucasian cuisine. There are a great many recipes for khashlama; every Caucasian family has its own secret of preparing it. But the general principle is the same - it’s meat and vegetables, cooked in its own juice.
Ingredients for Khashlama:
- Meat (lamb or veal, preferably on the bone) - 1 kg
- Onions - 0.5 kg
- Tomato – 0.5 kg
- Bell pepper - 0.5 kg
- Carrots - 0.2 kg
- Dry red wine (can be replaced with light beer, broth or just water) - 1 glass.
- Greens (ideally cilantro and basil) - 2 bunches.
- Salt (to taste)
- Black pepper (ground, to taste)
Khashlama recipe:
Everything is extremely simple. Place half of the onion cut into rings in a wide, thick-walled bowl.
Place the meat, cut into large pieces, on the onion. It is advisable to use veal or young lamb on the bone.
We clean the bell pepper, cut it coarsely and place it on the meat.
Scald the tomatoes and peel them. We cut small ones in half, large ones into quarters and place them on the pepper.
Next, lay out the remaining onions and carrots, cut into cylinders. Pour a glass of dry red wine or light beer (broth or even plain water will also work), close the lid and put on fire. Very soon the vegetables and meat will release juice, in which they will cook. When the liquid boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer for several hours until the meat is cooked, WITHOUT STIRING. The recipe I'm trying to color indicates a cooking time of 6 hours. Believe me, the dish will be ready much faster.
Well, what would a Caucasian dish be without greens! Add it shortly before the dish is ready. Of course, it would be more correct to add cilantro and basil. But, if this is impossible, what can we do... let’s make do with parsley. Bon appetit!
Video on how to cook Khashlama
The first time I tried this dish was in an Armenian cafe and it did not leave me indifferent. I began to be interested in it and study how it is prepared. I settled, so to speak, on the golden mean. Now I will show you everything on video.
I went with my family to the Altai Mountains and naturally prepared Khashlama. I decided to capture the whole process on camera. I will show you every step of preparing this dish with the addition of potatoes and beer. After watching the video, you can also easily prepare it.
Traditional Caucasian khashlama is cooked with lamb. Various interpretations of the dish involve the use of other types of meat. A very aromatic and satisfying version of thick soup is made from pork in beer. Vegetable juice combined with beer produces a broth that is amazingly rich in flavor. The meat in this bouquet of ingredients comes out tender, with subtle notes of spices and herbs. There are options for dishes with wine and water.
We recommend preparing the classics of Caucasian cuisine also because the cooking process is simple, even a novice housewife can handle it. Minimal processing of products, familiar ingredients, a lot of opportunities for creativity - with such advantages it is difficult to deny the dish its presence on your table. And in the summer, when vegetables are abundant, you can change the ingredients, delighting your loved ones with original combinations.
Product Set
So, to prepare delicious pork khashlama, we will need:
- pork - about 1.5 kg;
- tomatoes – 1 kg;
- onions – 1 kg;
- bell pepper – 1 kg;
- eggplants – 1 kg;
- garlic – 2-3 cloves;
- dry red wine – 150 ml;
- dill and parsley - 1 bunch of each green;
- salt and ground black pepper - to taste.
Tip: add 5-6 potatoes to our recipe, and the dish will sparkle with new colors.
Preparing the components of the dish
Having collected the necessary products, we put them on the cutting table and pre-process them.
We do the following:
- We wash all vegetables and herbs.
- Peel the onion and remove the seeds and core from the bell pepper.
- Peel the garlic.
From the dishes we need a saucepan with a thick bottom and walls. In the Caucasus, meat and vegetables are stewed in a cauldron. In our conditions, when not every family has a cauldron, just such a pan will do.
The prepared khashlama is enough for 5 standard servings. Cooking time: 2 hours.
Some features of khashlama
This one takes a long time to prepare. The young carcass must be simmered over low heat for about three to four hours. If the meat is older, it will take twice as long. Khashlama has one peculiarity. To create it, you will have to purchase three times more meat than all other ingredients. You only need to take just a little bit of broth.
How to prepare khashlama? It all depends on which people’s recipe you will use to make it. For example, in Georgia they put a lot of vegetables and herbs in it. Cooks from other countries use different spices and beer in their recipes. There are a huge number of ways to prepare khashlama, and it is quite difficult to indicate the most correct one.
