Hand-pleated Georgian dumplings filled with spiced meat broth — eaten by holding the topknot, biting carefully and slurping the soup inside.
Khinkali are the dumplings of Georgia's Caucasus highlands: pleated by hand into a 19-fold pouch holding a ball of seasoned minced meat that releases hot, fragrant broth when bitten. Eating them is a ritual — never with a fork, always by the topknot (which is left uneaten on the plate). They are the dish of mountain feasts, washed down with chacha (Georgian grape brandy).
Serves 4
Mix flour and salt. Add cold water gradually, knead 8 min into a firm, smooth dough. Cover and rest 30 min.
Mix both meats with onion, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin and chilli. Slowly stir in ice water — mix until the meat absorbs all liquid (this becomes the soup inside).
Stir in chopped coriander. Filling should be wet and slightly soupy — that's correct.
Divide dough into 16 balls. Roll each into a thin disc about 12cm wide — slightly thicker in centre, thinner at edges.
Place 1 generous tablespoon of filling in the centre of each disc.
Lift edges up and pinch them together in 18–20 small pleats around the top, forming a topknot. Twist the topknot firmly to seal.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Drop khinkali in 6–8 at a time. They sink, then rise. Cook 8 min after they rise.
Lift out with a slotted spoon. Drain briefly. Sprinkle with cracked black pepper. Serve immediately.
Hold by the topknot. Bite a small hole in the side. Slurp the broth out, then eat the rest. Leave the topknot on your plate.
The pleating takes practice — your first batch will be ugly. They'll still be delicious.
Always boil — never microwave.
Mushroom khinkali — replace meat with 500g finely chopped mushrooms cooked with onion
Cheese khinkali (kalakuri) — 500g sulguni or mozzarella + feta as filling
Add 1 tsp blue fenugreek (utskho suneli) for the authentic Georgian aroma
Freeze raw shaped khinkali on tray, then bag — boil from frozen +3 min. Cooked khinkali don't reheat well.
Khinkali originated in Pshavi and Mtiuleti — the mountainous regions of eastern Georgia — as hearty food for shepherds. They migrated to Tbilisi where they became Georgia's national dumpling. The traditional 19 pleats represent the alphabet's letters in some accounts; in others, simply skill.
It prevents the meat fat from breaking down during shaping; on cooking it melts into the signature soup.
Traditionally boiled. Steaming dries the dough — not authentic.
Per serving · 4 servings total
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