Kakheti · 120 minutes · Meat · Main course · For confident cooks

Chakapuli

Name: Chakapuli
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Georgian
Ingredients: 2⅔ lb lamb (cut into bite-sized pieces); 5¼ oz tarragon (leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped); 4¼ oz cilantro (chopped with stems); 3½ oz parsley; 4¼ oz spring onion (coarsely cut); 7 oz Sour plums (provides the sourness); 2½ cups White wine; 5 cloves garlic (chopped or crushed); 2 onion (thinly sliced into half-rings); 2 Green hot pepper; 1 oz butter (stirred in at the end or used to coat the pot (optional)); 1 tsp blue fenugreek ( (optional)); salt, to taste; black pepper, freshly ground

For 6 servings · US units

Lamb braised with mountains of tarragon, sour plums and white wine

Chakapuli is Georgia's spring dish: young lamb, a whole heap of tarragon and tart green plums, all softening together in dry white wine. Nothing gets browned, nothing gets stirred — the herbs steam the meat until it slides off the bone and the sauce turns green, sour and impossible to stop eating. Serve it with Georgian bread and a glass of white wine, and you're set.

Servings6

Ingredients

2⅔ lblambcut into bite-sized pieces
5¼ oztarragonleaves and tender stems, roughly chopped
4¼ ozcilantrochopped with stems
3½ ozparsley
4¼ ozspring onioncoarsely cut
7 ozSour plumsprovides the sourness
2½ cupsWhite wine
5 clovesgarlicchopped or crushed
2onionthinly sliced into half-rings
2Green hot pepper
1 ozbutterstirred in at the end or used to coat the pot (optional)
1 tspblue fenugreek (optional)
saltto taste
black pepperfreshly ground

Method

Cut the bone-in lamb into bite-sized pieces, trimming away any tough membrane as you go.
Wash the tarragon, cilantro and parsley, dry them well, pull off the woody tarragon stems and chop everything roughly; cut the green onions coarsely.
Slice the onions into thin half-rings, chop or crush the garlic and finely chop the green chilies or mild green peppers.
Layer the meat, onions, garlic, chili, herbs, green onions and the green sour plums (or tkemali) into a heavy pot or cauldron, finishing with a layer of herbs on top. Add the butter or a little utskho suneli here if you like.
Season with salt and pepper and pour the dry white wine over everything; if you're using tkemali sauce, stir it into the wine first.
Cover, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down as low as it will go and braise for 1 to 1.5 hours, until the meat falls softly off the bone. Try not to stir, so the herbs can steam the meat.
Taste at the end for salt and check that the sourness is right; serve hot in deep bowls with Georgian bread.

Tips and variations

You can also simmer the meat on its own in the wine for 15 to 20 minutes first, then add the herbs plus a litre of water and cook for another hour. For more depth, season with utskho suneli, ground coriander and red pepper; for a rounder finish, stir in pieces of butter at the end and let them melt. A heartier version: render lamb tail fat, soften the onions in it, braise for only about 40 minutes and use tarragon syrup instead of fresh tarragon, along with basil and cress. It's especially good made in a clay ketsi and brought straight to the table — with shoti or lavash and a glass of white wine. Braising time depends on the age of the lamb: the older the animal, the longer it needs.

Allergens

Contains: Sulphur dioxide and sulphites

May contain if you use the optional ingredients: Milk (including lactose)

These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.

Something not right?

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