Churchkhela and its varieties are popular in several countries besides Georgia, such as Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cyprus, Greece, Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey. In Persian, it's known as باسلوق شیره انگور:de:baslogh|. In Armenian, Greek, and Turkish it is known as "sujuk", which is actually a dry sausage. To distinguish the two, it is sometimes referred to as "sweet sujukh" in Armenian and cevizli sucuk in Turkish. It is known in Cypriot Greek as shoushoukos and as soutzouki in Greece. It is known as Kelawo in Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan. The Cypriot variety is made by dipping strings of almonds into jelly, called palouzes.
Preparation
Churchkhela is a homemade Georgian product. Georgians usually make Churchkhela in Autumn when the primary ingredients, grapes and nuts, are harvested. It is a string of walnut halves that have been dipped in grape juice called Tatara or Phelamushi, and dried in the sun. No sugar is added to make real Churchkhela. Instead of walnuts, sometimes hazelnuts or almonds are used in the regions of west Georgia. The shape of Churchkhela looks like a candle. Georgian warriors carried Churchkhelas with them because they contain many calories. The best Churchkhela is made in Kakheti region, which is renowned as the motherland of wine. The juice is placed in a large bronze cauldron and heated slowly. A small amount of a special white earth called asproi is added to the boiling must and causes impurities to rise to the surface, where they are collected and removed. It is possible to substitute asproi, when not available, with lager beer, which has a similar result. Once the cleansing process is complete, the liquid is left to cool. Next, flour is added while stirring and heating the mixture. When it reaches the right consistency, based on the rate of steam bubbles and the viscosity of the mixture, it is removed from the heat. The mix, called Badagi, is now ready for use in the next step in the process of making Churchelas, which consists of preparing the nuts for dipping. Before they are threaded, the nuts have to be shelled and dipped into water in order to soften them. Once soft enough, they are strung onto 2-3 meter-long threads. The strings are dipped in the Badagi mixture until completely covered. This process is repeated several times until the Churchkhelas has the desired thickness. Churchkhelas strings are then left to dry for 5–6 days. They are then ready for consumption or storage, even though some people like to eat it fresh.
Consumption
Churchkhela is a snack for in-between and is also served as a dessert during the New Year and Christmas celebration. During old times, in war women would send their men Churchkhela to eat at the front, because of its pragmatic size, ability no to olden for long periods of time and heavy texture that keeps you full.
