Definition
a dumpling filled with meat, originally from Georgia
View the full definition in the Macmillan Dictionary.
Origin and usage
The noun khinkali comes from a Georgian word that is often transliterated as xinkali, /xinkʼɑli/ in IPA, where the ‘x’ sound resembles the ‘ch’ in ‘loch’. Its origin is obscure.
Examples
It’s been a while since I focused on the food terms submitted to the Open Dictionary by our users, so here is this week’s entry, khinkali. Khinkali refers to a type of savoury dumpling eaten throughout Georgia, although they originally came from the mountainous areas in the east of the country. The traditional filling for khinkali is minced meat mixed with onions and spices, although versions filled with cheese, potato or mushrooms also exist. These large dumplings are traditionally eaten with the hands to avoid spilling any of the juices contained inside. Khinkali is a recent entry in our Open Dictionary, submitted by a user in Georgia just this month. Other Open Dictionary entries relating to Georgia and its people submitted by this user include the food names lobiani and khachapuri, as well as the terms Kartveli and Sakartvelo, which refer respectively to the Georgian people and the name of the country itself. You can submit words and phrases that are not already in Macmillan Dictionary to the Open Dictionary here.
Quotations
“I was doing my part to consume the platter of khinkali – I usually couldn’t eat more than two of them in one sitting.”
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“The trick is to eat Khinkali without making a mess of yourself with the hot broth inside.”
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Related words
dim sum, dumpling, pelmeni
Browse related words in the Macmillan Thesaurus.
