Khachapuri

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gstrong white flour
• 7 ginstant yeast
• 10 gfine salt
• 1 tspsugar
• 150 mlwarm whole milk
• 150 mlwarm water
• 30 mlsunflower oil
• 150 gmatsoni or plain full-fat yoghurt

Filling

• 400 gsulguni, coarsely grated
• 250 gimeruli cheese or drained feta, crumbled
• 1egg, beaten, for the filling
• 50 mlwhole milk

To finish

• 4egg yolks
• 80 gcold butter, in 4 cubes
• 1egg, beaten, for glazing the rims

Directions

1. Mix flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add the milk, water, oil and matsoni, then knead 10 minutes to a soft, satiny dough that just clears the bowl.
2. Cover and prove at room temperature for 1–1.5 hours until doubled and full of air.
3. Toss the two cheeses together with the beaten egg and the milk. Taste: it should be salty and slightly sour. If the feta is fierce, soak it in cold water 20 minutes first and drain.
4. Heat the oven, with a baking stone or heavy tray inside, to its maximum, 250–270°C (475–525°F).
5. Divide the dough into 4. Roll each into a long oval about 30 cm x 20 cm on baking paper.
6. Pile a quarter of the cheese down the centre. Roll each long edge inward over the filling to make two thick ropes, then pinch the two ends together hard and twist, so you get a pointed boat with a gaping middle.
7. Brush the rolled rims with beaten egg. Slide the boats, still on their paper, onto the hot stone and bake 12–15 minutes until the crust is deep gold and the cheese is bubbling and blistered in patches.
8. Pull the trays out, make a small well in the molten cheese of each boat and drop in a raw egg yolk. Return to the oven for 45–60 seconds only, just to warm the yolk without setting it.
9. Drop a cube of cold butter beside each yolk and serve at once. At the table, stir the yolk and butter into the cheese with a fork, tear off the pointed prow and dip.

Technique

• The yolk must stay liquid. It is a sauce, not a cooked egg; more than a minute back in the oven and the whole dish loses its point.
• Sulguni alone goes stringy and bland. The salty, sour imeruli or feta is what makes the filling taste Georgian.
• Eat it hot, with your hands, tearing the crust and dipping. Cooled khachapuri sets solid and cannot be rescued.

Substitutions

• No sulguni: use 400 g low-moisture mozzarella, grated and squeezed dry, with 250 g feta. Expect less springy pull.
• No matsoni: full-fat Greek yoghurt loosened with a splash of milk gives almost the same soft crumb.

Variations

• Imeruli: a flat sealed round filled only with imeruli cheese, the everyday version.
• Megruli: an imeruli with extra sulguni grated over the top and browned.
• Penovani: made with puff pastry and folded into a square.

History

A cheese-filled bread whose basic technique, a leavened dough wrapped or layered around fresh local cheese, has been part of Georgian home baking for centuries, though written records of specific regional versions are sparse before the modern era. Georgia’s mountainous geography left many regions relatively isolated from each other for long stretches of history, and khachapuri diverged accordingly: Adjaruli, from the Black Sea region of Adjara, is boat-shaped and topped with a raw egg and butter stirred in at the table, while Imeruli, from Imereti, is a closed, round loaf with cheese baked inside rather than on top. Both are now served across Georgia and internationally, but each remains identified with its home region.

Frequently asked questions

What is Khachapuri?

Khachapuri is a bread & pastry from Georgia: molten cheese-filled bread; Adjarian boat version crowned with egg and butter. A cheese-filled bread whose basic technique, a leavened dough wrapped or layered around fresh local cheese, has been part of Georgian home baking for centuries, though written records of specific regional versions are sparse before the modern era. Georgia’s mountainous geography left many regions relatively isolated from each other for long stretches of history, and khachapuri diverged accordingly: Adjaruli, from the Black Sea region of Adjara, is boat-shaped and topped with a raw egg and butter stirred in at the table, while Imeruli, from Imereti, is a closed, round loaf with cheese baked inside rather than on top. Both are now served across Georgia and internationally, but each remains identified with its home region.

How long does Khachapuri take to make?

Khachapuri takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 boats. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Khachapuri?

Yes, within limits. No sulguni: use 400 g low-moisture mozzarella, grated and squeezed dry, with 250 g feta. Expect less springy pull. No matsoni: full-fat Greek yoghurt loosened with a splash of milk gives almost the same soft crumb.

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

The yolk must stay liquid. It is a sauce, not a cooked egg; more than a minute back in the oven and the whole dish loses its point.