This Khinkali recipe shows how to make Georgian boiled dumplings from scratch, with a homemade dough and a vegetarian mushroom and potato filling. These boiled dumplings are exceptionally delicious, fun to make, and are guaranteed to impress anyone!
There’s a lot of nostalgic dishes that remind me of family dinners and celebrations, and Khinkali is one of them. Food always tastes more delicious when it has a nostalgic quality to it! If you’ve never tried these incredible boiled dumplings, you really must. Especially if you’re like me and love dumplings.
While making Khinkali, or any other dumpling, from scratch may seem intimidating, rest assured that it’s much easier than it looks. All you have to do is follow a few simple steps, and you’ll end up with a new favorite recipe.
Vegetarian Khinkali recipe
Originating in Georgia, Khinkali are a dumpling variety that’s typically served at dinner parties. Traditionally, they contain a meat filling of either pork or lamb. But a vegetarian filling of mushrooms and/or potatoes is also popular.
The dough is quite thick, and in terms of size, they’re a little bit smaller than the palm of a hand. To cook the Khinkali, they are boiled in stock to become incredibly flavorful. It’s most common to find them served either by themselves, or with the addition of black pepper.
How to make Khinkali
Even if you’ve never made dumplings from scratch before, you need to give this Khinkali recipe a try! It’s incredibly easy to follow the steps as outlined below/in the recipe card, and you will absolutely love the final result.
Make the Khinkali dough
This is a really simple dairy-free, eggless dough that requires just 4 ingredients. Start by gradually adding all-purpose flour to water and mixing continuously. When all of the water had been incorporated, add the salt followed by the olive oil.
Now transfer to a lightly-floured surface and continue kneading for around 5 minutes more, until firm and springy. Then, transfer to a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and set aside for 25-30 minutes.
Make the potato and mushroom filling
The filling for this Khinkali recipe is simple, and made from accessible ingredients. Prepare potatoes ahead of time by peeling them, cubing them finely, and cooking for 10-12 minutes, until fork tender. You can do this before you start preparing the dough.
When the dough is resting, heat olive oil over a medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and an onion, and proceed to cook them for 5 minutes, until softened.
In a mixing bowl, mash the cooked potatoes using a potato masher. Then, add cumin, garlic powder and salt, and mix into the mashed potatoes.
Proceed to add the mashed potato mixture to the pan with the mushrooms, and also add fresh cilantro. Remove from the heat when thoroughly combined and the cilantro had wilted.
Shape and cook the Khinkali
Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and roll it out into a long rope. Divide the rope into around 15 equal-sized segments.
Roll each segment into a thin circle, around 10 cm in diameter, and place 2 tbsp of the filling into the centre. Pinch together the edges, twist, and cut off the top of the stem. Repeat with the remainder of the dough.
Now, it’s time to cook the Khinkali. Bring a large saucepan of water to a light boil, and use a slotted spoon to lower the Khinkali into the water. After around 5 minutes, the dough will the fully cooked through, so you can take them out using a slotted spoon, and serve.
