Georgian Recipes

Chvishtari (also called chishdvaar) is a cornbread with cheese from Georgia’s Svaneti region. It is also popular in Samegrelo region but made in a slightly different way. In this recipe we will show how to make the Megrelian version of Chvishtari.

Ingredients (for 6 servings): 200 grams of Sulguni cheese (Georgian: სულუგუნი). Sulguni is a cheese from the Samegrelo region of Georgia. It has a sour, moderately salty flavor and an elastic consistency. If you don’t have Sulguni you can use Mozzarella cheese.

Other ingredients: 400 grams of stone-ground white cornmeal, 1 egg, 50 grams of butter, 1 level tsp of sugar, 1 level tsp of salt, 100 ml of oil,  and 230 ml of milk, or water.

Preparation: Add the cornmeal to a mixing bowl. Add the egg, butter, sugar and salt. Slowly add 230 ml of milk or water (we used milk).

Mix and squash the ingredients by hand (for at least 5 minutes).

The finished mixture should look like the picture below.

Mold the cornflour mixture into six separate balls.

Cut thick square slices of Sulguni cheese (1 for each chvishtari).

Carefully insert a piece of Sulguni cheese into each chvishtari.

Carefully wrap the cheese and close the chvishtari.

The finished chvishtari should look like the one in the picture below.

Add oil to a pan and when hot add each Chvishtari, reduce to a low heat and cover the pan.

After 5-6 minutes, carefully turn the Chvishtari and cook for a further 5-6 minutes on a low heat (uncovered).

Serving: Serve hot.

Enjoy the Megrelian version of Chvishtari!