Chakapuli: Georgia's Spring Lamb Stew with Tarragon and Sour Plums

Chakapuli is the dish Georgians wait all year for. When spring arrives and the first shoots of tarragon push through the soil, when the plum trees are heavy with hard green fruit too sour to eat raw — that's when chakapuli season begins. It's lamb simmered low and slow with white wine, a mountain of fresh tarragon, unripe sour plums, and whatever green herbs the garden offers. The result is a stew that tastes nothing like the heavy, brown braises you know. It's bright. It's tart. It's herbaceous in a way that makes you wonder why every stew recipe on earth doesn't call for a full bunch of tarragon.

Why This Dish Matters

In a cuisine packed with stews — kharcho, chanakhi, ostri, chashushuli — chakapuli stands alone. It's the one that announces the season. While most Georgian stews are rich and warming, built for cold months, chakapuli is the opposite. It's a celebration of green things. Of sourness and freshness. Of the moment when winter finally loses its grip and the Caucasus mountains start turning emerald again.

The timing is everything. Chakapuli is Easter food, and Georgian Easter usually falls in April or May. That's exactly when tarragon is young and tender, when the plum trees have set their tiny, marble-hard fruit, and when spring onions are at their best. Making chakapuli in December with dried tarragon and bottled tkemali sauce is technically possible, but it misses the point entirely — like making a caprese salad with January tomatoes.

What makes chakapuli unusual compared to Western stews is the cooking method. There's no browning, no mirepoix, no building layers of fond. Everything goes in the pot together and simmers until the lamb is falling off the bone and the herbs have melted into a bright, fragrant broth. The sourness from the plums cuts through the lamb fat in a way that feels almost medicinal — in the best sense.

Ingredients

Serves 4–6. The ingredient list is deceptively long, but most of it is fresh herbs that get roughly chopped and thrown in. Don't stress about exact herb ratios — the tarragon and plums are the stars, everything else is supporting cast.

Equipment

Step-by-Step Recipe

Step 1: Prep the Meat

Cut the lamb into large chunks — about 5–6 cm (2 inches). Leave the bones in. They add flavor and body to the broth. Pat the meat dry with paper towels and season generously with salt and pepper.

A note on the browning debate: traditional Georgian chakapuli does not brown the meat. Everything goes in raw and simmers together. Some modern recipes (including the excellent one from Carla Capalbo's Tasting Georgia) recommend browning for deeper flavor. Both approaches work. The traditional method gives you a lighter, more herbaceous stew. Browning gives you more depth. This recipe follows the traditional method — if you want to brown, sear the lamb in batches in a bit of oil before proceeding to Step 2.

Step 2: Layer the Pot

Place the lamb chunks in the bottom of your pot in a single layer. Scatter half the spring onions over the meat. Add about a third of the chopped herbs — tarragon, cilantro, parsley. Lay the green plums (or add 2 tablespoons of tkemali sauce) on top.

Pour the white wine over everything, then add enough water to barely cover the meat — roughly 200–300ml. You want this to be a concentrated stew, not a soup.

Step 3: Slow Simmer

Bring the pot to a boil over medium heat, then immediately reduce to the lowest possible flame. Cover tightly and let it simmer for about 1.5 hours. Resist the urge to stir — the meat should cook undisturbed in the wine-herb bath.

Check once at the 45-minute mark to make sure there's still liquid. If it's getting dry, add a splash of water. The lamb should be mostly submerged but not swimming.

Step 4: Add the Remaining Herbs and Garlic

After 1.5 hours, the lamb should be very tender — a fork should slide in easily. Now add the remaining two-thirds of the fresh herbs. Yes, all of them. It will look like an absurd amount of green matter. This is correct.

Add the minced garlic, the remaining spring onions, and the mint and dill if using. If you held back some tkemali sauce, add the final tablespoon now. Taste the broth and adjust salt.

Give everything a gentle stir — the first and only time you stir the whole pot. Cover again and cook for 10–15 more minutes, just until the fresh herbs wilt but still have color.

Step 5: Rest and Serve

Turn off the heat and let the chakapuli rest, covered, for 5–10 minutes. This allows the flavors to settle and the sauce to thicken slightly as it cools.

Serve in bowls with plenty of the herby broth. The traditional accompaniment is shotis puri (შოთის პური) — the long, canoe-shaped bread baked in a tone oven. You tear off pieces and use them to soak up the sauce. Leftover chakapuli is even better the next day, once the herbs have had time to fully infuse the broth.

Tips for the Best Chakapuli

Common Mistakes

Variations

Chakapuli is adaptable. The core idea — protein simmered in wine with tarragon and sour plums — stays the same, but the protein changes depending on what's available, what region you're in, or what holiday it is.

When to Eat Chakapuli

In Georgia, chakapuli is inseparable from Easter. It's the centerpiece of the სააღდგომო სუფრა (Easter supra) alongside dyed red eggs, paska bread, and satsivi. But it also appears at any spring gathering — birthdays, supras, Sunday lunches — basically any excuse to celebrate the fact that winter is over.

Seasonality matters more than occasion, though. Restaurant menus in Tbilisi typically list chakapuli from March through June, then it disappears. Some places offer it year-round using tkemali sauce instead of fresh plums, but purists will tell you that's not real chakapuli. They have a point.

What to Serve Alongside

Where to Eat Chakapuli in Tbilisi

Nutrition

Storage and Leftovers

Frequently Asked Questions