Hartcho
Hartcho is a traditional Georgian soup that was widespread during the Soviet era and was served in restaurants throughout the Soviet Union. To make this soup, I researched the work of Georgian chefs today and some of the Russian-language publications that described the soup. To make this soup, the broth can be cooked using a wide variety of meats. The most common meats are mutton and beef, but a variety of poultry is also used. Another feature of this soup is that it is made using plums and spicy local plum sauce (Tkemali). The soup is seasoned with a mixture of spices, khmeli suneli. It is traditional, slightly spicy, aromatic, and contains a variety of dried herbs. In addition to meat and plums, rice, tomatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic are added to this soup.
Cooking time: 1 hour, plus time for cooking meat and broth
Level: Average
Quantity: about 4-5L of soup
Ingredients:
Meat and broth
700-800 g of straight lamb
1 medium onion
1 carrot
salt and black pepper
About 4L of water
Soup
About 500g of tenderloin cleaned from bones
Soup broth
5 large tomatoes
6-8 cloves of garlic crushed
1 large onion finely chopped
2 large carrots coarsely grated
6-8 medium plums cut into pieces
1 tablespoon Khmel Suneli seasoning mixture
3 tbsp Tkemali paste
3 tablespoons chili paste or 0,25 tsp chili powder
A large handful of basmati rice
A large handful of chopped fresh parsley
For seasoning black pepper and sea salt
2-3 tablespoons olive oil for frying onions and carrots
For serving fresh plum slices soup
Preparation:
Boil the broth. To do this, pour about 4L of water into the pot, place a piece of meat, one larger carrot, and onion, most of the brown peel removed. Season lightly with salt and black pepper. Bring the broth to boil, remove the foam, lower the heat and simmer until the meat is very tender.
To make the soup, clean the meat from the bones and cut it into pieces of a suitable size
Pour the broth through a sieve. Discard the boiled carrots and onions or simply eat them.
Grated tomatoes with a coarse grater. This will get rid of most of the tomato skin. Add the grated tomato to the broth. Bring to the boil.
Finely chop the garlic and onion. Add the garlic to the soup, heat the pan, pour a little olive oil into the pan, and fry the onions for a few minutes. Grate the coarsely grated carrots and add the onion to the pan. Fry for a few minutes.
Add fried onions and carrots to the soup. Add chili paste or 0.25 teaspoon ground chili. Add 3 tablespoons of Tkemali sauce. Add Khmel Sunel seasoning mixture.
Add half a glass of basmati rice to the soup and bring to a boil
Cut the plums into pieces and add to the soup.
Add the cut meat to the soup and season with salt and black pepper.
Bring to a boil until the rice is soft. Add the chopped parsley, stir and let the soup stand for a few minutes without boiling.
When serving, cut slices of plum onto the soup
Ready !!
