LOBIANI - GEORGIAN BREAD

Lobiani is a traditional Georgian dish of bean-filled bread. The word "Lobiani" comes from the Georgian word for beans which is "Lobio". This "Lobio" or the kidney beans is the most important ingredient for making Lobiani. In this recipe I will show how to make a pastry filled with kidney beans, flavored with fried onions and spices.

Ingredients 

For the dough:

250 ml Buttermilk ( Kefir) + 250 ml of sour cream

600 gr of plain flour + extra if needed

1 tbsp of salt

2 tbsp of sugar

1 tsp of water

200 gr of unsalted butter

For the filling:

500 gr ( 1 can) of red kidney beans

1- 2 onions 

4 cloves of garlic

pinch of dried oregano and basil

pinch of dried coriander

butter 70 gr 

pinch of ground red chillies

salt & pepper

walnuts ( optional) 

Directions: 

Step 1 : Make the dough. Add your buttermilk into a bowl with sour cream. Then add sugar and salt and mix everything together. Then add melted butter and mix again.

Step 2 : Add plain flour a little bit at a time, keep mixing and keep adding flour until its all incorporated. Once the dough has come together, set it aside.

Step 3 : Make the bean filling. Add chopped onions into a frying pan with oil and cook them for 5 min unit golden brown. Then add crushed garlic and cook for another 5 min. 

Step 4 : In a food processor add red kidney beans, spices, chilly, unsalted butter and cooked onions with garlic. Blitz until mixture is all combined. 

Step 5 : This recipe makes 4 lobiani, so divide the dough into 4 balls. Add flour to your surface and stretch the dough with your hands to get a nice round shape. Keep adding flour, because the dough will be very sticky. 

Step 6 : Add 1 large tbsp of your bean mixture in the middle of each dough and pinch the dough from all sides, to form a ball. Press gently and even the bean filling around the bread, don’t press too hard, or the filling will pop out. 

Step 7 : Once all of them are done, you can either freeze them or cook straight away. 

Step 8 : Preheat your frying pan until its piping hot, do not add any butter or oil and add your lobiani inside. Cover it with lid and cook for 5 min on each side, until its golden. 

Step 9 : Once its cooked, add butter on top and spread it around, cut into 4 slices and enjoy hot or cold! 

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Lots of love! Alla xoxo