How To Cook Phali: Step By Step Recipes + Photos And Videos

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-17 22:26

Phali: a visiting card of Georgian cuisine

Caucasian cuisine, and in particular Georgian cuisine, is famous for its unusual spicy dishes from vegetables and herbs, which are prepared very simply despite the apparent complexity. Cold appetizer called pkhali has gained immense popularity. It can be served as small portioned balls or a heaped salad. Today we will learn how to cook it from a variety of products using simple and interesting recipes.

Content

• 1 Spicy appetizer in Georgian cuisine

  1.1 Photo Gallery: Ingredients for Phali

• 2 Recipes with step by step photos

  • 2.1 From fresh or frozen spinach

    2.1.1 Video: classic spinach phali

  • 2.2 From white cabbage

    2.2.1 Video: pkhali from white cabbage

  • 2.3 From green beans or any other beans

    2.3.1 Video: how to cook green bean phali

  • 2.4 With fried eggplant
  • 2.5 Assorted spinach, beets and cabbage
  • 2.6 Vitamin Boom: Nettle with Ginger

  • 2.7 From tops and greens

    2.7.1 Video: Georgian Beet Leaf Snack

• 3 Video: the simplest Georgian pkhali salad
• 4 Video: cooking assorted phali for a festive table

Spicy appetizer in Georgian cuisine

The preparation of this snack is based on the so-called principle of variability, that is, the use of different ingredients in one recipe. The main product is vegetables: beets, carrots, cabbage - or almost any greens. It can be radish or beet tops, ekala (another name is sassaparilla) and even scalded nettle leaves.

An obligatory component of phali is a dressing made from a large amount of walnuts, seasoned with garlic, pepper, aromatic herbs, wine vinegar and hops-suneli

Phali came to Georgia from Adjarian cuisine many centuries ago. Of course, the dish has undergone many changes and improvements, and at the moment there are about 200 options for its preparation. In some areas, it can be made from rice, meat, or fish. But traditionally, Georgian cuisine is dominated by vegetables and herbs as the main ingredients.

Vegetables and greens are the basis of traditional phali

There are many cooking methods, but they are all based on a single algorithm. The main vegetable or greens are finely chopped, heat treated (boiled or stewed until soft) and chopped. Then the resulting mass is mixed with a spicy dressing. It would seem that the phali is ready. But perhaps the most important thing in a recipe is how you serve it. It is with a beautiful appearance that the aroma and taste of this dish begins.

Therefore, pkhali is most often laid out in a salad bowl (on a dish) or formed from a mass of small cutlets. And be sure to decorate the top with fresh pomegranate seeds - another of the hallmarks of Georgian cuisine. You can also roll halves of walnut kernels in the center of such a "cutlet". But the dish must have greens, a lot of greens!

Photo gallery: ingredients for phali

Wine vinegar - a drop of acidity in a vegetable variety

Seeds of fresh juicy pomegranate will complete the finished dish

Walnuts are the main ingredient in phali dressing

Any kind of cabbage is suitable for preparing this snack.

Cilantro, or coriander, is another visiting card of Georgian cuisine, which must be added to phali

Use both onions and greens of fresh onion to make phali

Your favorite spices will add a special flavor to the dish

For phali, you can use both beets and their tops

Garlic will add spice and flavor to the snack

Spinach leaves are the most popular base for phali

Popular seasoning khmeli-suneli is often used in Caucasian cuisine.

Recipes with step by step photos

We will tell you about the most common and interesting ways to prepare this healthy cold snack.

Fresh or frozen spinach

You probably know about the benefits of spinach for our health. In Georgia, it is he who is used to prepare the traditional pkhali snack. You can use both fresh and frozen spinach.

Take these products:

• 1 packet frozen spinach or 400 g fresh
• 50 g of walnut kernels;
• a few pomegranate seeds for decoration.

You will also need some green adjika, which you can make yourself from the following ingredients:

• 10 g fresh cilantro;
• 6 g fresh parsley;
• 4 g ground chili;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 4 g hops-suneli.

If you have frozen spinach, thaw it first. Now you can start cooking.

1. First, grind the walnuts with a meat grinder or blender. By the way, you can replace them with hazelnuts or cashew nuts if you like. Transfer the chopped nuts to a bowl.

   

   Grind nuts in a blender or food processor

2. Now you need to prepare green adjika. Fold the herbs, garlic, spices in a blender or coffee grinder, grind until a mass with a uniform consistency is achieved.

   

   Place food in a blender and chop it to make a green adjika

3. Squeeze excess water from defrosted spinach. Cut the leaves into small pieces. If you have fresh spinach, not frozen, then simmer it in a skillet for a start until soft, adding a little water. Grind the spinach in a meat grinder or use a blender.

   

   Boil or simmer spinach, chop it

4. Combine chopped spinach, adjika and nuts, mix well. Phali preparation is almost complete.

   

   Mix all products into a homogeneous mass

5. Roll balls from the resulting mass and place them on a plate, decorating with pomegranate seeds on top. If desired, you can add cilantro or parsley leaves and green onions to the decoration.

   

   Roll into balls and garnish with pomegranate seeds

Video: classic spinach phali

White cabbage

Since in our latitudes white cabbage is much more common than spinach, it is easier to cook pkhali from it.

You will need:

• 1.5 kg of white cabbage;
• 300 g of walnut kernels;
• 1 bunch of cilantro;
• 5 cloves of garlic;
• 1 large onion;
• 0.5 teaspoon coriander;
• 0.5 teaspoon hops-suneli;
• 1 tablespoon wine vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste;

• pomegranate seeds for decoration.

  

  Prepare the necessary foods

Preparation:

1. Cut the head of cabbage into large pieces, divide them into leaves. Boil in boiling water for no more than 2 minutes. It is very important not to overcook the cabbage, otherwise it will creep out during cooking. Wait until the water is completely drained from the cabbage and let it cool down.

   

   Boil the cabbage, drain the water and let the pieces cool

2. In a meat grinder, twist the onion, walnuts and garlic into a homogeneous mass. If you have a blender, use it. Season the mixture with salt and spices, drizzle with vinegar and stir.

   

   Chop onions, garlic and nuts and season with salt, vinegar, spices

3. Now grind the boiled cabbage in the same way. Try to squeeze and drain the excess liquid right away to prevent the dish from getting watery.

   

   Pass the boiled cabbage through a meat grinder, drain the excess liquid

4. Mix the chopped cabbage with the nut mass. Place the mixture in a plate, garnish with pomegranate seeds and refrigerate for 2 hours.

   

   Combine kale and hazelnuts, garnish with pomegranate and chill

You have got a very tasty cold appetizer, which can not only be spread on pita bread or bread, but also served as a separate dish.

Cabbage pkhali can also be served in the form of such pyramids

Video: pkhali from white cabbage

Green beans or any other beans

Beans are also very popular in Georgian cuisine, so various dishes and snacks, including pkhali, are often prepared from them. For this recipe, we'll need asparagus (young green beans).

Products:

• 500 g beans;
• 1 medium onion;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 0.7 cups walnuts (shelled)
• 1 bunch of cilantro;
• 4 tablespoons of wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds (or 0.5 teaspoon ground coriander)
• 1 teaspoon hop-suneli
• fresh mint - optional;
• hot red pepper;
• salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. Boil water in a saucepan and cook the beans for no more than 5 minutes so that they remain strong and do not creep. Transfer to a deep bowl filled with ice cold water. This will help the beans retain their color as they cool.

   

   Cool boiled green beans in ice water

2. Grind the nuts in a meat grinder, blender or mortar. Chop the herbs and hot peppers very finely. You can also add 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh mint if desired. Grind herbs with spices and salt in a mortar, add garlic, stir.

   

   Pass the walnuts through a meat grinder and toss with chopped garlic and spices

3. Squeeze the beans to remove as much moisture as possible. Pass through a meat grinder or chop very finely with a knife.

   

   Also chop the beans

4. Chop the onion as small as possible, put it in a sieve and pour over with boiling water. Now send all the prepared ingredients into one deep bowl and mix, add a little wine vinegar, put the mass in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

   

   Combine food in a bowl and mix thoroughly, then refrigerate for 2 hours

5. It remains only to give the appetizer the shape of balls or cutlets, decorate with pomegranate seeds - and you can serve it to the table!

   

   Form phali, garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve

Instead of young green beans, you can use white, red, brown beans. It needs to be boiled for much longer, until soft, and then chopped in a meat grinder or blender and mixed with the rest of the products.

You can use any beans for preparing phali, but first boil them until completely soft

Video: how to cook green bean phali

With fried eggplant

Well, how can you do without such a popular vegetable in Caucasian and Georgian cuisine as eggplant! For this phali option, you need:

• 3-4 eggplants;
• 1 onion;
• 1 pomegranate;
• 1 clove of garlic;
• 1 bunch of cilantro;
• 100 g of walnuts;
• 3 tablespoons of wine vinegar;
• to taste salt, coriander, hops-suneli, black pepper;
• corn flour;
• corn oil.

The peculiarity of this recipe is that the eggplants are pre-fried. The rest of the ingredients are crushed and mixed into a homogeneous mass.

Eggplants for pkhali must be fried

Preparation:

1. So, peel the eggplants and cut them into cubes, then bread in flour. Fry in a small amount of oil until golden brown.

   

   Fry the eggplant breaded in flour in oil until golden brown

2. Chop the onion, chop the herbs and garlic. Pass the walnut kernels through a meat grinder. Remove the seeds from the pomegranate.

   

   Chop walnuts, onions and garlic

3. Place the herbs, onions, nuts, and garlic in a deep bowl. Season with vinegar, add a little water if necessary and mix until smooth. You can use a blender for this.

   

   Place all mixed items on a platter and garnish with pomegranate seeds

4. Place the eggplant on a platter and spread the nut mixture evenly on top. It remains to sprinkle pkhali with pomegranate seeds, and you can treat your guests!

Assorted spinach, beets and cabbage

Since we make not only a tasty, but also a healthy snack, why not combine the properties of several vegetables in it? For assorted vegetables you need the following products:

• 1 head of medium sized cabbage;
• 1 pack of frozen spinach
• 2 beets;
• 1 large onion;
• 300 g of walnut kernels;
• 1 bunch of cilantro (or parsley)
• 5 cloves of garlic;

• spicy adjika and suneli hops to taste.

  

  In this recipe, several vegetables are taken as a basis at once.

Cooking process:

1. Prepare the vegetables: boil the cabbage, disassembling it into separate sheets, and wrap the beets in foil and bake in the oven.

   

   Boil the cabbage

2. The spinach also needs to be thawed and boiled until tender.

   

   Defrost the spinach and boil it too

3. Grind the walnuts in a meat grinder or in a blender container.

   

   Chop the nuts

4. Grind vegetables in the same way: cabbage, beets and spinach.

   

   Chop kale, spinach and baked beets as well

5. Chop the onion and lightly fry until golden brown while chopping the cilantro and garlic. Divide the chopped nuts into 2 equal parts. Mix one part with cabbage, spinach, adjika, half fried onions, half a mixture of garlic and cilantro, hops-suneli.

   

   Mix one part of ground nuts with cabbage, spinach, adjika, fried onions, garlic and suneli hops

6. Add the second part of the nuts to the cooled chopped beets, season with the remaining garlic and cilantro, mix thoroughly.

   

   And combine the second part of the nuts with baked beets and garlic with cilantro

7. Roll up small balls of green and red mixture, put on a plate, let stand in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Then place on a platter with the rest of the fried onions and serve.

   

   These are the cute colored balls you get

Vitamin Boom: Nettle with Ginger

Yes, you are not mistaken, pkhali can really be made from nettle, which usually interferes with us in the country and in the garden. Since the summer is already raging with might and main, let's combine business with pleasure: we will weed the beds and prepare an appetizer. After all, this "weedy" herb is incredibly rich in vitamins and useful microelements.

Nettle is not only a harmful weed in the garden, but also the most useful product on your table!

So, prepare the ingredients:

• 100 g of young nettle leaves;
• 100 g of walnut kernels;
• 3 teaspoons grated ginger root;
• 1 onion;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (can be substituted with apple cider vinegar)
• 1 bunch of cilantro;
• 1 pinch of chili, paprika, ground coriander;
• salt to taste;
• white and black sesame seeds - for deboning.

Cooking such a phali is no more complicated than the previous recipes.

1. Tear off the nettle leaves, rinse thoroughly in cold water, then throw in boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Place in a colander to drain the liquid. Now puree the leaves with a blender or food processor.

   

   Boil nettle leaves and grind in a blender

2. On a fine grater, grate onion and ginger, mix with nettle puree. Send chopped cilantro and walnuts there. Add the rest of the ingredients gradually, stirring constantly. Form balls from the resulting mass.

   

   Grind and add the rest of the food, then form into even balls from the resulting mass

3. These balls can be rolled in white or black sesame seeds. Do not forget to put the phali in the refrigerator for an hour to freeze.

   

   Decorate the phali balls with sesame seeds, pomegranate seeds and walnut pieces

From tops and greens

Young vegetable leaves (called tops) are also great for making phali.

Juicy fragrant phali can also be prepared from the tops of garden plants.

For this recipe, take the following foods:

• 500 g spinach, radish or beet tops;
• 100 g of walnut kernels;
• 1 medium onion;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 bunch of cilantro;
• 1 teaspoon of suneli hops or dry herbs for satsivi;
• salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. Sort out the tops, rinse thoroughly in cold water. Chop and simmer in salted water for 3 minutes with spinach, then drain through a colander. Squeeze the greens and let them cool, then chop even smaller.

   

   Boil spinach, radish tops and beets and finely chop

2. Grind onion, nuts, garlic, herbs in a blender, season with spices and lemon juice. If necessary, add a couple of tablespoons of boiled water to prevent the phali from getting hard. Form cutlets from the mass, spread them on a platter, garnish with pomegranate seeds, halved walnut kernels and fragrant fresh herbs. Allow the phali to cool completely in the refrigerator, then serve.

   

   Form cutlets from the prepared mass, decorate them and refrigerate

Video: Georgian beet tops appetizer

Video: the simplest Georgian pkhali salad

Video: cooking assorted phali for a festive table

As you can see, it is quite easy to prepare the healthiest dish of Georgian cuisine, pkhali, from quite affordable products. Surely you and your family will love this simple, but very tasty and original appetizer. Share with our readers in the comments your way of cooking pkhali, if you already have experience in this matter. Bon Appetit!