Make your own traditional “Ajarian Khachapuri”

“Ajarian Khachapuri” is one of the most famous and delicious traditional Georgian dish, originally coming from the Western part of the country. 

Ingredients: 

• For the dough: Two packets of active dry yeast, 1 and ½ cup of warm milk, 3 eggs (2 beaten and one for the egg wash), 5 and ½ cups of flour, 12 tbsp of melted butter, 1 tbsp of salt, 2 tbsp of sugar, 1 tsp of water. 
• For the filling: Ideally, use 1 and ½ cup of Sulguni cheese and 1 and ½ cup of Imeretian cheese. If you do not have access to Georgian cheese, several kinds of cheese can be mixed to imitate its taste: 1 and ½ cup of crumbled feta cheese, 1 cup of shredded mozzarella and ½ cup of cream cheese. In addition, you will need 2 eggs and salt.
• For the serving: 6 eggs.

Preparation: 

First of all, we need to start with making the dough, for which a large bowl is necessary. Mix the yeast and warm milk for about 10 minutes until it’s smooth. Then add the two beaten eggs, salt, flour and 12 tablespoons of melted butter. On a floured surface, knead the risen dough until it becomes soft. Put in back in the bowl, coat it with butter and cover the bowl with a towel. Leave it for about 1,5 hour for it to rise. 

Pre-heat your oven to 200°C and prepare baking sheets with parchment paper.

Divide it into six equal balls. Roll each ball to flatten it and twist the edges to obtain the shape of a boat. Set aside.

Prepare the filling by mixing in a bowl the shredded mozzarella, feta, cream cheese, two beaten eggs and a pinch of salt. Fill each “boats” of dough with the cheese mixture while leaving some space to crack an egg on top later on. For the crust to golden, make an egg wash with one beaten egg and brush it over the your Khachapuri boats. 

Put the your little Khachapuri boats the oven for about 15 minutes until the crust turns gold. 

Serving: 

Crack one egg in the center of each Khachapuri and put again in the oven for 5 minutes. The egg should be partly cooked. Place each delicious freshly baked Khachapuri on a plate. Mixing the cheese and egg cracked on top with a fork is highly recommended! 

Bon appétit!

This recipe was created by Tamar Buachidze.

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Hello! I am Tamar from Georgia. I study at the Faculty of International Relations at Corvinus University of Budapest. Being a FLEX (Future Leaders’ Exchange Programme) alumna, I graduated from Johnsonburg High School in Johnsonburg, PA, USA in 2014. I have participated in various conferences, forums and workshops, from which I’ve gained experience and motivation to pursue my career in diplomacy. In the US, I was actively involved in the Student Council and Stand Tall organisation, as well as in volunteering. After returing to Georgia, I worked at YATA (Youth Atlantic Treaty Association) Georgia as a communications officer, organising workshops, conferences and meetings with NATO representatives. Participating in Model United Nations in Tbilisi, Rome, London and Budapest made me grow into a more confident and open-minded person. Equally important were the World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg, France and the ESPIN conference in Budapest, Hungary, which focused on inclusion of migrants and refugees.