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Classic beef kharcho

Classic Beef Kharcho

Bold, rich, hearty, and full of spice! Classic beef kharcho isn't something you can throw together quickly for dinner — it takes time. But what you get in the end is an incredible thick soup that'll satisfy even the hungriest appetite. And the aromas it gives off!

katushafin

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Beef

500

Onion

Rice

Walnuts

100

Tomato sauce (I always use canned tomato pulp)

250

Tkemali sauce

Ajika

Garlic

Vegetable oil

Khmeli-suneli

Paprika

Peppercorns

Salt

Bay leaf

Fresh herbs

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 31 % 12 g

Fats 28 % 11 g

Carbohydrates 41 % 16 g

206 kcal

GI: 19 / 81 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make classic beef kharcho? Gather your ingredients. For a soup as close to the original as possible, use them all without substitutions — but if you're missing something, go ahead and make it without; it'll still be delicious.
Step 2:

Bone-in beef makes a richer broth. Wash it and put it in a pot. Cover the meat with filtered or bottled water, about 3 liters (12 cups).
Step 3:

Set it on the stove and bring to a boil over medium heat, skimming off the foam with a slotted spoon. Lower the heat, salt the broth lightly, cover, and leave it to simmer.
Step 4:

While the broth simmers, make the sauté base. I've seen recipes that drop the vegetables straight into the broth, but I think sautéing them first tastes better and looks nicer. Peel the onions and slice them into half-moons.
Step 5:

Heat a little vegetable oil in a skillet, add the onion, and cook it gently over low heat until translucent.
Step 6:

Add the tomato sauce, tkemali, and ajika to the onion, stir well, and let it simmer on low for about ten minutes. Go easy on the ajika — it can be very hot, so don't add the whole spoonful at once; taste first, then add more if needed. If your ajika is very salty, you may not need any extra salt at all.
Step 7:

When the meat is fully cooked, after about two hours, lift it out of the broth. Stir the sauté base into the broth, add all the seasonings and spices, and taste for salt, adding more if needed. Rinse the rice in cool water several times, then add it to the soup and let it cook for about fifteen minutes.
Step 8:

Pull the meat off the bones and cut it into small pieces, then return it to the soup. (If you used boneless meat cut into serving chunks, you can skip the cutting.)
Step 9:

Pick over the walnuts to remove any shell or membrane, toast them in a dry skillet, and grind them fine in a mortar.
Step 10:

Wash and dry the herbs. Peel the garlic. Finely chop the herbs together with the garlic.
Step 11:

Stir the prepared walnuts and the garlic-herb mixture into the soup, bring it to a boil, and turn off the heat. Let the kharcho rest a while so the rice swells fully and all the flavors come together.

Classic beef kharcho is a traditional Georgian dish whose name literally means "beef soup." It's a thick, hot, spicy soup loaded with meat and built up with rice, walnuts, garlic, spices, and vegetables. Usually only onions and tomatoes go in, plus the essential sour-plum sauce, tkemali — that's what gives kharcho its signature tang. Give it a try; it's a truly hearty dish!
You can use more or less water than the recipe calls for, depending on whether you'd like a thicker or thinner soup.