Pkhali in Georgian

Pkhali is made with boiled (beans, beets) or lightly blanched (spinach, cabbage, zucchini) fruits and leaves. Everything is chopped, mixed with a nutty spicy dressing, then rolled into balls or served as a pâté.

In the proposed recipe, pkhali is made from beets, colored beans, and spinach.

Cooking time: 30 minutes.

Yield: 12 servings.

Caloric content: 222 kcal per 100 grams of the dish.

Cuisine: Georgian.

Ingredients

For the nut dressing:

• walnuts - 200 g;
• cilantro - large bunch;
• garlic - 2-3 cloves;
• red hot pepper - 0.5 tsp;
• fine salt - 1 tsp;
• ground coriander - 0.5 tsp;
• utskho-suneli - 1 tsp;
• paprika - 1 tsp.

For the vegetable base:

• boiled beets - 180 g;
• fresh spinach - 120 g;
• boiled beans (colored) - 200 g.

Preparation

1. Prepare the ingredients for the dressing. It is better to lightly roast the nuts – this will enhance their flavor and make them crunchy. Utskho-suneli can be replaced with khmeli-suneli..

2. For the vegetable base, boil the beets until ready. Beans can be taken from a can, drained of liquid, or boiled dried beans, having previously soaked them in cold water for 4-6 hours.

3. In a meat grinder with round blades, place all the ingredients for the nut dressing. A regular screw-type meat grinder can also be used for this.

4. Grind everything to a uniform fine consistency.

5. Transfer the dressing to a bowl and check for salt – if lacking, gradually add more. Set the spicy nut mixture aside for now.

6. Grind the beans with a meat grinder or blender.

7. Rinse the spinach and immerse it in boiling unsalted water. Blanch for 2-3 minutes.

8. Then, use a slotted spoon to remove the leaves and transfer them to cold water to maintain their beautiful emerald color.

9. After cooling, squeeze the spinach.

10. Then grind it.

11. First cut the beets into pieces, then pass them through the meat grinder and squeeze a little.

12. In plates where the vegetable base is laid out separately, add the nut dressing, dividing it proportionally among all options. Mix. Then shape into small balls.

13. Pkhali in Georgian is usually garnished with pomegranate seeds. Arrange the colorful balls on a serving dish and serve as an appetizer with meat or fish. Sometimes pkhali is used as a side dish.