Kharcho from mutton - general principles and methods of cooking
Kharcho is a traditional Georgian dish, a spicy soup with rice, the main ingredient of which is lamb or beef. As a rule, a large amount of spices, seasonings and greens are added to the kharcho. In addition to hops-suneli use garlic, basil, tarragon, onion, dill, parsley, cilantro, ground black and red pepper.
Mutton Kharcho - food preparation
Special preparation of products for kharcho is not required, rinse the meat thoroughly enough, pour cold water on it and start cooking. Vegetables for soup are cut quite small, it is important that the pieces were about the same size, as an alternative, you can skip through a meat grinder.
Mutton Kharcho - preparation of dishes
Georgian soup is cooked in a conventional saucepan, you also need a frying pan for roasting vegetables.
Recipe 1: Mutton Kharcho
Traditional Kharcho is cooked for 1.5-2 hours, it always includes seasonings, vegetables and sweet peppers.
Ingredients:
- 500 grams of lamb (breast);
- 500 grams of tomatoes;
- 2 sweet peppers;
- 2 onions;
- 1 carrot;
- 1 parsley root;
- 10 pieces of peppercorns;
- 1/2 heads of garlic;
- 2 tablespoons of rice;
- 2-3 lavrushki;
- salt.
Method of preparation
Slice the brisket along the ribs, fry the meat in a pan, adding the finely chopped onion, carrot and parsley root. Put the lamb in a saucepan, cover with water (cold), add salt and cook. After the brisket is cooked well, tomatoes and Bulgarian pepper should be put into the kharcho, minced rice, a little later - rice (make sure that the rice is not digested, the ideal option is to take steamed and ground). A few minutes before cooking, add lavrushka, pepper-peas (pre-crush for a larger flavor), finely chopped or crushed garlic.
Recipe 2: Mutton Kharcho with Walnuts
Walnuts add a zest to Kharcho.
Ingredients:
- 500 grams of lamb;
- 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste;
- 2 shtushki onion turnips;
- 2 tablespoons of rice;
- 1 tablespoon sauce tekkal (in the absence can be replaced with ripe plums);
- 100 grams of walnuts;
- ground black pepper;
- red ground pepper;
- hops-suneli;
- 1/2 heads of garlic;
- A few pieces of bay pepper;
- cilantro;
- salt.
Method of preparation
The meat on the bone is boiled, then put thinly sliced onions (half rings), unpolished rice, laurel and pepper. Tkemali sauce and tomato are put no earlier than 10 minutes before readiness.
Spices should be crushed, chopped nuts or mince and put in the soup, the completion is the addition of garlic and salt.
Usually, the meat before serving is removed from the bone and cut into small pieces, which are laid out on a plate and filled with kharcho. Be sure to sprinkle the soup with greens.
Recipe 3: Mutton Kharcho with Prunes
Prunes give the soup sweetness and piquancy, while the kharcho turns out to be somewhat softer than when dried fruits are not used.
Ingredients:
- 500 grams of lamb (breast);
- 100 grams of prunes;
- 2-3 tablespoons of rice;
- 2 onions;
- 8-10 cloves of garlic;
- 200 grams of tomato paste;
- hops-suneli;
- 1/2 tablespoon of black ground pepper;
- 1/4 tablespoon of red pepper;
- 1 teaspoon adjika;
- salt.
Method of preparation
The meat should be cut into small pieces and put them in water (the broth will be rich, if you put the brisket in cold water, in the boiling water variant, the broth will be almost lean. True, for the sake of justice, it should be noted that lamb itself is rather lean than fatty meat, so it is better to put in cold water. Boil lamb should be about an hour, then you need to add small pieces of prunes and cook another about 20 minutes. Next, add the rice and chopped garlic. After the rice is cooked, add the onion and tomato sauce dressing (chop the onion and fry in vegetable oil until it is golden, then add the tomato paste and fry over low heat for 5-7 minutes ).
Next in the pan should be put black and red pepper, salt and herbs. Boil the soup for another 5 minutes, then turn off the fire, cover the kharcho with the lid and let the soup stand for half an hour.
Mutton Kharcho - useful tips from experienced chefs
It is very important for kharcho to use ground and steamed rice, it should not be boiled soft, in which case the soup will be really tasty. You should not abuse rice either, 1/3 cup is enough for a large saucepan, otherwise the kharcho will turn into porridge.
Garlic should be added when the kharcho is ready, then the aroma of the soup will be especially pleasant.
After the saucepan is removed from the heat, the soup should be covered with a lid and let it brew for 15–20 minutes.
Some chefs of oriental cuisine recommend slicing onion in thin half-rings, not throwing it into the pan, but into the plate directly, scalded with boiling water and allowing it to infuse for a few minutes.
