About the Author: Nino Saralidze

One day I was in the mountains of Georgia with my friends, it was a celebratory day, we had a fun time. We rode horses, saw beautiful landscapes and ate khinkali in a family restaurant. It was so big, yummy and filled with soup, and so good so I poured it on my shirt :D. It was so funny.

A little bit about khinkali. Khinkali (Georgian: ხინკალი) is a very popular Georgian dumpling made of twisted knobs of dough, stuffed with meat and spices. It is considered to be one of the national dishes of Georgia. We don’t know who called it khinkali first. Khinkali is said to have originated in the mountains to the north of Tbilisi, where Tushetian and Pshavi people live (and both claim to be the originators of khinkali). The temperature in Tusheti drops to 15 degrees Celsius in the winter, and villages in the Caucasus mountains are cut off from the rest of the world by several meters of snow.

Before it became an inseparable feature of restaurant menus, khinkali was an excellent dish for keeping shepherds warm in extremely cold weather with mountain beer. The meat used for khinkali was mostly lamb or sheep, but in the city, beef and pork together is common. Different regions of Georgia make khinkali with different fillings. The most popular is the pork-beef mix. In the mountains, khinkali is often still made with lamb. Fillings can also include Imeretian cheese mixed with cottage cheese, mushrooms and mashed potato. City versions include kalakuri khinkali (with thinly chopped parsley) and khevsuruli khinkali (without parsley). Enjoy!

My Khinkali Journey, in Georgia
8984+5Q6 Sareki
Pasieti Imereti 1727
Republic of Georgia
My Khinkali Journey, in Georgia
8984+5Q6 Sareki
Pasieti Imereti 1727
Republic of Georgia