At first glance, the name Khachapuri does sound like a chaat available at Chowpatty beach in Bombay, somewhere between sookha puri and pani puri. But probe further and you discover that it is a traditional Georgian bread filled with cheese. In fact, it is the national dish of Georgia. It is usually shaped like a boat and filled with cheese, egg and sometimes few other ingredients. The crust is ripped off and used to dip in the cheese for a mouthful of bliss. Sulguni is the most commonly used cheese in Georgia but it is replaced with mozzarella and other cheese in other countries. Since it is a staple food in Georgia, the price of making the khachapuri is used a measure of inflation, called the Khachapuri Index. I am unable to think of any reason for why I should not migrate to this European country. Sigh!

I made a few changes to this dish because the husband and daughter are not big fans of cheese plus they need a spicy version of every dish. So I replaced part of the cheese with some fresh paneer / cottage cheese. Then I crumbled it and mixed some chilly powder, mixed herbs and salt into it. So, for the first time the husband asked for seconds and that is when I realized how much happier I was when he would not and I had all the delicious bread to myself.

Country – Georgia

Recipe adapted from here

Makes 2 large breads to serve 3-4 people

WHAT WE NEED

For the dough

All purpose flour                            1 3/4 cups

Sugar                                                 1 1/2 tsp

Salt                                                     1/2 tsp

Instant yeast                                    1/2 tsp

Lukewarm milk                              1/2 cup

Lukewarm water                           1/4 cup

Oil                                                     1 1/2 tsp

For the filling

Mozzarella, grated                          1 cup

Fresh cottage cheese                      1 cup

Mixed herbs                                     1-2 tsp

Red chilly powder                           1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves                             5-6

Eggs (optional) (see notes)            2

WHAT TO DO

• Mix the flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a large bow;
• Add warm milk and water and knead till the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes by hand
• Add oil and knead again till the oil is absorbed, about 1-2 minutes by hand
• Set aside the dough in a greased bowl and cover it till it doubles in volume, around an hour
• Punch down the dough and press it a few times and set it aside for another 30 minutes
• Crumble the cottage cheese and add the chilly powder, mixed herbs and some salt and mix well
• Preheat the oven to 230C for 20 minutes
• Take the dough and divide into 2 halves and roll out the first half into a 9″ circle
• Spread the paneer mixture on the circle leaving an inch gap from the edges
• Roll the circle from two opposite sides three times leaving a large gap in the middle
• Pinch together the edges and shape like an ‘S’ to make it look like a boat
• Fill the open section with paneer mixture and top it with mozzarella cheese and few finely chopped corainder leaves
• Repeat the same procedure with the other half of the dough

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it well with oil / butter
• Transfer the two breads on the baking sheet
• Bake for 15 minutes or till the top of the dough is nicely brown
• If you are adding eggs, take out the bread from the oven and make a small hole in the cheese at the centre of the bread
• Break open an egg at the hole and bake for another 5-6 minutes till the egg whites are set but the yolk is a bit runny
• Take out and let it cool slightly
• Using a fork, scramble the egg into the cheese and serve warm
• Enjoy!

NOTES

1. It is not mandatory to add eggs and can be skipped. If so then bake for 18 minutes instead of 15 minutes or till the top of the dough is golden brown. When I baked one bread without the egg, it seemed a little dry while eating. So, I suggest you mix 1-2 tsp of milk with the paneer when you add salt and spices. It should reduce the dryness.
2. Instead of paneer, you can add feta cheese, farmer’s cheese, etc. I plan to add some veggies next time like mushroom, boiled corn, cherry tomatoes, etc to make it a little healthy
3.  It is better to use freshly made paneer / cottage cheese. The store bought ones are usually dry and may not be the best option for this dish but maybe you can adjust the milk a little more and make do. I used paneer made from 1 litre milk and it was almost used up in this dish
4. On hindsight, I thought it would be better to make 3 portions instead of 2 with the same dough which would result in a smaller size, more filling and less dough per person.

This is my post for the Mega Marathon under the letter ‘K’.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 75