Khavitsi

Khavitsi is made from flour, milk, and dairy products, and is eaten hot. In some mountain regions of Georgia, khavitsi with cheese boiled in clarified butter and thickened with flour was traditionally shaped, cut, and kept for a long time. That kind of khavitsi was often used as filling for ritual kada pastries for holidays.

Tushetian Khavitsi – Datkhuri

In Tusheti, they also refer to khavitsi as datkhuri. It is similar to the cottage cheese/clarified butter of Pshavi, which is made from a kind of local blue cottage cheese, dambalkhacho, but datkhuri uses unsalted cottage cheese. It is kept for two days in a warm place, and when it gets hot, it is salted and boiled in a hot pan with clarified butter. Once the cottage cheese and the clarified butter have mixed together well, it is taken out and eaten piping hot with bread.

Rachan Khavitsi

Khavitsi is a dish synonymous with mountainous Racha where it has been an everyday food for centuries and is still made in many households there to this day.

For Rachan khavitsi, some of the clarified butter is left in the bottom of the pan after the boiling. Once the prepared clarified butter has been boiled and strained, a white sediment (called “peri” in Racha) remains. Peri is the main ingredient of Rachan khavitsi. A handful of bread flour is then tossed into it with a wooden spoon, and it is stirred well, boiled over a low flame, seasoned with salt, and after all that you have delicious and nutritious khavitsi, which is eaten with bread.

Gurian Khavitsi

Gurian khavitsi most resembles the khavitsi defined in Sulkhan-Saba’s dictionary. It is essentially a porridge made with honey and millet flour.

In the Guria, khavitsi is made with natural red wine and honey, and is brought to women who have just given birth. Grandmothers also use it when someone is suffering from a flu or cold. Usually, one liter of natural red wine would be poured into two liters of water and boiled until two fingers’ worth was left (by that time, all of the alcohol and the smell of the wine would have evaporated). Then three tablespoons of sugar would be added along with half a kilogram of honey, which would be well-kneaded into five cups of strained bread flour and fried over a low flame, after which you have the sumptuous Gurian take on khavitsi.

Ajarian Khavitsi

Ajarian khavitsi is made with kaimaghi, a product with the consistency of sour cream. To make this, milk is boiled very slowly, then kept at a very low temperature for two hours. Once the heat is off, the creamy mass is mixed in and left for a few hours or all day.

To prepare Adjarian khavitsi, put kaimaghi into a heavy-bottomed pot, put it over a fire, and stir it with a wooden spoon. When it starts to boil, you put corn flour that has been passed through a very fine sieve into it, and then pour water onto it and boil until it thickens. Add salt to taste, and enjoy it with mchadi. 

Ossetian Khavitsi

To make Ossetian khavitsi, first melt 600 grams of butter. Then put 300 grams of bread flour and 300 grams of corn flour into one liter of water, and stir quickly so it does not stick. Once it has boiled, stir in enough fat so it is almost overflowing. Finally, add salt to taste.

The Most Common Type of Khavitsi

1 l water;

150 g wheat flour;

150 g corn flour; 

300 g clarified butter; and

Salt to taste.

Instructions

Fry the wheat and corn flour over a low flame for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then, add salt to boiling water, to taste, and slowly, while constantly stirring, add in the flour. Boil and then stir with a wooden spoon at the same time, continuously, so it does not stick. 

Once the khavitsi is ready, pour it into soup plates, put the clarified butter in the middle, and bring it to the table just like that to be devoured by hungry guests.