Megerelian Kharcho with Veal

⏳ Time

30 minutes

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

The homeland of adjika, as well as other spicy seasonings, is Western Georgia. At the markets, there is homemade adjika made from hot red peppers, which are ground with cilantro, garlic, and ucho-suneli. In principle, you can make it at home, but you need to prepare. The peppers burn your hands. Therefore, you should make adjika while wearing gloves, otherwise, you will burn your palms. A mask or respirator will also be useful — the pepper irritates your throat, eyes, and nose.

Ingredients

Veal - 2 lbs
Walnuts - 2.3 oz
Cilantro - 2 bunches
Onion - 3 heads
Megrelian Adjika - 8.8 oz
Passata Tomato Sauce - 2 tablespoons
Saffron - 1 tablespoon
Khmeli-suneli - 1 tablespoon
Ground coriander - 0.4 oz
Dry White Wine - ½ cup
Butter - 1.8 oz
Ocean salt - to taste
Ground Black Pepper - to taste

Step by Step guide

Step 1

Take the veal, although you can use beef tenderloin — veal cooks faster. Cut the meat into small pieces, about the size of half a matchbox. Place it in a skillet and sauté in butter or neutral oil for 1–2 minutes. As soon as the meat is covered with a golden crust, transfer it to a large pot.

Step 2

Finely chop the onion and mix it with the meat. Pour in the wine, and you can add a little water. If the veal is lean, add a piece of butter. Place the pot over medium heat, and when the mixture starts to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about thirty minutes.

Step 3

Meanwhile, let's prepare the walnuts. You can't overdo it with walnuts — kharcho only benefits from them. Usually, we take a bowl of shelled walnuts. They can be crushed in a mortar or passed through a meat grinder a couple of times. In Georgia, it is believed that due to various innovations like electric mixers and meat grinders, walnuts lose their flavor. When you crush them in a mortar with a pestle, walnut oil is released, resulting in a paste. If you pass the walnuts through a meat grinder, you get a dry powder. Nevertheless, few people now spend effort on the mortar. Therefore, it’s better to find young walnuts — they remain oily even after grinding.

Step 4

After thirty minutes, the meat is almost ready — it should melt in your mouth, and the onion should almost dissolve. Add the ground walnuts, finely chopped fresh cilantro, and spices — saffron, khmeli-suneli, and coriander. In principle, you can go to a spice stall at the market and ask for a kharcho spice mix — they will throw the necessary spices into a bag and mix them.

Step 5

Add salt, pepper, and a jar of adjika — if you want the kharcho to be extremely spicy, but you can also add less. You can also add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste to give the kharcho a bit of acidity, or a drop of wine vinegar. But before pouring in the vinegar, you should remove the pot from the heat — otherwise, the walnuts will darken.

Step 6

Continue to simmer on low heat for another twenty minutes. It turns out to be somewhat similar to beef stroganoff, but a bit thicker. The technology is the same. By the way, in Georgia, there are many different cafes that prepare beef stroganoff. They even add wine, just like in kharcho — it turns out incredibly delicious.