LOBIO (GEORGIAN BEAN DISH)
Lobio (Georgian: ლობიო), is a popular dish made with kidney beans and usually eaten with Mchadi and marinaded vegetables . The Georgian word ‘lobio’ means ‘beans’. There are a number of varieties of this dish and we will show how to make one of the most popular.
Ingredients (4 servings):
400 grams of dried red kidney beans.
100 grams of onions. 50 grams of fresh green coriander (optional), 2 cloves of garlic, salt, a pinch of dried coriander, half spoon of dried Blue Fenugreek, 3 bay leaves, 1 tsp black pepper and 70 grams of oil.
Preparation:
Soak beans in cold water for two hours prior to cooking. Drain water and add beans, bay leaves and salt to a deep pot containing 1.5 liters of water. Cook on a medium heat until the beans are tender.
Chop the fresh coriander and onions.
Add fresh and dried coriander, Blue Fenugreek, garlic, black pepper and a pinch of salt to a mortar.
Grind the ingredients with a pestle.
Fry the chopped onions in a pan of hot oil.
Drain the water from the cooked kidney beans but keep 200 milliliters in a separate jug to use later. Use the back of a wooden spoon to mash the beans on the side of the pot. Add the ingredients that were crushed in a mortar, together with fried onions and the oil they were fried in.
Mash all ingredients until completely mixed, add the 200 milliliters of bean water (saved when draining the beans). Transfer the ingredients to a pot and cook on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. We baked ours in individual clay pots in the oven.
Serving:
Serve hotWe served ours in individual clay pots with the traditional accompaniment, Mchadi (Georgian Cornbread). For a step-by-step guide to making Mchadi see this article.
Enjoy your lobio!
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[…] Georgian Lobio This recipe is from Georgia the country (not the state). I had it in Russia and it was wonderful. Something in the vein of refried red beans with an interesting spice mix, and pomegranate seeds on top. However, my version did not turn out so well. On the upside, I did get to use the morter and pestle my grandma gave me for Christmas. […]
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[…] followed this recipe for my first attempt at lobio. Following is what worked for me (the original recipe plus my […]
Georgian Recipes 
I have just discovered your site! I have visited Sakartvelo over the past four years and have fallen in love with the country, people, and food. Unfortunately it looks like I may not be able to return so finding your site and recipes for foods that I have been missing is wonderful. Thank you! I’m wondering if you know of a way that I could purchase the bean pots and a mortar and pestle as you have pictured them? Thank you again! Greta Mickey
Thank you for your very lovely message. I do hope you will be able to return to Georgia one day. There may be some companies that export the traditional earthenware. I shall try to find out. Best wishes.
That would be wonderful! Thank you.
Hi! I’m also trying to find these same pots with no luck from Internet searches. Please do also let me know if you have any success. Thank you. And I’m dying to make this recipe…. Looks so good!!
Hi, thanks again for a great recipe. Could I just ask, what kind of mortar and pestle do you use in these pictures and for these recipes? Is it metal, what kind? Looking to get one appropriate for such recipes – Thanks!
I am pleased that you like the recipe. The mortar and pestle are made from pewter. We also use wooden ones.
If you’re looking for a mortar and pestle, just Google it or check Amazon. Apparently it’s only us Americans who’ve stopped using mortars and pestles regularly — Asian stores and Mexican/Latino stores usually carry them in various sizes and materials. When I lived in Thailand we had a clay mortar (like a pot you’d use for plants, but shaped like a mortar) and wooden pestle. I never used it but judging by their price and availability, everyone else in Thailand did.
Also, I cannot tell you how happy I am to have found your website. My husband and I have been looking for a good recipe for khachapuri and now we have MANY. We would kill for a Georgian restaurant in our area.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It was my main inspiration for the one I published on our world food blog for Georgia’s Independence Day. I even found utskho suneli (blue fenugreek) online!
http://www.196flavors.com/2015/04/14/georgia-lobio/
I would very much like to try this lobio dish. However, the final step says to bake in the oven. Please provide information as to the correct temperature and duration of baking time. Thank you.