How khashlama is prepared: the secrets of Caucasian cuisine. How to cook khashlama at home step by step recipe with a photo of pork khashlama at the stake

05.11.2021

Caucasian khashlama is something between a hot second course and a thin soup. The main ingredient of this culinary masterpiece is meat. Traditionally, the dish is prepared from meat that does not contradict religion - lamb. However, over time, housewives in the kitchens of central Russia and neighboring countries began to replace classic lamb with beef or even pork.

But regardless of the type and variety of meat, khashlama is always satisfying, tasty and very simple. Even a novice hostess will cope with the preparation of an oriental dish. Products require minimal preparation, however, the cooking process itself takes a significant amount of time.

To this day, there are disputes about the origin of khashlama. The dish is so ancient that it is no longer possible to say which of the eastern peoples cooked it first. Most often, the “discoverers” of khashlama are called Armenians due to the fact that the name is based on the Armenian word “khashel” (boil pieces of meat).

Georgians also attribute the recipe to themselves, but they cook khashlama a little differently: cilantro and white roots predominate in the finished dish of this nationality. Meat in Georgian khashlama is about the same as vegetables. At the same time, they add potatoes or eggplants to the khashlama, which contradicts the classic Armenian recipe.

Cooking features

Despite the fact that the ingredients of the dish vary in different recipes, the general essence of the culinary process comes down to one whole: you should get a multi-component dish with a juicy Caucasian accent. To get this oriental flavor, it is not enough just to strictly follow the recipe. It is necessary to learn all the secrets of cooking khashlama and put your whole soul into the culinary process. Here are some of the subtleties of cooking:

The classic recipe for the dish includes lamb, sometimes it is replaced with beef, but chicken is never used.
Boneless meat should be cut into large pieces. If the product is on the bone, it must be cooked whole.
Young lamb is stewed for at least 2 hours. If the animal was slaughtered in adulthood, the extinguishing time increases to 5-6 hours.
All vegetables are laid out in a pan in layers. They also need to be cut into large cubes, and added to the meat towards the end of the whole process. However, the main thing is to keep the proportions: the right khashlama is the perfect combination of meat and vegetables (75% meat and 25% vegetables).
To feel the oriental atmosphere to the end, khashlama should be generously sprinkled with cilantro and served in earthenware with pita bread.

There are a huge number of khashlama recipes, but the peoples of the Caucasus say that 10 types of spices should ideally combine in khashlama. In fact, this subtlety is rarely taken into account, but through experimentation and various combinations, completely different flavors can be achieved.

Khashlama recipes

It’s worth mentioning right away that it’s impossible to cook the right khashlama without suitable dishes. Traditionally, a cauldron is used for the culinary process. It has a rounded shape, due to which the walls of the container warm up completely. It is much more difficult to cook khashlama in an ordinary saucepan; as a result, most likely, you will get the usual roast of meat and vegetables.

Khashlama with Armenian lamb

The classic recipe for Armenian khashlama does not contain a certain number of products. Armenian housewives observe only one proportion: the more meat, the better. Onions are also an indispensable attribute: meat is very "loving" onions. Thanks to this vegetable, the dish will turn out juicy, tender and fragrant.

To prepare khashlama in Armenian you will need:

mutton;
Bell pepper;
tomatoes;
onion;
pepper;
salt, pepper, spices to taste, cilantro, dill.

Cooking:

Rinse the meat, put it on a paper towel, let the water drain and cut the flesh into large pieces. If ribs are used, it is necessary to cut them into several parts.

Pour vegetable oil into a bowl, add a piece of butter and melt. When the oil heats up, it is necessary to put the chopped pieces on the bottom of the cauldron. While the main ingredient is fried, the pepper should be peeled and cut into cubes or large strips, the onion should be cut into thick rings.

Vegetables are laid out in layers in the following sequence: onion, pepper, tomato. Tomatoes cut into large cubes are placed on the very top so that the juice flows to the lower layers. Tomatoes add extra juiciness to the dish.

You need to stew khashlama over low heat for 2-4 hours (depending on the type of meat and the presence of a bone), then turn off the heat and let the dish brew for another 10 minutes. All spices and seasonings are added at the initial stage of cooking, sprinkling them with tomatoes. Greens are added already on the plate.

Khashlama with eggplant and beer

In this recipe, it is allowed to replace lamb with beef or veal pulp. The finished dish is incredibly tasty and spreads dizzying smells. Perhaps this is because khashlama with beer is cooked not on the stove, but in the oven.

For cooking you will need:

pulp of veal or beef - 2 kg;
4 heads of onions (if the onions are small, you can take more);
3 pieces of peppers - red, yellow and green;
1 medium eggplant;
tomatoes - 3-4 pieces;
several medium potatoes;
0.5 ml of beer (preferably dark);
coriander, fennel, cilantro, dill, parsley, basil, bay leaf;
salt, ground pepper, allspice.

Seasonings can be changed to your liking. If you don’t know how to properly compose a composition of spices, you can buy a ready-made set of dried herbs in the store.

Cooking:

Wash the meat, pat dry and cut into large pieces. Onion cut into rings, tomatoes - quarters. Cut the eggplant into 2 pieces lengthwise, sprinkle with salt and set aside for a while to get rid of bitterness and excess water.

Pour vegetable oil into a cauldron and cover the bottom with onion rings and finely chopped garlic. Put pieces of meat on this pillow, pre-salt and pepper. Top with peppers, potatoes and tomatoes. Pour beer over the vegetable mass, cover the work with a lid and send it to the oven preheated to 200 degrees.

After half an hour, reduce the heat and leave the mass to languish for another 1.5 hours. The meat and vegetables in the finished dish are tender, juicy, the broth gives off a spicy aftertaste. Such khashlama can feed the whole family, the family will only say “thank you”.

Khashlama is usually prepared when a lot of people need to be fed. The dish has an excellent taste only fresh. Heated in the microwave or in a cauldron, khashlama significantly loses its taste. Most often, khashlama is prepared for a large-scale feast: the dish is very hearty, original and goes well with wine.

So. go to nature, build a fire

and start putting everything in a cauldron. layers. there will be several layers (we had 2), therefore we divide all products equally by the number of layers (including herbs, salt and pepper).

cut everything into fairly large pieces.

on top of it are eggplants, sweet peppers (if desired, with the skin removed. we were too lazy to do this):

tomatoes (if you want - and remove the skin from them), carrots (you can cut them smaller), onions. it is advisable to cut the onion larger, because not everyone likes it boiled. it will be easier to throw it away. although I didn’t throw it away later, everything went with a bang:

salt, pepper, sprinkle generously with herbs, put bay leaf. maybe even 2 sheets :-).

and again: meat, eggplant

carrots, tomatoes

salt, pepper, greens, laurel. products can be safely thrown with a slide, everything will boil down rather well.

fill with light beer:

2 liters was enough. no longer needed, and adding water is also unnecessary. all vegetables will add their juice when boiled, and it will be enough. we throw firewood into the dead fire, cauldrons - on the fire:

as it boils - "fasten" the fire. at this stage it will already become clear that there is enough liquid. I remind you - this is not soup and not porridge. this is khashlama. the liquid should cover the food. no more and no less.

boil all this, according to various estimates, should be 1.5-3 hours on low heat. We've had ~2 hours.

not forgetting to keep an eye on the weak fire.

and after the arrival of Ekaterina, we pour the light of Alexandrovna, pour it, use it:

Bon Appetit everyone.

ps 9-liter cauldron for 14 people (4 children). everything is gone, nothing is left.

Khashlama is one dish in which meat and a vegetable side dish are organically combined. In the Caucasus, it is prepared everywhere. However, no matter how many types of khashlama you try, each will have its own original taste. If you ask Caucasian women about how to cook khashlama, you can hear many options for the dish. Using the classic recipe, the housewives make various changes and additions to it.

There is no consensus on what khashlama is - soup or stew with vegetables. Someone prefers to cook a dish, someone believes that it should be stewed. There are contradictions in the types of meat. Lamb is used for traditional khashlama, but it is not forbidden to cook it from poultry or beef. The housewives also argue about the presence of potatoes in the dish. Everyone's favorite vegetable came to the Caucasus in the 19th century, and until that time thick soup was cooked without potatoes.

National culinary peculiarities also affected the food. In Georgia, a lot of cilantro and white roots are added to meat, and in Armenia, khashlama is a soup full of various vegetables and spices. For some nations, the khashlama recipe involves stewing vegetables and meat in beer. We chose the recipe of Armenian cuisine.

A set of products for a classic Armenian recipe

If you are preparing khashlama for the first time, you should not make any changes to the recipe. Try what happens, and then (if it seems to you that some ingredients are missing or, conversely, something can be removed), make up your recipe for the dish. Remember, we should get a thick, rich soup, which means that it should be served for dinner.

Take the following products:

lamb - 1 or 1.5 kg (if you take meat on the bone);

sweet bell pepper - 5 large fruits;

tomatoes - 5-6 large fruits;

onions - 6 medium heads;

carrots - 2-3 pieces;

garlic 2-3 cloves;

table red wine - 250 ml (you can take rose);

salt, cilantro, pepper - to taste;

greens - several sprigs of dill and parsley.

Important! An ordinary pan is not suitable for cooking khashlama; it is better to take dishes with a thick bottom or a cauldron.

It takes about 2-3 hours to prepare the dish. Our recipe allows you to prepare 4-5 standard servings.

The composition of spices can be painlessly expanded. Khashlama will only benefit if you add allspice, tarragon, suneli hops, cloves, celery to the recipe. Focus on your own taste preferences. After trying a dish with lamb, you may decide to replace it with chicken or beef, which are easier to buy in the store.

How to handle products

Why do Caucasian housewives like to cook khashlama? Because it is prepared quickly, without long processing of products, does not require strict adherence to the recipe and everyone likes it.

Preparatory processing

Wash all vegetables. Blanch the tomatoes.
Remove seeds from pepper.
We clean the onion from the husk.
We clean, if necessary, carrots.

That's all the processing that our recipe suggests. Now our soup should be properly cooked.

Step by step cooking

Before we start cooking khashlama, let's look at the recipe again. It indicates wine, but if the dish will be eaten by children, it is better to use water. Once upon a time, soup, similar to vegetable stew with a lot of meat, was the main dish in the diet of the highlanders. He was ideally suited to their living conditions. It prepared quickly, contained a lot of vitamins and protein, made up for the losses of the body, gave energy. In addition, all of its ingredients did not require a long search. Sheep were kept by most families in mountain settlements, vegetables and spices were grown in vegetable gardens. The recipe for the dish was made from available products, but invariably it was a thick vegetable soup, in which there was even more meat than vegetables. Well, let's start cooking khashlama.

We should:

Cut all vegetables. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces, cut the onion into large cubes, cut the sweet pepper into wide strips.
Meat can be prepared in two ways: cut into large pieces or left whole on the bone.
Let's move on to the ingredients. At the bottom of a cauldron or pan lay out 250 grams of onion.
Lay the meat on the first layer of the onion. We take half of the spices and cover the meat with them.
From above, on meat, we put sweet pepper.
Put the tomatoes on the peppers.
Finely grate carrots, mix with onions.
We cover all the laid components with the resulting mixture of onions and carrots.
Season the soup with the remaining spices and herbs.
We fill the dish with wine. If changes are made to the recipe, use water. Wine can be substituted for beer.
We still have parsley, dill and garlic. We will pour them into the dish before serving or arrange them on plates. Garlic and herbs must be very finely chopped.
We simmer our brew until the meat is ready. This will take approximately 3 hours.

How to serve khashlama

Serving khashlama has its own nuances. In the Caucasus, it is eaten with lavash. We did not include it in our recipe, since it has nothing to do with cooking the dish. If your family loves pita bread, serve it with a dish. However, you can get by with regular bread. A hearty stew is poured into deep plates or portioned tureens. Chopped garlic and herbs are poured directly into the plate.

For fans of spicy food, you can sprinkle the dish with hot black or red pepper. They eat khashlama hot. The cooled stew does not convey the taste subtleties of the spices and vegetable ingredients added to it.

In contact with

Beef khashlama is a fairly well-known and popular dish, every housewife has cooked it in her kitchen at least once in her life, perhaps not even knowing its true name. After all, this is nothing more than beef with vegetables in a rich broth.

Origin

Until now, it has not been possible to find out which country is the birthplace of this amazingly delicious dish. The inhabitants of the Caucasus consider it their national dish, but some think that it originated in Georgia. The name "khashlama from beef" comes from the Armenian language, where "khashel" means a large piece of meat, cooked whole.

How food is prepared in different countries

Each country has its own secret of making khashlama, and everyone considers their own way to be the most correct. For example, in Armenian cuisine, khashlama means a thick vegetable soup with a lot of meat. Georgians add a lot of onions, cilantro and white roots. Someone thinks that such a dish as beef khashlama should contain a huge variety of vegetables - potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, eggplant, and mushrooms. There are those who prefer this meat dish only with the addition of all kinds of spices and beer.

Whichever way you choose to cook yummy meat called "khashlama", the recipe for any option contains a large amount of the main ingredient of this dish - meat, do not forget about it. It should be three times more than other products.

Subtleties of cooking

Searching for the right recipe is a waste of time, there are as many cooking options as there are recipes for Ukrainian borscht or Uzbek pilaf. A variety of methods differ not only in the composition of the products, but also in the cooking process itself. Only one thing remains common in these dishes - the name: “beef khashlama”.

But still there are a few points that unite all these recipes:

Serving the dish. Since khashlama is a self-sufficient, very high-calorie and satisfying dish, the menu does not provide for other dishes.
The pieces of meat should be large, unless you are going to cook the dish in a slow cooker, then you will have to cut the beef into smaller pieces.
Beef should languish for a very long time, from 2 to 6 hours, so the meat becomes very tender, soft and juicy.
The rest of the ingredients should also be cut very coarsely.
Spread the dish in tureens, pots or clay bowls.
It is served hot with lots of greens.

Khashlama - classic recipe

Products:

Three kilos of fresh beef.
Two kilograms of onions.
A kilogram of eggplant and bell pepper.
Two kilos of tomatoes and carrots.
Greens, bay leaf, spices and salt.

Cooking:

According to this recipe, khashlama is prepared in a cauldron. Unlike a regular pan, here the dish becomes richer and more fragrant.

1. Wash all the vegetables, peel them and cut into large cubes, onions and peppers into rings.

2. Also wash the meat and cut into pieces about 5 cm in diameter.

3. Divide all the ingredients into three parts, as the dish is stacked in layers.

4. Take a large cauldron and put vegetables on its bottom first - onions, bell peppers, carrots, eggplants, tomatoes, then meat, sprinkle with salt and spices, throw a couple of bay leaves. Next, alternate layers of vegetables and meat. The last layer should be vegetables.

5. Put the container with the ingredients on a slow fire, simmer for 3.5 hours. Khashlama will be prepared on the juice that vegetables secrete.

Sprinkle the dish with plenty of chopped herbs before serving. Khashlama at the stake according to this recipe is no less tasty and juicy. Take note of it and surprise your loved ones with a hearty meal at your next picnic.

Khashlama with potatoes

Ingredients:

Four kilos of beef.
Three kilograms of tomatoes and potatoes.
One hot pepper.
Salt, red pepper, basil, parsley, tarragon.

Cooking:

1. Rinse the meat and cut into medium pieces, put it in a saucepan with a thick bottom, fill with water so that it only slightly covers the beef, and cook until tender. At the very end, salt the dish.

2. Peel the potatoes, cut into large bars.

3. Remove the cooked meat from the broth, put the prepared potatoes into the liquid, cook until half cooked.

4. Rinse the tomatoes and cut into not too thin rings.

4. In a separate container (it is better to use a cauldron or a saucepan), put 1/2 of the potatoes, then half of the meat, on top of 1.5 kg of chopped tomatoes, sprinkle everything with herbs, salt and sprinkle with spices. Repeat all layers again. At the end, make a few cuts in the hot pepper pod and place it on top of the tomatoes. Pour in the remaining broth.

5. Cook hashlama for 45 minutes.

Khashlama in a slow cooker

Required products:

Kilogram of boneless beef.
Half a kilo of onions, tomatoes and eggplant.
Vegetable oil.
Greenery.
Spices.

Cooking:

1. Cut the beef into not very large pieces, salt and sprinkle with spices. Leave for 15 minutes to marinate.

2. Rinse the eggplant, peel, cut into cubes.

3. But the tomatoes will have to be blanched. Pour boiling water over them or dip them in boiling water for a couple of minutes, remove the skin.

4. Peel the onion and cut into rings.

5. Pour a little vegetable oil into the multi-cooker bowl, put the beef, then the onions, eggplants, evenly distribute the tomato mugs on top.

6. Sprinkle salt, repeat one more layer of ingredients, vegetables should remain the top layer.

7. Pour in one multi-glass of hot water. Turn on the "Extinguishing" mode for 3 hours.

Ingredients:

1.5 kg of beef.
1.3 potatoes.
Carrots, tomatoes, peppers - 0.7 kg each.
1 kg of onions.
Liter of light beer.
Salt, pepper, herbs.

Cooking:

1. Cut the meat coarsely. Sprinkle it with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes.

2. Cut the potatoes into slices, peppers into six parts, carrots into circles, onions and tomatoes into rings.

3. Finely chop all the greens.

4. Put all the ingredients in several layers in a thick-walled pan - meat, onions, peppers, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes. Repeat all layers one more time.

5. Pour vegetables and meat with beer, sprinkle greens and bay leaves on top. You don't need to add salt as the meat is already salty.

6. When the beer boils, set the fire to a minimum and simmer the khashlama for 3 hours under a closed lid.

Bon appetit!

The origin of this dish is often disputed. Some culinary specialists believe that the classic of the genre is Armenian beef khashlama. Others are sure that Georgia was the birthplace of the dish. We will not go into details, because it does not matter at all! The main thing is that with minimal effort we can prepare a delicious and satisfying meal for the whole family. Moreover, we will use not one, but several varieties of meat, which is quite acceptable. Khashlama recipe with photos on our website will help you go through the cooking process step by step.

How to cook lamb khashlama

In countries where this dish is considered a national food, the lamb khashlama recipe does not contain an exact indication of the number of ingredients. It is important that there is a lot of everything - meat, vegetables, and greens. It is advisable to choose the most fleshy vegetables, from which more juice will be rendered. And you can not feel sorry for the onion at all - it should be a little less meat. But accuracy is important to us, so write down the necessary ingredients.

You will need:

lamb - 3 kg,
onion - 2 kg,
bell pepper - 1 kg,
tomatoes - 1 kg,
salt, ground black pepper - to taste.

Cooking process

Take a cauldron with thick walls or a pot with a wide bottom.
Cut the onion into thick half rings, place 1/3 of the resulting volume on the bottom of the dish.
Peel and cut the bell pepper into strips, place 1/3 of the resulting volume on the onion.
Cut the tomatoes and place the third part on the pepper again.
Lay half of the lamb, cut into portions, on a pillow of vegetables. Salt and pepper the meat, add your favorite spices.
Put a layer of vegetables on the meat in the sequence of onions, peppers, tomatoes.
Lay another layer of meat, salt and pepper.
Put the vegetables back in the same order and close the lid tightly.
Put the cauldron on a slow fire. The ingredients will give juice and will languish slowly. The lid must not be opened so as not to release steam.
Leave the dishes on low heat for 3.5-4 hours.

How to cook beef khashlama

Lamb is not the most popular type of meat in our country. Therefore, beef khashlama will become closer to every housewife. So let's get started!

You will need:

beef - 3 kg,
onion - 2 kg,
tomatoes - 2 kg,
carrots - 2 kg,
bell pepper - 1 kg,
eggplant - 1 kg,
greens - 2 bunches,
salt and spices - ground black pepper, bay leaf.

Cooking process

Wash, clean and cut vegetables into small pieces.
Rinse, dry and cut the meat into medium-sized portions. It is more convenient to do this with plates 0.7-1 cm thick in order to lay them in layers.
Divide the vegetables into 3-4 parts.
Layer onions, carrots, eggplant, then peppers and tomatoes.
Place the beef on the resulting pillow, salt, pepper, add herbs and spices, bay leaf.
Place another layer of vegetables and a layer of meat. Keep going until you run out of ingredients. The top layer should be vegetable.
Close the lid tightly and put the cauldron on a slow fire. Simmer for at least 3 hours without opening the lid.

Pork khashlama soup: a step by step recipe

The recipe, adapted to domestic cuisine, has received many interpretations. Since our families are not as large as in the Caucasus, the volumes of ingredients should be smaller. There is one "but" here. With a decrease in the number of vegetables, the Chuvash dish may burn during the cooking process, since the volume of evaporated juice will be less. To prevent this, you can add water to the cauldron.

Pork khashlama is one of such quick, economical options for a dish. Experiments with it led to the addition of alcoholic beverages to meat to speed up cooking. This is how khashlama appeared on beer (a light foamy drink should be added instead of water) and even with wine. Of course, there is little in common with the classic recipe. But he also has the right to life, since the taste is excellent in khashlama, see the recipe with a photo below.

You will need:

pork ribs or pork pulp - 1.5 kg,
potatoes - 6-7 pieces,
eggplant - 2 pcs.,
sweet pepper - 3 pcs.,
tomatoes - 5-6 pcs.,
carrots - 1-2 pcs.,
onions - 2 pcs.,
garlic - 5-6 cloves,
water or beer - 500 ml,
salt, spices.

Cooking process

1. Cut the meat into pieces. Heat a cauldron or pan, pour in vegetable oil, heat it up.
2. Put the meat, generously sprinkle with spices and brown.
3. Remove the dishes from the fire.
4. Salt the meat, lay onion on top, cut into large half rings.
5. Lay out layer after layer of vegetables - carrots, garlic, coarsely chopped potatoes (salt), pepper.
6. Continue spreading vegetables - eggplant, tomatoes, salt again.
7. Pour in water or beer, cover tightly with a lid, put on a slow fire.
8. After 2 hours, add chopped garlic, stir the dish and remove from heat. Let it brew for 10 minutes and serve with herbs.

Khashlama from chicken

This is one of the simplest and most delicious dishes, like the famous chicken chakhokhbili. How and how much to cook, see the recipe below.

You will need:

1. - chicken meat (any parts) - 1.5 kg,
  - onions - 3 pcs.,
  - tomato - 6 pcs.,
  - bell pepper - 3 pcs.,
  - garlic - 4 cloves,
  - zucchini - 1 pc.,
  - greens - basil, cilantro, parsley,
  - white wine - 100 ml,
  - water - 100 ml,
  - salt pepper.

Cooking process

1. 1. Finely chop the vegetables, cut the meat into portions.
  2. Put the onion in a deep saucepan, meat on top (salt and sprinkle with pepper).
  3. Layer vegetables: peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, garlic. Lay chopped greens on top.
  4. Add water and wine, cover, simmer for 1 hour until the meat is cooked.

Choose from the proposed recipes your version of excellent khashlama. She prepares very simply. And be sure to please your loved ones with a stunningly delicate taste of juicy meat!