Georgian Recipes

Georgians are very fond of the herb tarragon, which they call tarkhuna (Georgian: ტარხუნა). It used to flavor meat stews, grilled trout, salads and many other dishes. In this recipe we show how to make a khachapuri flavored with tarragon. Khachapuri (Georgian: ხაჭაპური) is justifiably considered to be one of Georgia’s national dishes and is popular in restaurants and in homes.

Ingredients for the khachapuri dough (4 servings): 1 kilo of flour, 300 ml of water or milk, 1 egg, 1.5 tbs of yeast, 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of salt.

Ingredients for the filling: 800 grams of Imeretian cheese (not too salty) (mozzarella can be substituted for Imeretian cheese), 200 grams of tarragon, 1 egg, and 50 grams of butter.

Preparation (Khachapuri dough): There are several recipes for making khachapuri dough but we find the following method to be the easiest way to prepare it.

Warm 300 ml of water or milk to 35C and add to a bowl. Stir in the yeast.

Add 600 grams of flour to a mixing bowl and make a depression in the flour. Add the yeast water, milk and a raw egg. If you want the khachapuri to have a golden color you can add 1 tsp of sugar.

The dough should be formed into a soft ball. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place for 2 hours for the dough to rise.

After two hours in a warm place the khachapuri dough should look like the picture below.

Preparation (filling): Chop the tarragon and crumble the cheese. Add to a mixing bowl, together with 1 egg. Mix by hand.

When you are ready to use the dough, add 150-200 grams of flour and knead the dough. The dough should be fluffy, not wet. Separate it into four same-size balls (only two are shown in the picture below).

Flatten each piece of the dough into a circular shape. Add one quarter of the filling to each khachapuri.

Wrap the dough around the filling and pinch the top to seal it.

Turn it over and carefully press the filled dough into a circular shape that is less than 25 cm diameter. Don’t flatten it too much and be careful not to tear it.

Bake on a flour dusted baking tray at 200 C until the dough becomes golden brown.

Serving: Glaze the surface of each khachapuri with butter and serve hot.

Enjoy your Khachapuri with Tarragon!