Spinach Pkhali with Bell Pepper

Appetizers | Georgian cuisine

⏳ Time

30 minutes

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

Generally, making pkhali is not a man's job: it’s quite a tedious process, and we usually leave this work to women.

Ingredients

Ocean salt - to taste
Saffron - to taste
Malt Vinegar - ½ tablespoon
Black Pomegranate Molasses - 1 piece
Spinach - 17.6 oz
Walnuts - 4.6 oz
Garlic - 2 cloves
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Parsley - to taste
Sweet Pepper - 2 pieces
Khmeli-suneli - to taste

Step by Step guide

Step 1

Wash the spinach, cut off the roots, and discard any wilted or yellow leaves. Spinach tends to cook down significantly — you buy a huge bag, and you end up with just two small plates of pkhali. So it's better to use more spinach than less.

Step 2

Throw the spinach into boiling water and cook for a couple of minutes — spinach is very delicate and cooks very quickly. Drain the spinach in a colander, let it cool, and gently squeeze it with your hands. The key is not to overdo it and squeeze too hard, or you’ll end up with dry pkhali. Chop the spinach.

Step 3

Pass the walnuts through a meat grinder a couple of times or crush them in a mortar. Crush the garlic, pepper, cilantro, and parsley in a mortar with salt and add half a tablespoon of wine vinegar. Add khmeli-suneli and saffron to taste.

Step 4

Combine the spinach and the resulting mixture and mix thoroughly with your hands. Pile the pkhali onto a plate, sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, and drizzle with walnut oil.