Churchkhela

Ingredients

• 8½ cupsgrape juiceunsweetened, preferably dark and tart
• pomegranate juiceused instead of or alongside grape juice (optional)
• 12⅓ ozwalnutswhole halves for threading
• 7 ozhazelnutsreplacing part of the walnuts (optional)
• 12⅓ ozwheat floursifted, for thickening
• 1¾ ozcorn flourreplacing part of the wheat flour (optional)
• sugaronly if the juice is very sour (optional)
• 1 pinchsalt (optional)
• 8strong cotton thread with a large needle35–50 cm each

Method

1. Sort through the walnuts and, if you like, toast and skin them; keep the halves as whole as possible so they thread easily. For some of the strands you can use hazelnuts instead.
2. Cut the strong cotton thread into pieces of 35 to 50 cm, tie a firm knot at the bottom and a loop at the top for hanging. Thread the nuts on with the large needle, leaving enough free space at the top to hang them.
3. Heat the grape juice in a wide pot and carefully skim off the foam as it rises.
4. Take off about a third of the juice, let it cool and stir in the sifted wheat flour — part of it corn flour if you like — until completely free of lumps. If you like, add a pinch of salt, plus a little sugar if the juice is very sour.
5. Pour the flour mixture into the hot juice in a thin stream, stirring constantly, then keep stirring over low heat until the mass is as thick as honey and the raw flour taste has gone.
6. Dip the nut strands one at a time fully into the hot mass, let them drip briefly, then hang them over a pole or rack with a tray underneath to catch the drips.
7. Let the coating set for a short while, then repeat the dipping several times until you have an even, thick layer.
8. Hang the strands freely in an airy spot out of direct sun until the surface is no longer sticky but still elastic. Dust any tacky patches lightly with flour and wipe off the excess later.
9. Store the finished churchkhela wrapped in paper in a cool place; to serve, cut into slices or break into pieces and pass around with tea or coffee.

Tips and variations

For the juice base, a dark, tart grape juice of the Saperavi type works beautifully; pomegranate juice does the job just as well, as does a combination of pomegranate and orange juice cooked in separate pots. With the nuts you can go all walnut, or make half walnut and half hazelnut strands on separate threads — toasted, skinned and roughly broken up, they taste stronger than raw. Drying is up to you: the strands are edible once cooled, they get properly good after at least three days, and they reach their full flavour after 10 to 14 days of air drying; you can also finish them off in the oven. Any leftover juice-and-flour mass can be stirred together with chopped nuts and turned out of moulds as pelamushi. Serve the churchkhela cut on the diagonal with a glass of tea or a strong coffee.