• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Peter's Food Adventures
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Travel
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • recipes
  • about
  • travel
  • Follow and Share!

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • recipes
    • about
    • travel
  • Follow and Share!

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Recipes

    Khinkali Recipe

    Author: Peter Kolesnichenko · Published: Jan 26, 2018 · Modified: Apr 26, 2021

    Jump to Recipe
    You've got to try Georgian Khinkali (Хинкали). Popular in Russia and across the former Soviet Union. Broth filled meat dumplings mixed with Cilantro, Blue Fenugreek, Cumin and more! Khinkali Recipe (Хинкали)
    • rolling dough for Khinkali
    • Khinkali Meat Mixture

    I love Khinkali, maybe even more than Pelmeni Dumplins and Vareniki (Perogies)! Delicious little Georgian dumplings stuffed with meat, herbs and spices, and juicy broth in every bite!

    First time I tried Khinkali was in St Petersburg, Russia at the restaurant across the street from our apartment. Georgian food is amazing, and not commonly recognized outside of the former Soviet Union. I am not an expert on Georgian food, but had to learn how to make Khinkali. They are like Russian Pelmeni dumplings on steroids! (say no to drugs kids).

    Khinkali Variations

    Growing up eating Pelmeni, a Russian boiled dumpling with beef and onion, comparing Khinkali, they have so much more flavor! It helps that I love eating cilantro and cumin, a perfect mixed with the ground beef. There are many variations of what spices Georgians add to their Khinkali. This is my version. You can pull back the herbs and spices to make a more boring recipe, but I don't recommend!

    What meat is Khinkali made with?

    This is a Beef Khinkali recipe, as we tend to eat everything beef. However, you don't have to be limited to only making Khinkali with beef. Lamb is popular in the Caucasus region, but more expensive to use out here. You could also mix different meats such as pork and beef together.

    How to eat Khinkali

    This is not a knife and fork type of meal! You eat Khinkali with your hands, upside down! The Khinkali are upside down, not you! The top knob of the dumpling is what you hold the Khinkali by, flip over and take a small bite. This is to allow the juicy broth inside to be sucked out.

    Compared to most dumplings, Khinkali are super juicy, and you need to drink all the broth-y goodness before eating. Eat the rest of the dumpling, leaving the dough knob on your plate. Truth be told, I sometimes eat the whole thing as I love fresh pasta! However, you're only supposed to eat the dumpling and meat!

    How to Make Khinkali

    I use a KitchenAid mixer with a roller attachment to roll out the dough. How this is different to most dumplings, is that the dough is cut into squares, not circles. This allows for enough dough to be pinched into a knob at the top.

    The Khinkali meat mixture feels quite watery when preparing, due to the added water. The water is necessary to ensure that the pockets of meat cook in their own broth. When biting the Khinkali, the hot broth pours out! You don't want dry Georgian dumplings!

    The tricky part is sealing the meat inside the dumpling. Close it up by forming a sack by pinching pieces of dough into each other (creating pleats). Pinch the pleats together to seal the sack, forming a little knob at the top, and twist off any excess dough from the top of the dough knob. Georgian women do this so fast, it's incredible. The Khinkali are boiled in water until they float, and are ready to eat!

    • dough for Khinkali
    • making Khinkali

    What's the Khinkali Secret Spice?

    The other secret Georgian spice is Blue Fenugreek. Usually easily found in your Russian deli or European Deli, also called Utskho Suneli. I ran out, and had to use regular ground Fenugreek for this recipe. The difference is that Blue Fenugreek is milder, so I suggest using ½ a teaspoon less if you can only find regular Fenugreek.

    I know that my Khinkali aren't as pretty as a native Georgian cook's are, however, I'm excite to share this authentic recipe. One of my favorite dumplings, Georgian Khinkali. Popular in Russia and across the former Soviet Union. You've got to try this! Bon Appetit! Приятного аппетита!

    You've got to try Georgian Khinkali (Хинкали). Popular in Russia and across the former Soviet Union. Broth filled meat dumplings mixed with Cilantro, Blue Fenugreek, Cumin and more! Khinkali Recipe (Хинкали)

    Khinkali Georgian Dumplings (Хинкали)

    You've got to try Georgian Khinkali (Хинкали). Popular in Russia and across the former Soviet Union. Broth filled meat dumplings mixed with Cilantro, Blue Fenugreek, Cumin and more! Khinkali Recipe (Хинкали)
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe
    Course: Dinner, Main
    Cuisine: Georgian, Soviet
    Keyword: Khinkali
    Author: Peter Kolesnichenko

    Ingredients

    For the dough

    • 4 cups flour
    • 2 teaspoons salt
    • 1 egg beaten optional
    • 1¼ cups water

    For the filling

    • 500 g of ground beef
    • 1 onion finely diced
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp cumin
    • 1½ teaspoons Blue Fenugreek (utskho suneli)
    • ½ teaspoon chili powder optional
    • 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
    • 3 tbsp chopped parsley
    • 1 cup water
    • serve with black pepper
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • In a bowl, mix together the flour salt and water until dough forms. Transfer to a work surface and knead the dough until smooth, about 4-5 minutes Allow the dough to rest for about 45 minutes.
    • Prepare the filling. Using your hands, mix the ground beef, diced onion,  salt, cumin, blue fenugreek, chili powder, cilantro, parsley and water until evenly mixed. Set aside.
    • To prepare the dough, cut a piece of dough, roll it out enough to place in a Kitchenaid Pasta Roller (or a hand pasta roller). On Kitchenaid Pasta Roller, it was on setting 1. Cut the thin dough sheet into squares about 10cm wide. You can cut round dough circles, however this method is faster. If manually rolling out the dough, roll it out about ¼" thin.
    • Place about 2 tbsp of filling in the middle of the square dough piece. Close it up by forming a sack by pinching pieces of dough into each other (creating pleats). Pinch the pleats together to seal the sack, forming a little knob at the top, and twist off any excess dough from the top of the dough knob. Repeat until all the dough and meat is used.
    • Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop the fresh Khinkakli into the boiling water. Cook for about 7-8 minutes, until they float. Drain and serve with black pepper.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @petersfoodadventures or tag #petersfoodadventures!

    ©PetersFoodAdventures.com

    • You've got to try Georgian Khinkali (Хинкали). Popular in Russia and across the former Soviet Union. Broth filled meat dumplings mixed with Cilantro, Blue Fenugreek, Cumin and more! Khinkali Recipe (Хинкали)
    • You've got to try Georgian Khinkali (Хинкали). Popular in Russia and across the former Soviet Union. Broth filled meat dumplings mixed with Cilantro, Blue Fenugreek, Cumin and more! Khinkali Recipe (Хинкали)
    • You've got to try Georgian Khinkali (Хинкали). Popular in Russia and across the former Soviet Union. Broth filled meat dumplings mixed with Cilantro, Blue Fenugreek, Cumin and more! Khinkali Recipe (Хинкали)

    More Recipes

    • grilled trout with lemon sliced
      Honey Grilled Trout Recipe
    • baked sturgeon with potatoes
      Baked Sturgeon Recipe
    • chanterelles on a plate
      Chanterelle Mushrooms Recipe
    • fried eggplant stacked
      Fried Eggplant

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Erin

      July 16, 2020 at 4:46 pm

      I loved khinkali when we went to Georgia. I'm going to try this recipe this weekend, but I'm one of those people who think cilantro tastes like soap. Is there another herb I can use instead?

      Reply
      • Peter's Food Adventures

        July 16, 2020 at 8:03 pm

        Hi Erin, you can use some parsley instead, that’s often used instead! 😃

        Reply
    2. Sona

      January 05, 2020 at 2:02 am

      5 stars
      Hello
      Can I prep dough a day in advance and leave in fridge till I am ready to cook?

      Reply
      • Peter's Food Adventures

        January 05, 2020 at 6:47 pm

        Hi Sona! I haven't done that before, but I believe it should be fine, as long as you make sure the dough is brought truly to room temperature before using. What I have done before is the opposite, prepared the filling the day before and kept in the fridge, and made the fresh to use on the day. This would be preferable 🙂 Let me know how you go!

        Reply
    3. Mrs. T

      January 30, 2018 at 12:12 pm

      5 stars
      I made these tonight and they are amazing! Doubled the recipe and used all cilantro as I had no parsley. They are packed full of flavour so you only really need just the black pepper to serve. Even fried up a small batch - yummy! Definitely will be added to our favorites with manti, pelmeni and vareniki ???????? Thanks for the recipe!

      Reply
      • PetersFoodAdventures

        January 30, 2018 at 9:13 pm

        So happy you tried them! I love the cilantro in them as well! The flavor packs a delicious punch! And I find they're easier and quicker to make than pelmeni too! 🙂

        Reply
        • Mrs. T

          January 31, 2018 at 3:12 am

          I couldn’t resist when I saw cilantro and cumin in a dumpling recipe ???? I love how much quicker they are to assemble! Square dough pieces are so much simpler to work with so assembly becomes a breeze. Double bonus!

          Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Peter's Food Adventures - where you'll find Russian recipes, Slavic and International favorites with some fun travel and cooking videos. A Russian Food Blogger.

    Hi, I'm Peter!

    Are you looking for a little inspiration in the kitchen? Let me show you how to create tasty meals for your family!

    Food is the ingredient that brings people together. I love authentic foods, and have a very multicultural food background. I am genuinely happy to share the recipes of foods that make me and my family happy. And hopefully yours too. 

    Learn more about me →

    As Featured On

    As Featured On various magazine brands

    Popular Recipes

    • Homemade Fruit Leather recipe made from Apricots or Plums. Naturally sun dried without any nasty ingredients. A healthy and tasty snack for your family.
      Apricot Fruit Leather Recipe
    • asian potatoes in a bowl beside chinese spoons
      Crispy Asian Potatoes
    • Quick Pickled Summer Squash - A great way to preserve your vegetables. These are so good! Throw a few on a hamburger, Perfect condiment for bbq season this summer!
      Summer Pickled Squash
    • Sweet Chili & Bacon Zucchini Boats
      Thai Zucchini Boats

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Intellectual Property

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 Peter's Food Adventures

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
    Cookie settingsACCEPT
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT
    266 shares
    • 50