Actually, real kharcho soup is made frombeef. But this is the classic national version. And, as you know, national recipes adapt to any reality. And therefore, this Georgian soup is prepared not only from beef, but also from lamb, pork, duck and chicken. There is even a recipe for lean kharcho soup - without meat at all. However, many people mistakenly believe that the classic recipe is lamb kharcho. Perhaps this belief is based on the existence of Abkhazian lamb soup - a local version of kharcho. The recipe for its preparation is really very close to the classic version, but has several differences. By the way, lamb kharcho can be prepared not only in the Abkhazian style, but also traditionally. And this hot and spicy soup can be supplemented with very unusual ingredients. In short, if you bought lamb and are going to cook kharcho from it, then you only have to choose a recipe.
Kharcho in Abkhazian
This recipe is very popular in Abkhazia. And in general, kharcho is prepared here from lamb. Ingredients:
- A pound of lamb on the bone;
- 3 liters of water;
- Half a glass of rice:
- 2-3 onions;
- 2-3 root of parsley;
- 2 garlic cloves;
- 1 fresh tomato;
- 1 tablespoon of Adzhika;
- Fresh greenery;
- Salt;
- Lamb fat;
- Spice.
Preparation:Wash the lamb thoroughly, put it in a saucepan of a suitable size and fill it with cold water. Put the saucepan with meat on the stove, wait for the water to boil, then remove the scum and reduce the heat. Continue cooking the meat for about another hour. Half an hour before it is ready, put whole parsley roots and a peeled onion in the saucepan. When the lamb is cooked, take it out of the saucepan, remove the meat from the bone, cut it into small pieces and return it to the saucepan. Also take the onion and roots out of the broth and simply throw them away. Put pre-washed rice in the broth and continue cooking the soup until the cereal is soft. Meanwhile, wash, dry and chop the greens, press the garlic cloves through a garlic press, cut the onion into half rings, and chop the tomatoes (without the skin!) into a puree. Now fry the chopped onion in a frying pan with melted mutton fat, and when the onion becomes soft, add the tomato puree and adjika. Simmer everything together for another three to four minutes. When the rice in the soup is soft, season the kharcho with fried onions and tomatoes and add the greens and garlic. After this, leave the soup to simmer for about five minutes and turn off the heat. Serve the Abkhazian kharcho, seasoning the soup with fresh onions cut into half rings.
Harcho with prunes
The prunes give the soup a piquant, softer taste. This is what makes the recipe so special. Ingredients:
- A pound of lamb;
- 2 onion bulbs;
- 2 tablespoons of dry rice;
- 100 grams of dried prunes;
- 1 head of garlic;
- 6 tablespoons of tomato paste;
- 1-2 teaspoons of Adzhika;
- Half a tablespoon of black pepper;
- A quarter of a tablespoon of red pepper;
- Salt;
- Hops-suneli.
Preparation:To prepare this soup, it is best to take lamb breast. As in the previous case, put the meat in cold water, only first cut it into small pieces. Wait for the water to boil, then reduce the heat and cook the lamb for about an hour. After this, also cut the washed prunes into pieces and season the broth. Continue to cook the kharcho for another twenty minutes and add finely chopped garlic and washed rice. While the rice is cooking, and it needs to be cooked until soft, make a tomato dressing. Peel the onion, chop and fry in vegetable oil. When the onion is golden, add tomato paste and fry for another seven minutes, and then put it in the soup. After frying, season the kharcho with herbs, salt and spices. Cook for five minutes, turn off the heat and leave the lamb kharcho soup to infuse for about half an hour.
Walnut soup with walnuts
Another interesting kharcho recipe. This time we will try to cook it with walnuts. Ingredients:
- Lamb with bone - half a kilo;
- Dry rice - 2 tablespoons;
- Onions - 2 heads;
- Tomato paste - 2 tablespoons;
- Walnuts - 100 grams;
- Tkemali sauce - 1 tablespoon;
- Garlic - half a head;
- Black pepper powder;
- Spicy red pepper;
- Celery greens;
- Bay leaf;
- Salt;
- Hops-suneli.
Preparation:Wash the lamb, put it in a saucepan and fill it with cold water. Put the saucepan on the stove and cook the meat for about an hour and a half. After the meat is cooked, take it out of the broth and remove it from the bone. Peel the onion, cut it into half rings and put it in the broth, continuing to cook the soup. After the onion, add the washed rice to the soup, add a bay leaf and season with black and red pepper (to your taste). About ten minutes before the rice is completely cooked, add tomato paste and tkemali sauce to the kharcho. At the very end, add the chopped lamb, ground or minced walnuts, hops-suneli and chopped garlic. Salt the soup to your taste, wait until it boils and remove the saucepan from the stove. After our kharcho with lamb has been steeping for about twenty to thirty minutes, serve it, seasoned with finely chopped cilantro.
Helpful Tips
Lamb is considered a lean (dietary) meat.And by and large, the soup cooked from it cannot be called real kharcho. Nevertheless, even in the homeland of this famous dish, housewives can cook kharcho with lamb and any other meat. The main thing is to follow the technology and preserve all the other ingredients included in the classic recipe.
- It is best to use real tkemali sauce for refueling. You can also add mashed potatoes from fresh plums or cherry plums.
- Adjika should also be real - without preservatives and tomatoes. If you don't have any, replace it with a mixture of hot spices, herbs and fresh herbs.
- Fresh tomatoes are a desirable ingredient. But if necessary, you can make kharcho with tomato paste.
- The more rice you put in the kharcho, the thicker the soup will be. And the broth will become sticky and starchy.
- It is best to cook lamb for kharcho on a bone. Then the broth will turn out to be rich and very tasty.
In short, the recipe for lamb kharcho is quite possibleclaim the title of national Caucasian soup. And it will definitely be delicious if you not only choose the right recipe, but also cook it with pleasure. Bon appetit and success in the culinary field!
