Khinkali: Georgia's Soup Dumplings and How to Eat Them

Georgia, not the state

Khinkali come from the high mountains of eastern Georgia, the country between the Black Sea and the Caspian. The Georgian National Tourism Administration says Pshavi and Tusheti are considered their homeland, and that the dish spread from there to the rest of the country. Today you will find them almost everywhere in Georgia.

The origin is not entirely settled. The tourism agency mentions theories that the idea arrived with the Mongols or has links to dumplings elsewhere, and Wikipedia records a 13th-century story about Mongol riders wrapping meat in dough. Georgian sources treat khinkali as their own, and VOA, reporting from Tbilisi, notes that regions still argue over who invented them and who makes them best.

Mountain style and city style

According to the tourism agency, the first khinkali were made with mutton and served very hot through cold mountain winters. In the mountains they were made on Sundays and holidays, and people believe a proper one has 28 folds, one for each year of the solar cycle. Treat that number as tradition rather than a rule; other sources give quite different counts.

When the dish moved down into the valleys and cities, pork and beef replaced the mutton. The city version, kalakuri, adds herbs such as cilantro and parsley, while the plainer mountain fillings stick to meat, onion, chile and cumin. Our khinkali, adapted from Carla Capalbo's book Tasting Georgia via Saveur, use beef, pork, cilantro and spices.

Where the broth comes from

There is no gelatin trick here. The raw meat filling is loosened with liquid, and the tourism agency's own method says to add water until a spoon can sink gently to the bottom. Our recipe stirs in a cup of stock and melted butter. Inside the sealed dumpling, that liquid and the meat juices turn into broth as it boils.

The knot does the sealing. The pleats are gathered and twisted tight at the top, so the broth stays put in the boiling water and the cook gets a sturdy handle for the eater.

How to eat khinkali

Use your hands. Pick one up by the knot, turn it over, and bite a small hole in the side. Sip the hot broth first, carefully, so it does not spill onto the plate, then eat the dough and filling. Georgia's tourism agency calls slurping out the juice without spilling it essential.

Leave the knot. It is thick, doughy and usually left on the plate, where the pile of knots shows how many each person ate. Black pepper is the usual seasoning, and one dumpling expert told VOA that anything beyond pepper is forbidden, only half joking. A fork tends to pierce the dumpling and lose the broth, which is why locals skip it.

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