Georgian recipe
How to make Adjarian khachapuri
აჭარული ხაჭაპური
Adjara, on the Black Sea coast around Batumi
A boat-shaped khachapuri filled with melted cheese and served with a raw egg yolk and a knob of butter in the middle. You stir the yolk and butter into the hot cheese, then tear off pieces of the crust and dip them in. Some say the shape stands for a boat, the cheese for the sea and the yolk for the sun.
Ingredients
- 250 g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 teaspoon dried yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 150 ml warm milk and 1 tablespoon oil
- 200 g grated mozzarella (in place of sulguni)
- 150 g crumbled feta (in place of Imeretian cheese)
- 2 very fresh eggs, preferably pasteurised, plus 1 beaten egg for glazing
- 30 g cold butter, cut in two
Method
- Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, add the warm milk and oil, and knead for 8 minutes into a soft dough. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 45 minutes until doubled.
- Heat the oven to 240 °C. Mix the two cheeses with a splash of water.
- Divide the dough in two and roll each piece into an oval about 30 cm long. Spread a quarter of the cheese in a strip along each long edge, roll the edges inwards over the cheese and pinch the two ends together to make a boat.
- Fill the middle of each boat with the rest of the cheese, brush the rims with beaten egg and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden.
- Take the breads out, make a well in the cheese, drop an egg yolk into each and put back in the oven for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the butter and serve at once, stirring the yolk into the cheese. The yolk stays runny: older people, pregnant women, young children and anyone with a weak immune system should use pasteurised eggs or bake the egg until firm.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
It is traditionally made with a mix of tangy Imeretian cheese and stretchy sulguni.
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