Meat Dumplings Recipe – Khinkali Хинкали

Meat Dumplings Recipe

Delicious meat dumplings from Georgian cuisine called: Khinkali.These meat dumplings / Khinkali , may be one of the most popular non Armenian dish among my people. What can I say: Armenians love Khinkali as if it’s their own traditional meal.

Growing up in Armenia ,I remember there was a restaurant called “Khinkalianoc” , around the corner where we lived, and I remember seeing people ,mostly man, stopping by very often , taking their time, drinking beer and eating that Khinkali as it was that one and only thing they could eat for lunch or dinner. I can’t tell it was the best food I’ve ever tasted, in fact I never liked restaurant food in general. But trust me homemade Khinkali is that one dish you really need to try. These meat dumplings are completely different from the ones you’ve ever tasted. Juicy, spicy, flavorful, so-so good.

Hope you guys give this recipe a try and enjoy it.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients 

For the dough

1 cup cold water

½ tsp salt

3 cups flour may need more (2 ½ for the dough the rest for dusting-rolling)

For the meat filling

350 grams ground beef

1 medium onion, finely grated

1-1 ½ cups cold water, may need more, depending on consistency ( you need very soft filling)

1 ½ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp cayenne, add less if you prefer not spicy taste




½ tsp ground  cumin

1 tsp ground coriander, or chopped fresh cilantro 2-3 tbs

½ tsp ground white pepper, optional

½ tsp garlic powder, optional

Salt to taste

You will also need a large pot with boiling water + salt + a few bay leaves for cooking the dumplings

Melted butter, ground black pepper for serving your meat dumplings

Directions 

To make the dough

Mix all the ingredients and knead to a stiff dough, you may add about 2 ½ cups of flour ,the rest will be used for dusting and rolling

Knead the dough about 10-15 minutes or until it’s nice and firm, not sticky at all

Cover the dough with towel or plastic, set aside while you make the meat filling

To make the meat filling

Mix all the ingredients together until everything’s very well incorporated

You need to make a very soft, watery filling, add more cold water if needed




Taste the salt

Set in the fridge while you roll out the dough

Making and cooking  the meat dumplings

Take a small piece of dough,about the size of a walnut

Roll out to 6” diameter circle

Use a tea cup saucer to help you shape easier

Place the rolled dough on the saucer, a tablespoon of the filling

Fold the tips forming a sac, cut off the excess dough

Refer to YouTube tutorial video for more details on how to shape the dumplings

Cook dumplings in boiling hot water, seasoned with salt and a few bay leaves, 10-15 minutes

Turn the dumplings 2-3 times during cooking, to make sure they cook even on both sides

Serve hot with melted butter and ground black pepper

Enjoy!