Chakapuli

Ingredients

Meat

• 1.5 kglamb shoulder or veal, in 4 cm pieces

Pot

• 500 ggreen sour plums, or 200 ml tkemali sauce
• 8spring onions, chopped
• 1onion, chopped
• 4 clovesgarlic, sliced
• 400 mldry white wine

Herbs

• 4large bunches tarragon
• 2 bunchesflat-leaf parsley
• 1 bunchcoriander

Seasoning

• 1 tspblue fenugreek
• salt and black pepper

Directions

1. Put the raw lamb into a heavy pot with no oil and no browning at all.
2. Chakapuli is never seared. It is stewed pale in wine and herbs, and browning would give it a dark roasted flavour that has no place in the dish.
3. Add the chopped onion, spring onions and garlic on top of the meat.
4. Pour in the wine, cover tightly, and cook over a low heat for 40 minutes. The lamb releases its own liquid and the wine does the rest.
5. Add the green plums whole and cook for a further 15 minutes, until they collapse and their skins split open into the sauce.
6. Now add the herbs, and add far more than looks sensible: four full bunches of tarragon for this much meat. Tarragon is the dish itself rather than a seasoning in it.
7. Chop them roughly, pile them in, cover, and cook for a final 10 minutes until they have wilted into the stew while still being green.
8. Season with salt, pepper and the blue fenugreek.
9. Rest it off the heat for 10 minutes and serve straight from the pot with plenty of bread.

Technique

• No oil, no browning, no tomato. Every instinct from other lamb stews is wrong here.
• It is a spring dish, cooked when the tarragon is young and the plums are still hard and green, and it is the standard Georgian Easter stew.
• The sourness should come from the fruit rather than from the wine. Use a dry wine, not a sharp one.

Substitutions

• Tkemali sauce, the bottled Georgian sour plum sauce, in place of fresh plums.
• Gooseberries, which are close in acidity and season.
• Veal or kid instead of lamb, cooked for the same time.

Variations

• With a larger proportion of coriander, which some households prefer.
• With whole spring garlic in place of cloves.
• A late-summer version with ripe plums, which is sweeter and generally considered inferior.

History

Spring stew of lamb with tarragon, sour green plums and white wine, cooked for Easter.

Frequently asked questions

What is Chakapuli?

Chakapuli is a soup & stew from Georgia: lamb or veal stewed with tarragon and unripe plums; springtime favorite. Spring stew of lamb with tarragon, sour green plums and white wine, cooked for Easter.

How long does Chakapuli take to make?

Chakapuli takes 20 min of preparation and 1 hr 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Chakapuli?

Yes, within limits. Tkemali sauce, the bottled Georgian sour plum sauce, in place of fresh plums. Gooseberries, which are close in acidity and season. Veal or kid instead of lamb, cooked for the same time.

What is the most important thing to get right in Chakapuli?

Chakapuli is never seared. It is stewed pale in wine and herbs, and browning would give it a dark roasted flavour that has no place in the dish.