Adjarian Khachapuri
Boat-shaped bread filled with molten cheese, finished with a raw egg cracked into the center and a pat of butter. The yolk stays runny — you break off the crust, stir everything together and dip. Georgia's most iconic dish.
Ingredients
- 500 gflour
- 400 gmozzarella
- 5 eggs
- 200 mlmilk
- 60 gbutter
- 7 gdry yeast
- 1 tspsugar
- 1 tspsalt
Method
- Warm the milk to 38–40°C — comfortably warm on your wrist but not hot. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in it and leave 10 minutes until frothy. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture and 30 g of melted butter. Mix, then knead for 8 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth and slightly tacky — not stiff. It should feel softer than an earlobe. Cover and leave in a warm place for 1–1.5 hours until doubled.
- While the dough rises, grate the mozzarella. Mix with 1 egg, a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of the remaining butter (softened). The filling should be creamy, not dry — add 2–3 tbsp of full-fat ricotta or cottage cheese if needed.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. On a floured surface, roll each into an oval roughly 30×20 cm. Distribute the cheese filling over the surface leaving a 2 cm border. Tightly roll both long sides toward the center, rolling them over the filling. Pinch and twist the two ends firmly to seal — this is what keeps the boat shape in the oven. The result should look like a gondola.
- Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush the exposed dough edges with beaten egg. Rest 15 minutes while the oven heats to 220°C (425°F).
- Bake for 13–15 minutes until the sides are deep golden and the cheese is fully melted and bubbling. Remove from the oven. Using the back of a spoon, press a well in the center of the cheese. Crack one egg into each well — keep the yolk intact.
- Return to the oven for 3–4 minutes: the white should just set, the yolk must stay runny. Remove immediately. Place a small knob of butter (10–15 g) in each boat. Bring to the table at once — the cheese sets quickly. Stir the butter, egg and cheese together with a fork, then tear off the crust ends and dip.
FAQ
The closest substitute is a combination of low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella (the block kind, not fresh in brine) and feta. Use 300 g mozzarella for the stretch and melt, plus 100 g crumbled feta for the saltiness and slight tang that sulguni has. Adding 2–3 tablespoons of ricotta or full-fat cottage cheese makes the filling creamier, closer to the Georgian imeruli cheese that is also traditionally used. Avoid hard aged cheeses — they break and become grainy when melted instead of pulling into strings. Never use pre-shredded cheese: the anti-caking coating prevents smooth melting.
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Comments (2)
Каждый второй рецепт хачапури в интернете делает лепёшку с сыром. Аджарский хачапури — это лодочка, и тесто должно быть мягким, дрожжевым, пышным по краям. Яйцо кладётся в самом конце и не должно быть полностью готовым — его размешивают в горячем сыре за столом. Если яйцо сварилось в духовке — вы опоздали.
Ingredient temperature matters enormously for adjarian khachapuri. Unless the recipe says otherwise, everything should be at room temperature. Cold flour doesn't cream properly, and the texture suffers throughout.