Lamb kharcho soup is a thick, spicy soup with meat. As a rule, veal or beef is used. Many argue that using lamb to prepare kharcho is impossible, since the taste, aroma and essence itself are lost. But after you once prepare the classic lamb kharcho soup with rice, all beliefs will go nowhere, as this is an incredibly tasty, satisfying and aromatic soup.
Lamb is an incredibly tasty and healthy meat that contains proteins, fats, micro- and macroelements, as well as a number of vitamins. For those who are struggling with excess weight, this is an ideal option, since lamb is not as fatty as pork or beef.
Choosing lamb for kharcho
The main thing is to choose the right meat for kharcho. The meat selected is lamb aged from 3 months to one year. The pulp itself should be firm and elastic. This can be checked by pressing on the surface. If it recovers quickly, it means the meat is fresh. Pay attention to the color of the lamb fat - it should be light. If it is yellowish in color, then this is old meat. Smell the lamb - the smell should not be repulsive, because it will not disappear even if it is cooked for a long time. Although such meat can be soaked in vodka and then used, it is still better to cook it from a young lamb that has recently been slaughtered. It is better to choose the neck, shoulder, brisket.
Cook the meat until it begins to pull away from the bones. You can serve the meat directly on the bones, or you can separate it after cooking and put it back into the soup. Georgian food must have a certain aroma, this is achieved through wonderful Caucasian spices: coriander, suneli hops, saffron, black pepper, tkemali sauce. It is served with real Georgian bread and lots of fresh vegetables.
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 with rice
We prepare a delicious, rich classic lamb kharcho soup with rice. Ingredients: Lamb – 500 g Rice – 100 g Tkemali sauce – 70 g Sweet pepper – 1 pc. Carrots – 1 pc. Onion – 2 pcs. Walnuts – 100 g Khmeli-suneli – 1 tbsp. l. Salt - to taste
How to cook lamb kharcho soup with rice
Prepare the meat for boiling. Cut off the film, veins and fat from the meat. Cut the meat into small pieces.
Place it in a saucepan, add water and put on fire. After boiling, reduce the heat to a minimum and remove the resulting noise. Continue cooking the meat until fully cooked. If the lamb is young, then one hour will be enough.
Next you need to prepare the vegetable dressing: peel and finely chop the onion.
Grate the peeled carrots.
Wash the pepper, remove the seeds and stem and cut into small cubes.
Heat the lamb fat cut from the meat in a frying pan and add the onions and carrots. Stirring occasionally, bring to softness.
Add pepper, tomato paste and stir. Then add tkemali sauce, stir and remove from heat.
Peel the walnuts and crush them into fine crumbs using a rolling pin.
Finely chop the washed cilantro.
Remove the cooked meat from the pan and strain the broth through a fine sieve. Return the meat to the broth and add rice. After 10 minutes, add vegetable dressing to the soup, add nuts, ground red pepper, suneli hops, salt and finely chopped cilantro.
Boil for another 5 minutes and remove from heat. Let it brew a little.
Lamb sur kharcho with rice is ready. Place on plates and invite to the table. It turned out thick, aromatic, rich, spicy and very tasty. Bon appetit!
Advice If you salt the meat and broth 2.5 hours after cooking, the meat does not have time to salt and remains a foreign element in the dish. You need to strain the broth because of the small bones in the minced meat, and also to remove spices. Take as much rice as you need - some people like thick and rich kharcho, while others like it thinner.
Classic recipe
Real kharcho soup has the exquisite taste and spiciness characteristic of Georgian cuisine. But in order to cook this dish correctly, you must strictly follow the recipe, ideally accompanied by step-by-step photos or videos of the process. Preparing lamb kharcho is quite simple, just follow some rules and prepare the necessary products:
- lamb - 0.5 kg;
- onions - 2 pcs (small);
- red bell pepper - 1 piece;
- rice - 100 g;
- carrots - 1 piece (small);
- walnuts - 100 g;
- tkemali sauce - 60 g;
- tomato paste - 60 g;
- cilantro - 1 bunch;
- khmeli-suneli - 1/2 tsp;
- vegetable oil for frying;
- salt, pepper - to taste.
Khmeli-suneli, cilantro and walnuts are an invariable component of almost all Georgian dishes. These spices help to reveal and emphasize the taste, and in no case drown it out. Therefore, you should be careful when adding them so as not to spoil your culinary work.
Mutton
Wash the lamb meat thoroughly and remove excess moisture with a paper towel. Then we separate the fat and veins on which we will cook the vegetables. Cut into small pieces and set to cook over medium heat. After boiling, remove the foam and cook further. The cooking time will directly depend on the age of the lamb, so during the cooking process it is better to check the readiness with a fork or knife.
The meat of a young animal is boiled for about an hour, while the meat of an old animal is boiled for much longer. For faster preparation, pre-soak the product in vodka for 30-60 minutes.
To add flavor to the broth, you can add bay leaf to the lamb.
Onion
In Georgian dishes, red onions are most often used; they have a milder taste and are not bitter. However, it is worth remembering that it does not last long, so you need to make sure the product is fresh before adding it. For kharcho with lamb, peel the onion and cut into small pieces.
bell pepper
We separate the stalk, wash the vegetable well, cut it in half and clean it of grains. The pepper needs to be finely chopped so that there are no large pieces in the soup.
Rice
Rice cereals must be thoroughly rinsed under warm running water. For convenience, pour the required amount into a deep plate or bowl, tilt it slightly over the tap so that the stream hits the edge of the container, but the rice does not float out. We rinse by hand until the water in the bowl reaches transparency. It is more convenient to use a sieve or colander for this procedure, but you will still have to check the purity of the water in some container, and this will only complicate working with rice.
Carrot
Wash the vegetables, peel them and grate them on a coarse grater.
Walnuts
If the nuts are in shell, remove it and chop the nut itself. To do this, it is convenient to use a mortar, blender, or even crumble it in a bag with a hammer. The most important thing is that the pieces turn out to be very small and completely invisible.
Cilantro
An invariable component of Georgian dishes is cilantro. It is better to use fresh herbs, and given its unique taste and aroma, add it not to a common pan, but to a separate plate. The stems are a little tough, so we take only the leaves and chop them. And if fresh cilantro is not available, we can easily replace it with coriander spice.
Georgian lamb kharcho
A simple, delicious recipe for aromatic kharcho. Ideally, for classic kharcho you also need a handful of walnuts (potolov) and tkemali sauce (in extreme cases - satsibeli) - 3-4 tbsp. l. Ingredients: Lamb (ribs) - 1.2 kg Water for broth - 2.8 l. Steamed long grain rice - 150 g Onions - 3 large onions Fresh tomatoes - 2 large red tomatoes Tomato paste - 1 tbsp. l. Spicy adjika - up to 1 tsp. Salt - 1 tbsp. l. with a slide into the broth Khmeli-suneli - 2 tsp. with a slide Black peppercorns - 5-6 peas Bay leaf - 2 pcs. Paprika - 1 tsp. Saffron - a pinch Coriander seeds - a pinch Dried basil (rigani) - a pinch Garlic - 5 cloves Coriander or parsley - 1/2 bunch
How to cook lamb kharcho in Georgian style
If you have frozen lamb, defrost it first. Wash the meat, dry with a towel. Rinse the rice to remove excess starch and debris, place it in a bowl and lightly pour cold water over it to swell. In kharcho soup, it is best to put steamed rice, without a high content of gluten and starch, so that in the soup the rice lags behind the rice and does not turn into porridge. This is the first secret of cooking delicious and beautiful kharcho soup.
Peel one onion, take black peppercorns and a bay leaf - these are our vegetables and spices for the broth.
How to cook lamb so that the meat turns out juicy, soft and tasty
In order for the lamb to remain juicy, soft and tasty, it must be immersed not in ordinary cold water, but in boiling water. This moment is our second secret to cooking delicious kharcho soup. Boil 2.8 liters of water and then add lamb, onions and spices to it. Cook the meat over moderate heat (3 out of 6 stages) for 1.5 - 2 hours, until soft. The meat was cooked for exactly 2 hours. An hour after the start of cooking, add salt - 1 tbsp. l. with a slide. Remember: you can’t add salt right away - the meat will be tough, this is the third secret to cooking any broth. If foam forms, remove it with a slotted spoon. When you add salt, throw away the onion; it has already boiled down and is no longer needed.
While the meat is cooking, prepare the onions and garlic. Cut the onion for kharcho into thin half rings or quarter rings if the onion is large. Do not cut the onion into small cubes, this is not true for this soup. Garlic can be crushed in a crusher or finely chopped.
Let's prepare spices, garlic and cilantro or parsley.
When the lamb is cooked, you need to remove the meat and strain the broth through a sieve. For what? Firstly, to remove small seeds, and secondly, to get rid of the peppercorns and bay leaves, which had boiled down and given their aroma to the broth. I wash the pan from the broth, there is still a lot of residue on it, no matter how carefully we remove the foam. Then we return our broth to a clean pan and add the prepared, washed rice. And put it on medium heat to cook. Add 1 teaspoon of suneli hops so that the rice is saturated with the aroma of spices, add salt to the soup to taste.
Then we clean the boiled meat from the bones.
Preparing the fry for the soup
Fry the onion in a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil until golden brown. Cut the tomatoes into pieces, remove the hard spots from the stalks. We do not peel the skin, because in the blender the tomatoes are pureed.
In a blender, first grind the spices - the rest of the suneli hops, coriander seeds (cilantro), saffron, basil. Then add the tomatoes and chop everything together until smooth - puree. Someone says that tomatoes are not added to kharcho, but in Georgia they make soup with tomatoes, and it’s so delicious with them!
Add lamb and sweet paprika to the fried onions, mix and fry together for 5-7 minutes over medium heat. Then add pureed tomatoes with spices and a spoonful of tomato paste. If you want spicy kharcho soup, add adjika or ground hot pepper. Here you also need to add a handful of crushed walnuts and, if you have them, smoky-flavored prunes, cut into pieces.
Simmer everything together for 5-6 minutes under the lid, and then put our fry into the broth with already cooked rice. Bring to a boil and cook everything together for another 5 minutes. Then add greens and garlic to the ready-made kharcho soup, stir and remove the soup from the stove. After 10-15 minutes, you can call everyone to the table.
Bon appetit!
Note: Tkemali is a sauce based on sour plum (cherry plum), the color of tkemali depends on the color of the plum. Green tkemali plus plenty of cilantro gives the soup a green color. Kharcho with tomatoes can have a red color. Varieties of tkemali are very aromatic, but tkemali made from red cherry plum is much sharper, and tkemali made from green cherry plum has a milder taste.
With the addition of prunes
Lamb kharcho (the classic recipe is taken as the basis for other variations of the dish) is the calling card of Georgia. The hot and spicy soup will be especially fragrant if you add prunes to the recipe.
What ingredients will you need?
To get 3 liters of rich meat soup you will need:
- 300 g low-fat lamb;
- 200 g beef;
- 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper;
- 200 g tomato paste;
- 2 heads of purple onions;
- 1/3 cup long grain parboiled rice;
- 100 g pitted prunes;
- a pinch of aromatic hops-suneli;
- 10 cloves of young garlic;
- 1 tbsp. l. homemade hot tomato adjika.
Step-by-step cooking process
Prepare the dish according to the instructions:
- The meat should be washed under the tap, any excess fat should be cut off from the pieces, and the flesh should be divided into slices measuring 1 x 2 cm.
- You need to put the meat in a pan, then you need to pour 3 liters of water into the slices.
- The onion should be divided into small pieces and cooked with tomato paste in a hot frying pan for 5 minutes.
- Prunes must be washed with warm water so that there is no sand left in the fruit. The prunes should be cut into thin strips.
- An hour after you start boiling the meat, you need to add fried onions with tomato paste, as well as chopped prunes and washed rice, into the pan.
- 15 minutes before the end of cooking, pour the spices and grated garlic into the container.
What can I add?
You can add sliced potatoes to the recipe for thickness and satiety. The chopped root vegetable should be added to the soup immediately after the rice.
Rules for serving dishes, decoration
You should let the soup brew for 1 hour, and when serving, sprinkle the treat with chopped cilantro and a spoonful of sour cream, as well as whole grain flatbreads with Tkemali. To keep the soup warm longer, it is better to serve it in clay pots, covered with a lid.
Lamb kharcho on the bone according to a classic recipe
Lamb kharcho soup is a hot, fragrant and rich spicy lamb soup with rice and tkemali sauce.
Ingredients: Lamb on the bone - 1 kg Rice - 5 tbsp. l. Parsley root - 1 pc. Onion - 2 pcs. Corn flour - 2 tbsp. l. Ground coriander - 0.5 tsp. Tkemali sauce - 5 tbsp. l. Garlic - 5 teeth. Khmeli-suneli - 1 tbsp. l. Imeretian saffron - 1 pinch. Black peppercorns - 10 pcs. Bay leaf - 2 pcs. Salt - to taste Sugar - to taste Cilantro - to taste Parsley - to taste Hot red pepper - to taste
How to cook lamb kharcho on the bone according to the classic recipe
Place the prepared meat in a saucepan. Cook the lamb broth until done. Remove the meat from the pan and separate it from the bones.
Pour the rice into the broth and cook for another 10 minutes.
Add onion fried with cornmeal.
Add finely diced parsley root, ground coriander, bay leaf and black peppercorns. Cook for another 10 minutes.
Separate the lamb pulp from the bones and place it in a saucepan.
Add tkemali sauce, hot red pepper, dill, Imeretian saffron, suneli hops. Add salt and cook for another 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with cilantro or basil and chopped garlic. Add salt to taste. Turn off the heat, close the lid and let it brew.
Bon appetit!
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.
Kharcho soup with nuts
Nuts in kharcho are a separate issue. The soup immediately acquires an oily, fatty taste and becomes thicker. To achieve this taste, grind walnuts in a mortar or blender, mix with spices, tomatoes, and pepper. And simmer in a frying pan for 2-3 minutes, then add to the broth and simmer for another 3-4 minutes. Then everything follows the classic recipe. When serving, place peeled nuts in large fractions on a plate for decoration.
Chicken with nuts
Lamb kharcho (the classic recipe can be improved to suit your own taste) turns out rich and aromatic. For a more interesting soup, you can use a combination of buttery nuts from dietary chicken.
What ingredients will you need?
For simple cooking you need the following list of products:
- 600 g fresh chicken meat;
- 150 g long polished rice;
- 2 onions;
- 100 g nut kernels without bitterness;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 1 tsp. ground hops-suneli;
- a little black pepper;
- a pinch of ground red pepper;
- 1-2 tsp. fine salt;
- 2 tbsp. l. Satsebeli sauce.
Step-by-step cooking process
To prepare chicken soup kharcho you need:
- The chicken flesh should be rinsed under running water and dried with a paper towel.
- The chicken should be sent in one piece to the pan and cooked for 1.5 hours.
- After this, it is better to remove the meat from the pan and cool slightly.
- The bones from the chicken must be removed, it is better to divide the flesh into large pieces, and then return it to the container.
- When boiling, you should systematically catch the foam, and after the broth boils, you need to reduce the heat to a minimum.
- After the meat is ready, add spicy satsebeli to the soup.
- It is better to peel ripe tomatoes and chop them finely.
- Rice should be washed in a sieve so many times that the draining liquid is clear.
- The onion must be peeled and chopped into thin strips along the head.
- It is better to place the onion and rice in a container and continue boiling the soup over low heat for 30 minutes.
- The nuts should be quickly calcined in a hot frying pan, then they should be ground with a blender or rubbed in a mortar until they have a pleasant aroma and release oil.
- It is better to grate the garlic cloves with a fine grater and add them to the kharcho along with the nuts. After 15 minutes, you need to season the soup with hops-suneli, pepper and salt.
- For rich flavor, keep the dish covered for 30 minutes.
What can I add?
Real Georgian kharcho is distinguished not by its spicy, but by its spicy taste and thick structure. Instead of fresh tomatoes, it is allowed to add tomatoes canned in their own juice or tomato paste to the recipe.
Rules for serving dishes, decoration
For a spectacular serving, the prepared soup should be poured into portioned bowls, sprinkle the surface with chopped parsley, cilantro, onion feathers and celery. For a delicate taste, you can offer lavash with sour cream with kharcho. In sunny Georgia, it is customary to add a flatbread called “tali” with kharcho.
Cooking lamb kharcho in a slow cooker
In a slow cooker, kharcho turns out especially tasty, boiled, and fluffy. Because due to the simmering mode, the effect of a Russian stove is created, in which the soup is infused, brought to the desired condition, and becomes even tastier and softer. All ingredients have time to exchange tastes and aromas. The only thing to remember: when cooking in a slow cooker, garlic is added at the very end. That is, cook the kharcho in the “soup” mode for 1.5 hours, open the lid and season with garlic mashed with herbs.
Bon appetit!
If you liked this article, then share it with your friends and loved ones on social networks. Cook with pleasure! The aroma of kharcho soup will quickly gather all household members to the table! On hot summer days, I recommend current publications: bread kvass at home, okroshka with kvass, classic recipes, with kefir, with mineral water, with whey, with ayran, with yogurt, lemon juice, with water. You will also find recipes for delicious chicken, pork and fish kebabs useful.
In a slow cooker
Lamb kharcho (the classic recipe requires the use of a frying pan) can be easily prepared especially boiled and stewed.
A dish in a slow cooker is cooked from all sides, which gives the components the opportunity to exchange tastes and aromas.
What ingredients will you need?
To prepare a delicious soup you will need:
- 500 g lamb;
- 1 cup washed rice;
- ½ cup peeled nut kernels;
- 1 carrot and onion;
- 1 tbsp. l. concentrated tomato paste;
- 4 cloves of garlic;
- 2 bay leaves;
- salt to taste;
- 1 tsp. crushed black pepper;
- mix of parsley with celery and cilantro;
- 1 tsp. dry seasonings for kharcho.
Step-by-step cooking process
The step-by-step cooking algorithm consists of the following steps:
- You should set the device to the “Baking” program and let the multicooker warm up.
- Place chopped lamb fat or frying oil in a bowl.
- It is necessary to fry the chopped onions and carrots in oil until golden brown.
- To fry, add tomato paste and lamb ribs. You need to fry the meat until it has a golden crust.
- It is necessary to fill all the components with liquid, then you need to switch the program to “Extinguishing”.
- You need to add rice, washed several times, ground nuts and all the suggested spices into the soup.
- 3 minutes after boiling, you need to close the device with a lid and leave to simmer for 1 hour.
- At the end, open the lid and season the treat with crushed garlic and herbs.
What can I add?
Hot peppers can be added whole to the soup to add spice to the dish without becoming bitter. You can add olives and lemon slices to the recipe.
Rules for serving dishes, decoration
For a beautiful presentation, you can pour the kharcho into plates, it’s better to sprinkle chopped herbs on top, and put cheese cakes or oven-dried pita bread with sauce next to it.
Kharcho soup in Megrelian style
The most piquant version of preparing kharcho soup.
Ingredients:
- Lamb – 1 kg
- Ground walnuts – 250 g
- Rice – 250 g
- Garlic – 3 teeth.
- Weave - to taste
- Red onion – 5 pcs.
- Parsley – 1 bunch
- Kharchos-suneli – 15 g
- Bay leaf
Preparation:
Cut the brisket into small pieces and fill them with 2 liters of boiling water. Cook the lamb for 2 hours.
If it becomes soft earlier, the cooking time can be reduced. Cut the tkali into small pieces and add water to melt them.
Tkali can be replaced with tkemali or grated tomatoes with spices.
Place chopped onions, rice and bunches of herbs into the pan. Cook for 15 minutes. Place garlic, cilantro, black pepper, salt and walnuts in a mortar.
Pour a little broth into the mortar to dilute the sauce well, which we immediately place in the pan.
Then put kharchos-suneli, soaked tklapi, salt, pepper, and bay leaf into the pan. Cook for another 10 minutes.
Bon appetit.
Step-by-step recipe for lamb kharcho
Moderately spicy, thick and aromatic soup will turn a simple lunch into a celebration. True gourmets should definitely try kharcho and appreciate it.
Ingredients:
- Lamb – 1 kg
- Rice - 100 g
- Onions - 3 pcs.
- Carrots - 2 pcs.
- Cilantro seeds - 1 teaspoon
- Tomatoes - 4 pcs.
- Tomato paste - 1 tbsp. spoon
- Garlic - 3 cloves
- Butter - 50 g
- Vegetable oil - 50 g
- Khmeli-suneli - 1 tbsp. spoon
- Bay leaf - 4 pcs
- Black peppercorns - 10 peas
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Salt - to taste
Place the meat on the bone into a saucepan with thick walls and a bottom. Add carrots, onions, bay leaves and allspice to it. Pour water into the pan and place it on the stove.
Fry a couple of finely chopped onions and chopped garlic in butter and vegetable oil, mixed in equal proportions.
Fry the cilantro seeds in a dry frying pan for just a couple of minutes, then mash or grind them in a coffee grinder.
Cilantro seeds will add incredible flavor to the broth.
Pass the tomatoes through a meat grinder or grate them, removing the skin. Add tomato paste to the resulting mass.
Remove the vegetables from the finished broth; you can throw them away, as they have served their purpose. Separate the meat from the bones and cut into arbitrary pieces. Strain it, pour it back into the pan and after boiling, add the rice.
Add meat and tomato sauce to the frying pan with the onions and garlic. Add spices there too.
Mix and put on the stove to simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
Combine these two parts together and leave on the stove until it boils. At the end of cooking, add fresh chopped herbs.
Enjoy your meal!
The best Spices for kharcho
Below we consider a standard set of spices that ensure a true Georgian, original taste of the first course.
What main spices can be included in kharcho soup:
- Tklapi
All herbs will be ineffective if there is no tklapi in the soup. The seasoning has another name - fresh cherry plum, tkemali. It is prepared from plum pulp by drying it in the sun. Essentially, it is a dried fruit that, after processing, resembles a thin flatbread in shape.
- Khmeli-suneli
A spicy mixture characteristic of all cuisines of Transcaucasia. The composition is represented by a set of dry, finely ground herbs - fenugreek, basil, marjoram, hot red pepper, mint, parsley, celery, savory, dill, bay, issole, Imeretian saffron.
Such mixtures can only be found in Georgia or you can prepare them yourself. In our country, hop-suneli sets are more modest and consist of basil, saffron, marjoram, hot red pepper, coriander and dill.
- Greens and cilantro seeds (coriander)
The seasoning complements the taste and aroma of the dish, giving it sharp notes reminiscent of anise. It is added in the form of whole or ground seeds at the end of cooking. Greens are added to the finished dish before serving.
- Onion and garlic
Vegetables are necessary to enhance the flavor and aromatic properties of the broth, increasing its thickness and spiciness. Vegetables are finely chopped and added fresh to the dish a couple of minutes before they are ready.
- Greens and parsley root
This component is necessary for the kharcho to acquire a piquant, distinctive taste. Parsley root is boiled along with the meat at the broth preparation stage, after which it is removed. Greens must be added before serving.
- Basil greens
Spicy herbs add a touch of freshness and an intense aromatic aroma with familiar notes to the dish. Like all greens, basil is added to the soup when serving.
- Black peppercorns, ground red
Peas form a sharp-spicy taste and should be added to kharcho while cooking the broth. Some recipes call for adding a mixture of ground black and red pepper. The second type acts as the sharpest component.
- Laurel
The purpose of bay leaf is to enhance the taste and aroma of food, so it is introduced in minimal quantities. For a five-liter pan, it is enough to use two medium-sized leaves. If you put too much, the taste may be spoiled.
- Pomegranate juice
This component gives the dish a sweet and sour taste, which effectively sets off the overall spicy notes. For kharcho, freshly squeezed juice is used, which is easy to prepare at home.
- Imeretian saffron
This is an expensive spice that gives the broth an appetizing hue and a deep, original taste. To prepare kharcho, you should use 2-3 dry petals.
- Walnut
The nutty flavor adds a spicy kick to the soup. The product is crushed as finely as possible and added to the soup along with herbs.
Home cooking recipes - recipe for classic kharcho soup
Below is a classic recipe according to which kharcho can be prepared at home.
Components:
- beef – 200 grams;
- vegetable oil for frying;
- rice – 20 g;
- spice mixture;
- bulb;
- half a head of garlic;
- tomato;
- water 1.5 l.
- chopped walnuts
Preparation:
- Pre-washed meat is used to cook the broth, together with laurel, peppercorns, and parsley root. As the liquid boils, foam is removed from the surface.
- Rice treated with cold water is added to the finished broth.
- The tomato is peeled and carefully processed into puree.
- Finely chopped garlic is added to it.
- Finely chopped onion is fried until golden brown over low heat.
- Add the tomato-garlic mixture to the pan. After the mixture is fried, it is added to the broth.
- Seasonings are added to the kharcho 10 minutes before the end of cooking.
- When the time is up, the soup is removed from the heat, flavored with herbs, walnuts and served after it has steeped for 5-7 minutes.
You can find out which spices are suitable for other types of soups in this interesting article
Features of cooking kharcho soup from other types of meat
By choosing the right spices for kharcho, rice, and meat, you can prepare a first course that tastes amazing.
It is served exclusively hot, topped with walnuts, garlic and pita bread.
- If you want a more dietary dish, you can prepare chicken kharcho. Any part is suitable for cooking, for example, breast, back or leg. This broth cooks faster and does not require the addition of parsley root.
- Lamb produces a more savory flavor. However, cooking this type of meat requires experience. All films must be removed from it; the piece used must be pre-soaked in water, which will remove the unpleasant smell and taste. Lamb goes well with basmati rice - such kharcho will turn out extremely tasty.
- If you cook a truly Georgian pork dish, it will turn out to be as satisfying as possible, but not at all dietary. It is better to choose pulp on the bone, so the broth will be richer. It is better to highlight the taste of pork kharcho with a teaspoon of adjika.
Video about kharcho soup - basic cooking principles from the famous chef Ilya Lazerson
Infographics about kharcho soup
This useful reminder sign will help you always keep in mind all aspects of preparing kharcho soup. Save it on social networks and add it to your bookmarks.
Try making kharcho soup yourself and bon appetit!!!
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sources
Kharcho with lamb and rice
Its taste will win your heart from the first spoon. It is with lamb that such a soup will be less caloric. Lamb meat is not as fatty compared to beef or pork. It is also a very healthy meat.
Ingredients:
- Lamb – 800 g
- Rice - 6 teaspoons
- Onions - 2 pcs.
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Tomatoes - 700 g
- Garlic - half a head
- Bell pepper - 2 pcs
- Parsley root - 1 pc.
- Black peppercorns - 10 peas
- Bay leaf - 3 pcs
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Salt - to taste
The washed meat must be cut into portions and placed in a pan. Fill the pan with water, about 2 liters and put on fire. After boiling, reduce the heat on the stove and cook with the lid ajar.
Do not forget to remove the resulting noise, it will affect the quality of the broth in the future.
Half an hour before the meat is ready, this is about 40 minutes, add parsley root to the broth and add salt to your taste.
Work on the vegetables while the meat cooks. Peel onions, carrots, sweet peppers. Chop the onion and pepper into cubes, grate the carrots.
In a preheated frying pan with vegetable oil, fry the onion for a short time, add carrots and bell pepper. Then reduce the heat on the stove and pour a couple of tablespoons of meat broth into the frying pan. Cover with a lid and simmer for no more than 6-7 minutes.
Tomatoes also need preparation. They need to be peeled and chopped into small cubes. Add them to the stewed vegetables in a frying pan, mix and leave on the fire for another 10 minutes.
Tomatoes will give a slight sourness.
In the meantime, the lamb is cooked and you can add rice to the broth. After boiling, add stewed vegetables to the future soup and add spices. Cook over low heat for 20 minutes.
After this, pass the garlic through a press and add to the soup. Turn off the stove.
It is better to add greens when serving. Parsley, cilantro, dill and basil are ideal for this.
Enjoy your meal!