The basis of Caucasian cuisine is the right choice of products. For Georgian lamb chakapuli, they take freshly chilled meat, and not one that has been deep frozen for six months. Spices need to be fresh and aromatic. Cilantro and tarragon are preferable from the garden, not from the greenhouse.
A special feature of Georgian cuisine is its love for fruit sauces. For this dish you will need fresh, preferably green plums, cherry plums or plum sauce - tkemali. Spicy sourness will make the taste more expressive, and the meat fibers will be softer.
When you are planning to cook lamb chakapuli, you first figure out what products you can actually buy - in extreme cases, you can take beef, fresh plums or a sauce made from them. Particular attention is paid to spices: you will need tarragon, coriander, cilantro or something else. Not every supermarket sells them. Therefore, you need to buy components that are available at this time of year, and in large quantities.
In Georgia, chakapuli is most often prepared in April-May, when there is a lot of young greens and lamb. The leading spice is tarragon, also known as tarragon; as you can see in the photo, it is added in large quantities. It is its fresh aroma, associated with spring and green fields, that is the main feature of this meat delicacy.
Advice. “High-quality spices already ensure three-quarters of success in preparing chakapuli.”
Chakapuli according to the original recipe
The classic recipe contains not only fresh, delicious lamb, but also a large amount of aromatic herbs.
Serves 2
Preparation time 30 min
Cooking time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total time 2 hours
Ingredients
- 500 g lamb, preferably lean, for example, shoulder blade
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 bunch tarragon
- 1 bunch pickled onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 150 ml dry white wine
- 150 ml water
- 1 PC. hot pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
- The lamb must be cut into medium-sized pieces and placed in a deep saucepan or cauldron.
- At the same time, you will need to wash, dry and chop all the herbs. First, tarragon is used, then onions, then cilantro, as well as garlic, which is previously crushed using a press.
- Next, you need to add finely chopped pepper, as well as water and wine. In this form, Georgian-style chakapuli is prepared within 30 minutes.
- After this, the mass is salted and peppered. You need to cook for at least another hour until the meat is tender. After this, the dish is completely ready!
Notes
BJU – 8-10 g of proteins, 14-16 g of fat, 2-3 g of carbohydrates.
Calories: 250kcal
Dish: Main Course
Keyword: lamb, stew
Useful tips
You can prepare delicious chakapuli according to the original recipe if you use the advice of professionals:
- It is better to use fresh meat that has not been frozen or stored for long periods of time.
- For cooking, use only fresh herbs in large quantities.
- If you need to mix food, you should take a wooden spatula.
- The recipes contain the approximate cooking time for chakapuli in Georgian. It is better to determine the degree of readiness yourself. Some people like the meat to be chewy, while most prefer the melt-in-your-mouth bar bites.
Chakapuli with veal and cherry plum
By adding cherry plum, the Georgian dish will sparkle with new colors.
Serves 8
Preparation time 25 min
Cooking time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total time 1 hour 35 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 kg veal on the bone
- 1 kg onions
- 100 g young garlic with shoots
- 1 PC. chilli
- 200 g tarragon
- 200 g cilantro
- 250 ml dry white wine
- 15 pcs. cherry plum
- 100 g butter
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp. l salt
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp hot red pepper
Instructions
- The meat must be divided into large portions. It is advisable to use a fresh product, which must be washed and dried in advance.
- The greens are thoroughly washed under running water, dried and finely chopped. In this Georgian-style chakapuli recipe, it is recommended to use the stems. The onion is peeled and cut into small cubes.
- All of these products are transferred to a pan with thick walls or a cauldron. It is recommended to do this in the following order: lamb, onions, all types of herbs, then spices and salt. About 60% wine is added to the composition.
- The dishes must be placed on high heat and the dish must be allowed to boil. Then the heat is reduced to medium, and the foam is removed using a slotted spoon. It is recommended to simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, preferably over low heat.
- Then add all the remaining wine, cherry plum, butter, and chili pepper. After boiling, close the container with a lid and leave on low heat for half an hour - until the meat is cooked.
Notes
BJU – 9-11 g of proteins, 17-19 g of fat, 1-2 g of carbohydrates.
Calories: 270kcal
Dish: Main Course
Keyword: veal, stew
With cream
If you don’t have wine or it is contraindicated for consumption, you can replace it with cream, which will create a new taste for the dish.
Composition of ingredients
Ingredients:
- chicken – 1 pc.;
- cream (fat content 20%) – 500 ml;
- garlic – 6 cloves;
- hops-suneli – 1 tsp;
- vegetable oil – 50 ml;
- cilantro, parsley - 1 bunch each;
- ground black pepper – 1 tsp;
- salt - to taste.
What can be added and changed in the composition
It is permissible to add fresh dill and parsley to the described greens.
Step-by-step cooking process
Detailed Guide:
- It is necessary to cut off the fat from the chicken, the last phalanx from the wings and the hanging skin. Now you need to chop the carcass, first lengthwise along the spine, and then in half crosswise.
- To get flatter pieces, it is better to beat them a little with a wooden hammer, being careful not to damage the bones.
- Next, you need to rub the meat with salt, black pepper and grease with vegetable oil.
- Place a thick-bottomed frying pan over medium heat, heat and fry all the pieces until golden brown.
- Now you need to prepare the sauce by bringing heavy cream to a boil in a saucepan with the addition of green leaves, suneli hops and a small amount of salt.
- The prepared chicken should be placed in a baking dish, poured with the creamy mixture and placed in the oven for 25 minutes. The baking temperature should be 180°C.
Decoration and serving rules
The dish should be served hot, placing portioned pieces on plates and pouring plenty of creamy sauce over them.
Chakapuli with tkemali
This is another interesting dish option.
By adding tkemali to the recipe, the meat will taste unforgettable. Serves 4
Preparation time 25 min
Cooking time 3 hours
Total time 3 hours 25 minutes
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg lamb, it is advisable to use meat with a small amount of fat, for example, shoulder blade
- 150 ml tkemali sauce
- 300 ml dry white wine
- 100 g tarragon
- 2 cloves garlic
- 100 g parsley
- 100 g leek
- salt, ground black and red pepper to taste
Instructions
- The meat is cut into portions and then placed in a cauldron. This should be a dish with thick walls, in which you can simmer the dish for a long time on minimal heat.
- Finely chopped greens are also poured there. Then garlic and spices are added, and all the tkemali sauce is poured in. It is very important to mix the composition manually - this is when the meat is completely saturated with all the additives.
- The dish is poured with wine and the chakapuli is stewed on the stove or, for example, in the oven at 150 degrees. This must be done for at least three hours. At the very end, leeks are added, as well as tarragon to complete the taste.
Notes
BJU – 12-14 g of proteins, 16-18 g of fat, 2-3 g of carbohydrates.
Calories: 240kcal
Dish: Main Course
Keyword: lamb, stew
Process Started
Simmer over low heat. First, I bring it to a boil on high, and then it is advisable to reduce the heat as much as possible or even put the pan on a divider. Since I do everything by eye, depending on how the stewing process goes, sometimes I add a little wine in the middle of the process. At the very end of cooking, about 10-15 minutes before final cooking, I add another 250-300 grams of wine. And don't forget! At the same time, I add another bunch of chopped tarragon. Remember, we put it aside from the very beginning. Adding wine and tarragon is necessary to refresh the aroma.
Cooking time naturally depends on the type of meat... young lamb will need no more than 40 minutes... veal cooks a little longer. There is one more point. If you like the meat to fall off the bone and fall apart, that's your choice. You can simmer longer. But the fact is that the dish exudes such aromas that it is not enough willpower to hold on longer.
If we used mutton or lamb, it would be appropriate to add a little crushed and preferably fresh garlic. And if we have lamb, then it is absolutely necessary to add garlic at the end. Some even add mint. It goes well with lamb. And if we have lamb or veal, then we can do without garlic.
There is absolutely no need to add water to chakapuli! the dish must be thick enough! The juice in it is so tasty, I wish there was more of it. Therefore, I deliberately increased the liquid mass several times by adding water. But from experience I was convinced that this should not be done.
First of all, I would like to add that chakapuli is eaten with Georgian “shoti” bread, well, the long one. Similarly, “shoti” can be replaced with the Tbilisi round version, which is called “lavashi”. Of course, according to tradition, chakapuli is eaten without a spoon or fork. A piece of broken bread is soaked in the liquid mass, a little greenery is picked up and all this is sent to the eater’s mouth. Ideally, for my taste, the whole thing is washed down with moderately chilled white qvevri wine.
Bon Appetit everyone! And see you in Georgia so that I can show you everything personally.
Chakapuli in a hurry
This method is suitable for those who want to cook delicious chakapuli, but cannot spend a lot of time on it.
The dish turns out no less tasty than the usual classic recipe. Serves 2
Preparation time 25 min
Cooking time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total time 1 hour 55 minutes
Ingredients
- 800 g lamb loin
- 200 ml dry white wine
- 350 g unripe plums or one bottle of plum sauce
- 200 g tarragon
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 bunch of dill
- 1 bunch of leaf celery
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 bunch of leeks
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- All ingredients are added to one large cauldron and simmered together until the lamb is completely cooked.
- At the very end, green onions are added - this allows the product not to lose its aroma.
- To complement the picture, you can add mint or basil to homemade Georgian chakapuli. The soup is ready, and it is recommended to serve it hot!
Notes
BJU – 10-12 g of proteins, 18-19 g of fats, 1-2 g of carbohydrates.
Calories: 250kcal
Dish: Main Course
Keyword: lamb, stew
Nutritional value per serving
% of daily value
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Basic
| Veal is the meat of a 4-5 month old calf. Meat lovers respect this delicacy for its exquisite taste. Of all types of veal, the meat of dairy calves, which are fed only with milk, is especially valued. To learn more | 1 kg |
| dry white wine Ingredient Grape varieties that are optimal for the production of dry white wine are Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Riesling , Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc. To learn more | 300 ml |
| Green onions in the kitchen are a useful product in all respects. We eat green onions in large quantities in spring and summer. But even in winter it can be found without problems. To learn more | 60 g |
| Young green garlic has a more delicate taste than the usual garlic cloves, and also has many beneficial properties. To learn more | 65 g |
| Salt is called sodium chloride; this substance looks like small white crystals. To learn more | taste |
| Cilantro (Chinese parsley, coriander) is a spicy annual plant from the Apiaceae family. To learn more | ½ bunch |
| 1 pinch |
| vegetable oil Ingredient Vegetable oil is the vegetable fat of fruits, seeds, roots and other parts of plants, obtained either by classical pressing or by extraction. To learn more | 2 tbsp. l. |
Lifehacks
How to replace ingredients
Instead of regular fresh tkemali berries, if they are not in the store, you can use canned ones in their own juice. You can also use dried tarragon instead of tarragon, but add three times as much. Another possible substitute would be fresh green garlic. It is chopped, including the stems, into medium pieces and added to all the other greens.
Innings
Serving chakapuli in Georgian style is highly recommended with lavash or corn porridge - mamaliga. Place the meat in a deep plate, pour in a little broth, and then the greens. It is recommended to eat hot.
The more varied and unusual greens in chakapuli, the better. You don’t have to limit yourself to just tarragon, parsley and green onions. Leeks, dill and celery are also great for this dish.
Bay leaf
Layers of meat can be layered with fresh bay leaves. To give a pleasant aroma, four to five pieces will be enough.
What kind of meat to take
Lamb can be replaced with veal or beef. But in the latter case, the meat will have to be cooked even longer in order for it to be completely soft.
Cooking in a slow cooker
The dish can be prepared in a slow cooker. This is perhaps the fastest way. In this case, you will need to select the “Extinguishing” program, set the time period to 25 minutes and press the “Start” button.
Frozen meat
You can use frozen lamb for this dish. It is first defrosted first in the refrigerator, then at room temperature. Only after this the meat will be completely ready for stewing for chakapuli.
You can find a video version of preparing chakapuli in Georgian here.
Chakapuli really amazes with its amazing taste and interesting recipe. The dish can be prepared from lamb, veal or beef with the addition of a variety of herbs. But in any case, the dish will turn out unforgettably tasty and aromatic!
Rack of lamb in a slow cooker
Lamb chakapuli is prepared on holidays in Georgia. At home, you can use a slow cooker to simplify the process.
Composition of ingredients
Compound:
- lamb (ribs) – 1 kg;
- water – 400 ml;
- dry wine (white) – 100 ml;
- cherry plum fruits – 3 pcs.;
- green onions – 30 g;
- tarragon – 30 g;
- cilantro – 20 g;
- salt.
What can be added and changed in the composition
To the described products, you can add a little pressed garlic to the dish for flavor.
Step-by-step cooking process
Cooking process step by step:
- The first step is to cut the meat into ribs and rinse well with tap water, making sure to dry it with a kitchen towel at the end.
- You only need to take the leaves from the tarragon and tear it with your hands along with the cilantro and green onions.
- Next, remove the seed pod from the hot pepper, rinse and cut it into cubes.
- Now you need to mix everything in the main bowl of the multicooker with salt and cherry plum, pour everything with wine.
- You need to place the dishes in their place in the gadget, select the “Stew” mode, time 25 minutes. and press the start button.
- After waiting for the signal to end the multicooker, you need to let the chakapuli stand for 10 minutes.
Decoration and serving rules
It is better to serve the dish using a ladle, distributing the ribs and juice in equal portions across deep plates. It’s good if you bought fresh Georgian lavash, which is an undoubted attribute of serving stewed lamb to the table.
