What kind of rice, how much and when to add to kharcho
Standard proportions are 1.5 tablespoons of rice per 1 liter pan. For real kharcho soup, round grain rice is used; it must be added to the soup 25 minutes before the end of cooking the soup.
Kharcho can turn out too thick mainly due to the large amount of rice. If this happens, you should take a slotted spoon and scoop out the excess rice. It can be used in meatballs or meatballs. Another option would be to cook more broth in a separate pan and put some of the grounds into it. Then the soup can be frozen. But it is not recommended to leave kharcho soup too thick - by the morning after cooking, the soup will swell to the consistency of porridge.

What is traditionally put in kharcho soup?
- spices - suneli hops, coriander grains, hot pepper, saffron, barberry;
- walnuts crushed in a mortar (50 grams of peeled);
- instead of tomatoes, pomegranate juice (ideally fresh squeezed, without sugar), fresh cherry plum (half a glass), tkemali from sweet varieties of plums or tklapi (3 tablespoons) - cherry plum marshmallow - are added to the classic kharcho soup. As a last resort, add chopped prunes (8-10 pieces).
- from greens, parsley (greens and roots), marjoram, basil, mint, coriander and/or cilantro are added to kharcho soup. It is believed that there is no such thing as too much greenery in kharcho.
- Additionally, you can add a quarter cup of soy sauce to the soup to give the kharcho some spice.

What else can I add?
- for flavor when cooking meat, it is recommended to add 2-3 onions to the soup, and after the meat is cooked, remove the onions from the broth.
- for greater satiety, you can fry the onion and add 1 tablespoon of flour to the onion while frying - then the soup will be a little higher in calories.
- although you don’t put potatoes in real kharcho soup, you can add a couple or three to make it more filling. As a result, the soup will no longer meet traditions, but will become very nutritious. Add diced potatoes 20 minutes before the end of cooking the soup.
- if the kharcho is too sour, you can add salt, pepper, herbs or sugar.
- a classic version of serving kharcho soup - with a lot of lavash or other Georgian bread.

About the consistency of kharcho
- Onions in classic kharcho are cut along the growth of the onion to maintain its shape and prevent it from turning into porridge during cooking.

Too spicy kharcho soup can be diluted with boiled water or broth, or provide a large portion of sour cream, bread and drinks each time you serve kharcho. It will be more labor-intensive to strain the rice, select it and return everything else to the kharcho, and cook new rice in the kharcho.

What kind of meat is kharcho soup made with?
- Traditionally, kharcho soup is cooked with beef meat (ideally, with beef brisket on the bone or on the marrow), it is allowed to use lamb, pork on the bone, and chicken (fatty parts).

If lamb ribs are used for kharcho, it is recommended to fry them a little in butter with the addition of a couple of tablespoons of dry white wine.

The cost of ingredients for cooking classic kharcho soup is from 400 rubles, for cooking simple kharcho soup - 300 rubles. (average for Moscow as of February 2018).

Soup kharcho

Are you interested in Caucasian cuisine? Try to cook Georgian beef kharcho according to our family recipe with detailed photos and video descriptions.

1 hour 30 minutes

245 kcal

5/5 (8)

If you have just begun your acquaintance with the classic cuisines of the world, I suggest you turn your attention to the traditional Georgian beef kharcho soup. Why this particular dish? The fact is that it is not without reason that kharcho is a source of national pride

Georgia – you can literally fall in love with this soup “from the first spoon”. Very aromatic, rich and satisfying kharcho with an almost imperceptible taste of rice has long become one of the most favorite soups in our family, and we begin to learn how to cook it almost from childhood.

Did you know? The original recipe for this amazing dish was lost long ago, and we cannot now reliably know what ingredients were used for kharcho at the time when the soup was invented. However, it is reliably known that the dish included beef, walnuts and tkemali, so if you want to cook real kharcho, make sure that all these components are available.

Kitchen tools

Prepare ahead of time all the tools, utensils and utensils that you will need in the process of preparing classic beef kharcho:

• a saucepan or pan with a thick bottom and a non-stick coating with a volume of 3 liters or more,
• a spacious frying pan with a diameter of 23 cm, deep bowls (several pieces) with a capacity of 300 to 700 ml,
• teaspoons,
• cotton or linen towels,
• tablespoons,
• measuring cup or kitchen scale,
• fine sieve,

• medium or coarse grater
• slotted spoon,
• sharp knife,
• wooden spatula,
• kitchen gloves,
• cutting board,
• It is also recommended to keep a blender or food processor with a chopper ready to properly prepare some ingredients for adding to the soup.

You will need

The basis

Important! Tkemali is based on sour plums, so if you don’t have store-bought sauce on hand, you can easily replace it with four to five fresh plums, chopped in a blender or food processor. In addition, choose coarse-grained rice for your kharcho - this is what is used most often in Georgia.

Additionally

• 4 – 5 cloves of garlic;
• 25 ml sunflower oil;
• 20 g hops-suneli;
• 2 – 3 bay leaves;

• 65 g tomato paste;
• 6 g ground red pepper;
• 6 g table salt.

If you wish, you can add other spices to the soup, but remember that kharcho is a spicy dish, and it simply needs the appropriate seasonings, especially ground red pepper, which is better not to replace with black.

Cooking sequence

Preparation

Important! If you use ready-made broth, first boil it without meat, but with the addition of salt and other seasonings, and only then add boiled and cut into pieces beef to the liquid - this way the broth will not evaporate and at the same time “renew” its meaty flavor.

First stage of preparation

Did you know? The main secret of preparing the correct frying for kharcho is to cook it not on low, but on medium heat. With timely, frequent stirring, the risk of burning is reduced to a minimum, and the vegetables are fried exactly as the soup recipe requires.

Second stage of preparation

Important! Excellent kharcho can also be cooked in a slow cooker. To do this, cook the broth using the “Stew” or “Broth” program, then pour it into a separate bowl. Pour sunflower oil into the bowl and add vegetables for frying, simmer it in tomato paste for about seven minutes in the “Frying” mode. After this, pour the broth over the fry, add the remaining seasonings, add the chopped meat and leave the kharcho to cook, setting the “Soup” program, for about half an hour.

That's all, now you know everything about how to quickly and easily prepare the perfect beef kharcho soup. Place it on serving plates, sprinkle with ground or fresh cilantro, parsley, basil or dill and serve - I’m sure your family has already flocked to the incredibly appetizing aroma of the soup.

Try not to store this dish in the refrigerator for a long time, since meat soups spoil very quickly, and rice tends to collapse into one unpleasant lump.

Aromatic, satisfying and rich, kharcho soup is good for winter lunches, when it’s frosty outside and you want to warm up. A popular Georgian dish, a cross between meat soup and stew, has long taken root in Russian cuisine. It's hard to resist, especially if the kharcho is prepared according to all the rules. But in order to enjoy this dish, you don’t have to go to a Caucasian restaurant. Let's talk about how to properly prepare delicious kharcho soup at home in compliance with Georgian traditions.

What is kharcho

Nobody knows when the recipe first appeared in Georgian cuisine. It is known that once the word “kharcho” was used to describe beef in a sauce made from walnuts and thin slices of dried tklapi plum puree. A little later, rice began to be added to kharcho, and now in the Caucasus it is believed that real kharcho is cooked from beef, tklapi, walnuts and rice. In the summer months, plum puree is replaced with fresh plums or tkemali sauce. It is also possible to add other products to the dish, because in different regions of Georgia, kharcho is prepared in its own way, and each recipe claims to be a classic. The delicious beef broth with its piquant plum sourness, delicate flavor of walnuts and spicy aroma of spices and herbs remains unchanged. Sometimes plums are replaced with prunes, tomatoes, tomato paste or pomegranate juice.

Cooking kharcho soup correctly: preparing the meat

Classic kharcho soup is usually prepared from beef, but since there are many different recipes for this dish, it is acceptable to use lamb, pork and chicken. The meat must be the freshest and highest quality. It is best to take beef with a bone, pork ribs or fillet, lamb brisket, shoulder or neck, and if you decide to cook chicken kharcho, both thighs and breast will do. The meat is washed well, cleaned of films and tendons, but whether it is worth removing bones and fat is a personal matter for each housewife. Some cooks believe that bones add richness and flavor to the broth. If you cook a dietary version of kharcho, then fat, of course, will be superfluous, although it makes the soup much tastier. The meat is removed from the finished broth, the broth is filtered, the meat is separated from the bones, cut into pieces and returned to the broth. The basis for Georgian kharcho is ready!

Secrets of cooking kharcho

Well-washed rice of any kind, except crushed and steamed, is placed in the finished broth. Round rice is ideal for this dish, as it looks very appetizing when cooked. While the rice is cooking, add onion sautéed until golden brown, bay leaf, slightly mashed black peppercorns, crushed walnuts, cherry plum pieces or fresh plum puree (prunes, tkemali, pomegranate juice). In some recipes you can also find tomatoes - they are usually used without skin in crushed form. But it is best to take cherry tomatoes, which give the soup originality. Towards the end of cooking, spices are introduced into the kharcho - suneli hops, red capsicum, saffron, coriander, adjika and any tasty spices. If you are cooking for children, do not add hot spices to the dish. After the soup is ready, add finely chopped garlic, chopped parsley, cilantro, rosemary and celery greens to the pan.

The sequence of adding ingredients and cooking time may vary depending on the recipe. Sometimes kharcho is prepared with bell peppers, carrots and potatoes, Italians generously add olives and basil to the dish, and the French prepare kharcho with cheese and cashew nuts. The soup is steeped for 20 minutes to make it more piquant, spicy and rich.

Cooking classic beef kharcho at home

The classic soup is cooked in beef broth without onions, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes. Cook broth from 400 g of beef on the bones and 2 liters of water - this will take about 2 hours. Strain the broth, separate the meat from the bones, cut it into pieces and put it back into the pan. Add 4 tbsp to the broth. l. rice, a few sprigs of parsley and cilantro (then do not forget to take them out), and when the rice becomes soft, add half a glass of roasted crushed walnuts to the soup. At the very end of cooking, add a finely chopped head of garlic, the remaining chopped herbs, salt, 1 tsp. hops-suneli, tklapi plate or 3 tbsp. l. tkemali A pleasant sourness is a must in kharcho - it is this that gives the dish a unique Georgian flavor.

If you want to learn more about how to cook kharcho, take a look at our catalog with recipes and photographs, experiment and surprise your guests. Kharcho soup is served with fragrant homemade bread or lavash. This dish is not only appetizing, but also healthy - maybe that’s why there are so many long-livers in the Caucasus?

Recipe 1. Real kharcho soup with rice

Ingredients

10 g hops-suneli;

Fresh herbs;

Five cloves of garlic;

Sea salt;

Three onions;

Red hot pepper;

150 ml tkemali sauce;

Carrot;

Half a kilogram of beef with bone;

200 g long grain rice;

100 g walnuts.

Cooking method

1. We wash the beef, cut off the films and veins. Place in a cauldron and fill with boiled water. Place it on the fire and bring it to a boil. Carefully and very carefully remove the foam. Reduce the heat to low and add the peeled onion and whole carrot to the broth. Take some parsley and dill, rinse and tie the greens into a bunch. We send it to the broth. Simmer the broth for an hour and a half.

2. Remove vegetables and beef from the broth. Cool the meat and tear it into small pieces. We throw away vegetables; they will no longer be useful to us.

3. Rinse the rice thoroughly under running water and place in the broth. We also add the meat to the soup.

4. Peel and finely chop two onions. Fry it until golden brown in a small amount of oil. Transfer the roast into the soup.

5. Grind the nuts in a blender and add them to the broth with rice. We also put tkemali sauce, khmeli-suneli seasoning, pepper and salt here. Peel the garlic cloves and pass them through a garlic press directly into the soup. Stir and cook for seven minutes. Pour the finished kharcho with rice into plates and sprinkle with fresh herbs.

Recipe 2. Lenten kharcho with rice

Ingredients

Four potatoes;

Parsley and basil;

Two carrots;

Half a glass of walnuts;

Two onions;

Half a glass of rice;

Five cloves of garlic;

Half a glass of tomato paste;

Allspice, salt, cinnamon and ground hot pepper;

Third st. vegetable oil;

Parsley root;

Two bay leaves.

Cooking method

1. Peel and wash all vegetables. Finely chop the onions and parsley root. Coarsely grate the carrots. Cut the garlic cloves into thin slices.

2. Boil the potatoes in their jackets until tender. Cool, peel and cut into small cubes. Rinse the greens, dry and finely chop.

3. Place the cauldron on the fire, pour in oil and heat it well. Add tomato paste to the oil and fry for seven minutes. Now add the garlic and onion and fry everything until soft.

4. Add chopped nuts, parsley root and carrots to the cauldron. Season everything with spices and add a pinch of cinnamon. Fry, stirring constantly, for five minutes.

5. Pour two liters of boiling water into the cauldron. Add pre-washed rice and cook until done. Add potatoes to the broth with rice. As soon as the soup boils, add finely chopped herbs and crush two cloves of garlic here. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat. Infuse, covered, for at least half an hour.

Recipe 3. Kharcho with rice and white wine

Ingredients

100 g rice;

Sea salt;

500 g lamb;

3 g ground coriander;

2 potatoes;

2 g freshly ground pepper mixture;

1 onion;

1 pod of red hot pepper;

1 carrot;

50 ml dry white wine;

5 cloves of garlic;

30 ml vegetable oil;

100 g of tomatoes in their own juice.

Cooking method

1. Take the lamb shoulder with ribs. Wash the meat well, dry with a paper towel and cut into fairly large pieces.

2. Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed saucepan or cauldron. Place the meat in a cauldron and fry it over high heat on both sides. Five minutes each.

3. Cut the peeled onions and carrots into small cubes. Add the vegetables to the meat, stir and fry everything together for five minutes.

4. Pour in the wine and stir. Season everything with a mixture of peppers, red hot pepper and coriander. Add some salt. Mash the tomatoes with a fork and place in a cauldron. Stir and simmer for ten minutes.

5. Pour two liters of boiling water over everything and cook the soup over low heat for half an hour. Sort the rice, rinse well in several waters and soak for half an hour.

6. Peel the potatoes, cut into cubes and place in the broth. Once it boils, add the soaked rice. Cook for another half hour.

7. Rinse the green cilantro, dry and finely chop. Peel the garlic cloves and chop into small pieces. Place the greens and garlic in the kharcho with rice, turn off the heat and leave to steep, covered, for ten minutes. Sprinkle generously with cilantro before serving.

Recipe 4. Kharcho with rice and fresh tomatoes

Ingredients

Two kg of beef on ribs;

Three glasses of walnuts;

Two liters of spring water;

50 ml tkemali sauce;

Six onions;

Five fresh tomatoes;

Two bunches of parsley;

Two pods of red hot pepper;

Two bunches of green cilantro;

Eight cloves of garlic.

Cooking method

1. Rinse the beef under the tap, cut off all the films and veins. Place the meat in a cauldron and fill with spring water. Put on fire, bring to a boil and skim off the foam. Add salt, cover and cook over low heat for about three hours.

2. Crush the nuts in a mortar. Peel the hot garlic peppers, remove the membranes and seeds from the peppers. Place them in a blender and grind.

3. Peel the onions and chop them into thin feathers. Place the onion in a frying pan with heated oil and fry until golden brown.

4. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and remove the peels. Cut them into small pieces. Add the tomatoes to the onions, add salt, season with spices and mix. Simmer for about five minutes.

5. Remove the meat from the broth, cool it and disassemble it into small pieces. Wrap two bunches of parsley and cilantro with thread, rinse under the tap and place in the broth for a quarter of an hour. Then remove the greens and discard.

6. Lightly fry the meat in a separate pan. Place the beef in the soup, add nuts, salt, season with spices and crushed garlic. Pour the aromatic soup into bowls. You can serve sour cream with kharcho.

Recipe 5. Kharcho with rice and wasabi

Ingredients

1 l 600 ml chicken broth;

5 g coriander;

1 carrot;

2 g red hot pepper;

1 onion;

1 bay leaf;

4 potato tubers;

60 g rice;

2 g allspice;

30 ml vegetable oil;

2 bunches of greenery;

30 g Wasabi powder;

1 clove of garlic;

60 ml tomato paste.

Cooking method

1. Pour the chicken broth into a saucepan and place it on the stove. We wash the rice grains several times and fill them with drinking water for half an hour.

2. Clean and wash the vegetables. Finely chop the onion and coarsely grate the carrots. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry vegetables in it until soft. Pour 100 ml of chicken broth into the fried vegetables and add wasabi. Mix well and add tomato paste. Mix everything again and simmer for another three minutes.

3. Cut the peeled potatoes into cubes and place them in boiling chicken broth. Followed by the washed rice.

4. When the potatoes are almost cooked, add the tomato sauce and stir. Add salt, pepper and continue cooking until the potatoes are completely cooked. Finely chop the greens and garlic and add to the broth. Place a bay leaf. Cover with a lid, turn off the heat and leave to steep for ten minutes.

Recipe 6. Kharcho with rice and pomegranate juice

Ingredients

One and a half kg of beef brisket;

3 g freshly ground hot red pepper;

A third of a glass of rice;

Four cloves of garlic;

150 g walnuts;

1 bunch of cilantro;

Two onions;

Freshly ground black pepper;

1 pomegranate;

2 bay leaves;

8 g khmeli-suneli.

Cooking method

1. Cut the beef brisket into pieces and rinse under the tap. Place in a cauldron, add lightly salted water and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam and cook over low heat for two hours. Remove the meat and cool, and strain the broth.

2. Peel the vegetables and finely chop them. Fry the onion in oil until golden brown, add flour and stir quickly. Place the roast in a blender and grind.

3. Rinse the rice well under running water. Place chopped meat, fried onions, rice and bay leaf into the broth. Season everything with black pepper and cook for about 20 minutes. When the rice is almost cooked, add chopped nuts.

4. Squeeze the juice from the pomegranate and pour it into the soup. Add finely chopped cilantro and season with suneli hops, crushed garlic and hot red pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes, remove from heat and leave, covered, for five minutes.

Kharcho with rice - tips and tricks

The most delicious kharcho with rice is made with fatty beef brisket.

To add piquancy and a more expressive taste to the soup, add Satsibeli or Tkemali sauce instead of tomato paste.

A mandatory ingredient in kharcho with rice is walnuts. Without them it is impossible to prepare this soup.

The more herbs and garlic you put in the soup, the tastier the kharcho with rice will be.

Step 1: Prepare the pork.

We thoroughly rinse the pork under running warm water to remove any possible bone fragments and place it on a cutting board. Using a knife, we clean the meat from veins, films and excess fat. Now cut the component into small pieces and transfer to a free plate.

Step 2: prepare the onions.

Using a knife, peel the onion and rinse well under running water. Then place the component on a cutting board and cut in half. Chop each part into thin half rings and immediately transfer to a clean plate. Important: We put the chopped half of one onion in a separate container, since we will need it to prepare the meat broth.

Step 3: prepare meat broth for kharcho.

Place the pork pieces in a large saucepan and fill with clean cold water. Next, place the container on medium heat and wait for the liquid to begin to boil. Closer to this, foam will appear on its surface. Be sure to remove it with a slotted spoon and throw it in the sink, otherwise the broth will come out cloudy.
Then screw on the burner and add it to the pan 1/2 part chopped onion and salt to taste. Mix everything thoroughly with a tablespoon and cook the broth for 1–1.5 hours until the meat is tender. Meanwhile, prepare the remaining ingredients.

Step 4: prepare the rice.

Pour the rice into a sieve and rinse thoroughly under running warm water until it becomes clear. Now pour the cereal into a small cauldron or saucepan, fill it with regular cold liquid from the tap so that it covers the component by two fingers, and put it on medium heat. When the water boils, turn the burner as tight as possible, pour one pinch of salt into the container, mix everything well with a tablespoon and do not completely cover the pan with a lid. Let the rice cook for about 10–12 minutes. Attention: it should be half-cooked. Immediately after this, turn off the burner and set the container aside so that the cereal does not continue to cook. If desired, the component can be poured into a sieve to drain excess liquid.

Step 5: prepare the tomatoes.

Wash the tomatoes well under running warm water and place on a cutting board. Using a knife, remove the stalks and then chop the vegetables into cubes. Transfer the finely chopped ingredients to a free plate.

Step 6: prepare the garlic.

Place the garlic on a cutting board and lightly press with the tip of a knife. Then, with clean hands, remove the husks from the cloves and then rinse under running water.
Place the ingredients back on a flat surface and chop finely. Pour the chopped garlic into a free saucer and leave aside for a while.

Step 7: Prepare the walnuts.

Pour the walnuts into a deep blender bowl and grind at high speed until fine crumbs. Then pour the chopped ingredients into a clean plate.

Step 8: Prepare the greens.

Wash parsley or cilantro well under running water, shake off excess liquid and place on a cutting board. Using a knife, finely chop the greens and immediately pour them into an empty plate. Attention: components are not required. Well, this is if you don’t like fresh herbs in soups. I usually add it before serving to give the kharcho a more expressive aroma.

Step 9: prepare kharcho with rice.

Pour a small amount of vegetable oil into the frying pan and place on medium heat. Let it warm up well. Then add all the chopped onions and, stirring from time to time with a wooden spatula, fry until transparent. Next, add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste to the container. Turn on the burner and continue to simmer the ingredients until they form a sauce. It takes me approximately 5 minutes.

In the meantime, we should already have the meat broth cooked. Let's check for doneness by piercing the pork with a fork. If the equipment easily fits into the component, then you can start preparing the kharcho itself. If not, then it’s worth extending the time further for 5–7 minutes. After this, pour semi-cooked rice, chopped walnuts into the pan, and also add vegetable sauce, a couple of bay leaves, “khmeli-suneli” seasoning, “mixture of ground peppers,” Svan salt and regular salt to taste. When the soup boils again, check 7–8 minutes and let it cook over low heat. At the end, add chopped garlic to the pan and turn off the burner. Attention: We don’t serve the kharcho immediately to the dinner table, but cover it with a lid and let it brew for another 15–20 minutes.

Step 10: serve kharcho with rice.

When the kharcho is infused, use a ladle to pour it into deep plates, sprinkle with finely chopped herbs and serve to the dinner table along with bread, pita bread or flatbread. The soup turns out very tasty, rich and incredibly aromatic. In general, everything is as it should be in Georgian cuisine!
Enjoy your meal!

Before chopping the tomatoes, you can also peel them. To do this, place the vegetables in a medium bowl and fill completely with hot water. Let them blanch for 5–7 minutes. Then carefully drain the liquid, place the tomatoes on a cutting board, peel them, cut off the stems, and only then finely chop them into cubes;

If you don’t have a blender at hand, don’t worry, because nuts can be chopped in another way. Place the components on one sheet of paper and cover with another. Now, using a rolling pin, we simply roll it over the nuts several times;

To make your kharcho truly Georgian, be sure to use seasonings by weight, which can be purchased in specialized stalls at food markets. For example, a mixture of spices from Svaneti is very good. This is Svan salt, which is included in the ingredients of the recipe.