Another Georgian Cuisine - Lobiani

Hello guys, hope you all are doing fine. Today I want to share with you all an interesting experience and a recipe that is most popular in Georgia. The dish is called Lobiani and it can be found in any bakery in the streets of Tbilisi. Unlike bakeries the homemade Lobiani's are softer and more delicious. I'll give you a explanation about how this traditional food of Georgia is made.

I got to know about this recipe from the wife of my house owner! She was very glad to see me learn some Georgian culinary skills. Still I haven't tried to do it in my own and I'm also a beginner just like you guys..!

The word "Lobiani" actually comes from the Georgian word for beans which means "Lobio". This "Lobio" or the kidney beans is the most important ingredient for making Lobiani.

To make this delicious Georgian dish you need boil the kidney beans or Lobio in water. After they are finely boiled filter them and mash them nicely. To this mashed mixture add some salt, pepper and butter and mix it well. Keep this mixture aside as this will be the filling used in Lobiani.

To prepare the dough used for making Lobiani you must follow the same procedure that is used to make dough for the Georgian traditional bread which I have mentioned below.

Take about 1 kilogram of all purpose flour, salt to taste and two teaspoons of yeast. You can have a pinch of sugar which is generally used to give colour to the lobiani.

Take a mixing bowl and add the flour. Make a depression in the flour and add water, salt. Mix it well for some time. Then add the yeast mixed with water into the mixture and mix the dough well such that it forms a solid ball. After mixing the dough it is covered with a cloth and left undisturbed for one to two hours till the dough rises twice its initial size. Then remove the cloth and make the dough into pieces of desired size. Knead the dough with hand into small thin pieces. Add the lobiani filling that you have prepared and kept in the centre of the dough. Seal the ends together and pinch off the extra dough. In case of traditional lobiani making in "Done" the Lobiani is stretched over the "lapati" which is actually a holder to stick the lobiani and stretch it. Then with the help of Lapati the baker will press the lobiani against the wall of the "Done" which is an oven like thing. Just like Georgian bread Kavi and Safkheki are used to remove the baked lobiani from the oven like thing. Then the lobiani is coated with butter or oil to give it a glossy look. That is it Georgian traditional Lobiani is ready to eat!

It's not a difficult dish and it is really delicious if made correctly. Thank you for reading and do mention your comments and suggestions.

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