National Dishes of the World

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Churchkhela
Photo: Levan Gokadze (uploaded by Giorgi Balakhadze), CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

dessert vegan

Churchkhela

ჩურჩხელა (churchkhela)

Walnuts threaded on a string, dipped again and again in thickened grape must and dried – Georgia's sweet “sausage”.

Eaten in: Georgia

Prep
40 min
Cooking
25 min
Resting
168 h
Total
169 h 5 min
Servings
6

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About the dish

Churchkhela is a traditional Georgian sweet shaped like a long candle or sausage. Walnut halves are threaded onto strong string, then dipped several times into a thick mixture of grape must boiled with flour, called tatara, and dried in the sun or somewhere airy for several days to two weeks. It is slightly chewy and matt on the outside and crunchy with nuts inside. It is made in autumn, after the grape harvest, and eaten throughout the winter and at New Year. Strings of churchkhela in different colours – from pale gold to deep burgundy, depending on the grapes – are a familiar sight at Georgian markets. Hazelnuts are also used in place of walnuts.

Main ingredients

  • grape must
  • walnuts
  • wheat flour
  • sugar (optional)

Georgia: It is made in autumn, after the grape harvest; the wine region of Kakheti is especially famous for it.

More: Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Churchkhela

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/churchkhela

Ingredients

6 servings

6 servings

Method

  1. Thread the walnuts onto 6 strings about 40 cm long, with 20–25 cm of nuts on each. Tie a loop at the end for hanging.

  2. Whisk the flour smoothly into 250 ml of the cold juice.

  3. Bring the rest of the juice to the boil with the sugar and pour in the flour mixture, stirring all the time.

  4. Cook over low heat for 10–15 minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens like a heavy custard and coats the spoon.

  5. Dip each string of nuts into the hot mixture, lift it out and hang it over a bowl so the excess drips off. Dip again after 10 minutes; repeat 3–4 times until the coating is about 5 mm thick.

  6. Hang the churchkhela somewhere dry and airy for 7–14 days, until no longer sticky. Cut into slices to serve.

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