Chanakhi, or chanakhi β a classic dish of Kartvelian (read β Georgian) cuisine, the main ingredient of which is lamb stewed in a clay pot or cauldron with vegetables. The βclassicβ set of vegetables includes potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and onions, which are layered in the pot. Under ideal conditions, the number of vegetables should equal the amount of meat, meaning a balance of 50:50 should be maintained.
However, as practice shows, every recipe can be interpreted at your discretion and new ingredients can be added. The main thing is that they are compatible with each other and the result is a delicious dish. After all, cooking is a space for creativity, so we, as always, decided to improvise. So, how we prepared chanakhi and what we ended up with β we will tell you further and show photos of all stages of the cooking process.
We will need:
Based on 4 pots:
600 g of pork
400 g of potatoes
a mix of frozen vegetables (we had preparations of eggplants, red and yellow bell peppers, and tomatoes)
The quantity of ingredients can be adjusted depending on the amount of the finished dish. Also, if you do not have eggplants, tomatoes, or peppers on hand, you can simply omit them while increasing the proportion of potatoes or beans. The main thing is to cook with love and not to oversalt, as excessive salt is harmful to the cardiovascular system ;)
Stage 1
Cut the meat into medium-sized pieces, slightly smaller than for shashlik.
ΡΡΠΆΠ΅ΠΌΠΎ ΠΌ'ΡΡΠΎ
Heat the pan, fry for literally 5 minutes over high heat, until a light golden crust appears. Before removing the meat from the heat, salt it. Set aside until all ingredients are gathered.
ΠΏΡΠΎΡΠΌΠ°ΠΆΠ΅Π½Π΅ ΠΌ'ΡΡΠΎ
Peel the potatoes, cut them into either slices or medium-sized cubes (depending on the size of the potato).
ΠΏΠΎΡΡΠ·Π°Π½Π° ΠΊΠ°ΡΡΠΎΠΏΠ»Ρ
Fry for about 10-15 minutes until a barely noticeable crust appears, lightly salt and stir. Set aside until ready to assemble in the pot.
The vegetable mix was prepared in autumn. For this, we roasted eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes in equal proportions in the oven. After roasting, we peeled the eggplants, leaving only the pulp. Then we divided them into equal parts in zip bags and froze them. This way, you can also prepare zucchini, beans, and many other vegetables for winter. With them, you will always have supplies for preparing a wide variety of dishes β both first and second courses.
To 600 ml of heated water, add the tomato paste, a teaspoon of khmeli-suneli, and half a teaspoon of salt. Now that we have all the preparations, we can assemble the finished dish.
Stage 3
We begin to assemble the dish.
Π·Π°Π³ΠΎΡΠΎΠ²ΠΊΠΈ, ΠΏΠ΅ΡΠ΅Π΄ Π΅ΡΠ°ΠΏΠΎΠΌ Π·Π±ΠΈΡΠ°Π½Π½Ρ Π² Π³ΠΎΡΡΠΈΠΊΠΈ
We have 4 clay pots with lids, in which we will stew the chanakhi. The bottom layer is meat, followed by potatoes, carrot (raw, cut into small pieces), beans, and the stewed vegetable mix.
Π³ΠΎΡΡΠΈΠΊΠΈ Π½Π° ΡΡΠ·Π½ΠΈΡ Π΅ΡΠ°ΠΏΠ°Ρ Π·Π±ΠΈΡΠ°Π½Π½Ρ
Pour in the water with tomato paste, salt, and khmeli-suneli, cover with a lid.
Π³ΠΎΡΡΠΈΠΊΠΈ Π² Π΄ΡΡ ΠΎΠ²ΡΠΉ ΡΠ°ΡΡ
Place in the oven, set the temperature to 180-190 degrees.Β Stew for at least an hour for the meat to become tender. It can be assumed that when using other meats β for example, beef or lamb β the stewing time can be increased, as these types require significantly more time to become fully cooked and tender.
In the clay pot, all ingredients will be evenly stewed. Also, the clay will add its special flavor to the dish, which cannot be achieved when cooking in a regular metal pot.
After stewing, chanakhi can be eaten directly from the pot or served on a plate. We recommend using a deep plate, as there will be a liquid vegetable-meat broth left in the dish.
And, as always, let's enjoy!
ΡΠ΅Π·ΡΠ»ΡΡΠ°Ρ
If you enjoy our posts and recipes β you can always support our blog on the service Buy Me a Coffee. Your donations will inspire us to create new and useful Ukrainian-language content. We will be able to buy new ingredients, devices, and interesting cookbooks. This will allow us to regularly adapt recipes for simple and understandable cooking at home. Or you can simply share this post on social media, which will also help the Tseivo platform to grow ;)
