Lobio, or Georgian bean stew, is one of my absolute favourite dishes in the entire array of Georgian cuisine. It is the one thing that I consistently want to order at every Georgian restaurant and I absolutely love how it’s a bit different depending on where and how it’s made.
And because of how much I love this dish, I’ve combined my favourite elements of a number of different iterations to create this lobio recipe!
Though it certainly does not have the international acclaim and notoriety of other popular Georgian dishes like khinkali or khachapuri Adjaruli, lobio is just as delicious, completely vegetarian (provided that you don’t happen upon one of the versions that incorporate Racha ham!) and a good bit healthier. Oh, it’s also pretty easy to make at home!
How to Make Lobio
There are lots of different iterations to lobio out there. One of the most common that you will see is lobio nigvzit, which is beans stewed with walnuts, and that is the kind of lobio that I’ve made in this recipe.
Countless Georgian recipes use ground walnuts as a thickening agent along with adding extra flavour and nutrition to their dishes it is absolutely delicious.
Start off by soaking your beans (either red kidney beans or pinto beans) in cold, salted water overnight. To get the best texture and flavour out of the beans, I dissolve 15 grams of salt per litre of water.
Once you’ve finished soaking, drain the water from the beans, rinse them in a colander and add them to a large, heavy saucepan covered with about 2 litres of lightly salted water. Bring the water to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook the beans until they are tender and cooked through, about 1-1.5 hours.
In the meantime, grind walnuts until they reach the consistency of coarse sand and have begun to release some of their oils. I’ve seen Georgians use an old-school hand-crank meat grinder to do this, but you can very easily do this quickly with a food processor.
If you don’t have either of these (I don’t!), then pound them in a mortar and pestle or chop them as fine as you can with a knife and then transfer to a zip-top bag or sandwich between two sheets of parchment paper and beat and crush with a rolling pin until the desired consistency is achieved — it’s more work, but the results are, more or less, the same.
Finely mince your garlic and cilantro (coriander), and add them to the walnuts along with your spices (blue fenugreek is available online). Mix until well combined.
Once your beans are cooked, drain them, reserving about 500 millilitres of the cooking liquid — you will use this later — and set aside in a bowl.
In the same pot that you cooked the beans in, heat some oil over medium-low heat until shimmering and add the onion. Cook onions until softened and translucent around the edges, about 5 minutes, before adding the walnut mixture.
Cook the walnut, garlic, and spice mixture until incredibly fragrant and well, incorporated, about one minute. Add the tkemali or pomegranate juice, the beans, and about 250 millilitres of the cooking liquid. Stir to combine.
Lobio is often flavoured with several local acidic sauces and juices, adding an extra element to the dish. There are times you will see it flavoured with pomegranate juice (which is so good!) and often, it is also flavoured with a bit of tkemali, or sour plum sauce.
Tkemali is available online, however, you can always sub in pomegranate juice — just make sure it’s 100% pomegranate juice and there isn’t any added sugar — to get the right acidity.
Using a potato masher, mash the beans until about three-quarters of them are mashed, adding more of your reserved cooking liquid as needed. Remember, you’re going for the consistency of a thick stew but if you would rather make it thinner, then just add more liquid.
Now is also a great time to taste for seasoning and add more acid, salt, or spices as needed. Once you’ve achieved the desired consistency, cook for a further 5 minutes until the flavours have had a chance to get to know each other and mellow.
Turn off the heat. stir in remaining cilantro, and serve – consider being super traditional and making some mchadi (Georgian cornbread) to serve alongside the lobio. And if you’re interested in more Georgian bean dishes, have a look at my lobiani recipe!
Lobio: Georgian Bean Stew
Ingredients
- 400 g (2 cups) dried red kidney or pinto beans soaked overnight
- ½ large yellow onion
- 150 g (1 cup) walnut halves ground
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1½ tsp blue fenugreek
- 1 tsp ground coriander seed
- ½ tsp dried summer savory or thyme
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 15 g (½ cup) fresh cilantro chopped
- 60 ml (¼ cup) tkemali or 100% pomegranate juice (see note)
Instructions
- Drain and rinse beans and transfer to a large saucepan. Cover with about 5 centimetres of cold water seasoned with 1-2 tsp of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until beans are tender, about 1-1.5 hours.
- Drain beans, reserving about 500 ml (2 cups) of cooking liquid. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine walnuts, garlic, fenugreek, coriander, savory, cayenne pepper and 2/3 of the cilantro and mix until the walnuts are moist.
- Heat 1 tbsp of neutral oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat until shimmering, add onions and saute until translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add walnut mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tkemali or pomegranate juice (or lemon juice), stir to combine.
- Add cooked beans to pot along with about 250 ml (1 cup) of the reserved cooking liquid. Using a potato masher, mash beans until only about ¼ of them are whole, adding more cooking liquid as necessary to loosen the consistency – it should be the consistency of a thick stew, not too soupy.
- Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes while flavours meld, add remaining cilantro, and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
And that’s it! This lobio recipe uses a number of traditional Georgian flavours and introduces some important parts of the country’s cuisine — namely, the use of ground walnuts for flavouring and as a thickening agent.
Are you interested in trying out this recipe? Have any questions? Let me know in the comments!
There was wayyy too much salt in the end. I would recommend adding some of the reserved (heavily salted) cooking water at the end, but certainly not 500 ml of it. If you need more liquid add plain water or perhaps vegetable stock.
Hi Dylan, thanks for your feedback. I always recommend reserving more cooking than you may ultimately need, just in case. If you read the recipe, I say only to add 150ml of the cooking liquid initially and only to add more as necessary.
Why do we need to keep 500ml of the cooking water if we only use 150ml? Thanks.
I say to initially add about 150ml of the liquid and then say to add more as needed. Depending on the consistency you’re after, you may add up to 500ml of cooking liquid. I always tend to reserve more just to be on the safe side. Hope this helps.