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Elarji (Georgian: ელარჯი) is a popular dish from Samegrelo region, made from coarse cornmeal, cornflour and Sulguni cheese.

Ingredients: 200 grams of coarse cornmeal, 4 tbs of cornflour and 1 kilo of sulguni cheese. The cheese must be new. Mozzerella cheese can be used as an alternative to sulguni.

Add the coarse cornmeal to a deep pot.

Add water.

Any impurities and discolored cornmeal will rise to the surface. Carefully drain the water and remove any floating impurities.

Refill with water and keep repeating the rinsing process until all impurities have been removed.

Once the rinsing is complete, add 1 liter of water to the cornmeal and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. When it has boiled, continue to cook on a low heat for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 4 tbs of cornflour.

Continuously stir/mash the mixture on a low heat for about 15 minutes.

The mixture should lose its cornflour taste and should look like the picture below.

Add slices of sulguni cheese.

Mash the cheese into the mixture (this should take about 2-3 minutes).

Correctly prepared Elarji has a thick consistency and is very elastic.

Serving: Elarji is served hot. Wet a wooden spoon before ladling the Elarji onto a plate – this will help to avoid the Elarji sticking to the spoon.

Serving: In Samegrelo, Elarji is often eaten with Bazhe sauce – a Georgian sauce made with walnuts, garlic and spices.

Enjoy your Elarji!

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• Georgian Sulguni Cheese (georgianrecipes.wordpress.com)