Kharcho

Ingredients

Broth

• 800 gbeef brisket or short rib, on the bone
• 2.5 litreswater
• 1onion
• salt

Pot

• 3onions, finely chopped
• 150 grice
• 150 gwalnuts, ground
• 3 tbsptklapi sour plum leather, or 4 tbsp tkemali sauce
• 3 clovesgarlic
• 2 tbspoil

Spice

• 1 tbspground coriander
• 1 tspblue fenugreek
• 1 tspdried marigold
• 1 tspground black pepper
• 1dried red chilli

To finish

• 1large bunch coriander
• 1 bunchparsley
• salt

Directions

1. Simmer the beef with the whole onion in the water for 1 hour 30 minutes, skimming thoroughly, until tender.
2. Skim it properly in the first fifteen minutes. Kharcho should be a clear-tasting soup despite its thickness, and unskimmed broth turns muddy.
3. Lift the meat out, strip it from the bone, cut it into pieces, and strain the broth.
4. Fry the chopped onions in the oil until soft and golden, then return them to the broth with the meat.
5. Add the rice and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Now the sourness, which is what defines kharcho. Soak the tklapi in a little hot broth until it dissolves into a purée, and stir it in.
7. Tklapi is sour plum pulp dried into sheets, and it is the authentic souring agent. Tkemali sauce is the practical substitute and lemon juice is a distant third.
8. Stir in the ground walnuts, a spoonful at a time, so they disperse rather than sinking in clumps.
9. Grind the walnuts finely and stir them in off a hard boil. They thicken the soup and release their oil, and boiled hard the oil separates out into a slick.
10. Add the coriander, blue fenugreek, marigold, pepper and chilli.
11. Blue fenugreek and dried marigold are the two spices that make this Georgian rather than generic, and both are worth buying rather than substituting.
12. Simmer for another 15 minutes until the rice is soft and the soup has thickened.
13. Crush the garlic and stir it in off the heat with a very large quantity of chopped coriander and parsley.
14. The herbs go in raw and in quantity, by the bunch rather than the spoonful, which is how Georgian cooking works.
15. Let it stand 10 minutes before serving so the flavours settle.
16. It should be thick, sour, nutty and strongly herbal, thicker than a soup and looser than a stew.
17. Serve hot with bread, and with more fresh coriander on the table.

Technique

• Sourness is the whole identity of the dish and an unsour kharcho is simply a beef and rice soup.
• It is traditionally beef; kharcho made with chicken or lamb is a modern variation.
• The Russian version sold in tins bears little relation to the Georgian original.

Substitutions

• Tkemali sour plum sauce, or pomegranate molasses with a little lemon.
• Fenugreek with a pinch of ground coriander, if blue fenugreek is unavailable.

Variations

• With more walnut, for a thicker soup.
• Made with lamb.
• Without rice, thickened with walnuts alone.

History

Western Georgian beef soup soured with plum tklapi and thickened with pounded walnuts and rice.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kharcho?

Kharcho is a soup & stew from Georgia: beef soup with rice, sour plum and walnuts. Western Georgian beef soup soured with plum tklapi and thickened with pounded walnuts and rice.

How long does Kharcho take to make?

Kharcho takes 25 min of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Kharcho?

Yes, within limits. Tkemali sour plum sauce, or pomegranate molasses with a little lemon. Fenugreek with a pinch of ground coriander, if blue fenugreek is unavailable.

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

Simmer the beef with the whole onion in the water for 1 hour 30 minutes, skimming thoroughly, until tender.