Achma

Ingredients

• 1¾ lbwheat floursources vary widely in amount
• 4eggfor the dough
• ¾ cupwaterlukewarm
• 1 tspsaltfor dough, plus salt for the boiling water
• 1½ lbsulguni cheesecoarsely grated; can be replaced by mozzarella with feta
• 10½ ozImeretian cheeseas a second, milder cheese; one source uses adyghe cheese (optional)
• 7 ozbuttermelted, for brushing every layer
• 1egg yolkfor glazing the top (optional)
• 2 tbspvegetable oilkneaded into the dough at the end (optional)
• 1 tspsugarin the dough (optional)
• 1 pinchbaking sodain the dough (optional)
• matsoniserved cold alongside (optional)

Method

1. Whisk the eggs with the lukewarm water and salt, work in the flour a little at a time, and knead to a firm dough that doesn't stick to your hands; if you like, add the sugar and a pinch of baking soda, and knead in the vegetable oil at the very end. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, coarsely grate the sulguni, crumble the imeretian cheese and mix the two together. Melt the butter and brush the baking dish with some of it.
3. Divide the dough into 5 to 9 pieces and roll each one out on a floured surface until it is paper-thin — about 1.5 mm — and roughly the size of your dish.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and set a bowl of ice-cold water next to it. Set one sheet aside raw for the bottom layer. Cook the remaining sheets one at a time briefly in the bubbling water, lift each straight into the cold water, then drain them well.
5. Lay the reserved raw sheet into the dish, letting the edges hang over the rim, and brush it with melted butter.
6. Now build up the pie: add a boiled sheet, brush it with butter, scatter over some cheese, and repeat until everything is used up — the top layer is always dough.
7. Fold the overhanging edges inwards, brush the surface with butter and beaten egg yolk, and cut the pie into portion-sized squares before it goes into the oven. Spoon a little butter into the cuts.
8. Bake at 390 °F for about 35–45 minutes, until golden brown. Take it out, brush once more with butter or cover it with foil or a cloth, let it rest briefly, then serve.
9. Achma is just as good warm as it is completely cooled.

Tips and variations

There's room to play with the cheese: instead of or alongside sulguni you can use curd cheese, brynza, adyghe cheese, tilsiter or chechil, and herbs and black pepper are welcome in the filling. Some cooks pour a mixture of egg with milk, kefir or cream between the layers; others grate the butter and mix it into the cheese instead of brushing it on layer by layer. The boiling is handled differently from kitchen to kitchen: here only the bottom sheet stays raw and all the others are cooked, but you can just as well leave the top sheet raw too, or go the other way and give every single sheet a brief turn in the water. In a hurry, take thin lavash flatbread and soak it layer by layer in an egg mixture; and instead of the oven, achma can be cooked in a pan over low heat under a lid, turned once. Traditionally it's served with cold matsoni.