Churchkhela ( Georgian: ჩურჩხელა ) is traditional sausage-shaped candy made by repeatedly dipping a long string of nuts in tatara-a mixture of flour, sugar and badagi ( concentrated fresh grape juice). Georgians usually make Curchkhela in the Autumn when grapes and nuts have harvested.. Churchkhela can also be made with dried fruit ( such as peach, apple or plum) and pumpkin seeds.

  In this recipe we show how to make churchkhela with walnuts and also with hazelnuts. The quantities of nuts are sufficient to make 4 churckhelas with walnuts and 4 chutchkhelas with hazelnuts.

Ingredients: 50 walnuts, up to 1000 hazelnuts 1,5 liters of badagi, 300 grams of flour and 3 tbs of sugar. The quantities for badagi, flour and sugar are enough for one coating of the nuts. the nuts will require at least two coatings. yu will also need a needle and thread. 

Preparation (walnuts): shel the walnuts. add to a hot pan and heat on low-medium heat for 2-3 minutes. be careful not to burn them. 

Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little and then separate them into halves. churchkhela can also be made with walnut quarters or eights (which is the most common)

Preparation. (Hazelnuts): shell the hazelnuts. add to a hot pan and heat on a low-medium heat for 2-3 minutes. 

Stir continuously with a wooden spoon to loosen the skins. remove from the heat and allow to cool a little. remove skins from the warm nuts with your fingures. 

Preparation. (threading the walnuts-for churchkhela made with walnuts: thread a needle with a 30-inch length of strond thread. worth the flat side of the nuts facing up. thread 25 walnut halves onto the thread. Cut the thread from the needle and knot the ends. the walnut strands should be dried in the sun before the next stage of the process to prevent the growth of mold. 

The picture below show strands we prepared using walnut halves, quarters and eighths, and whole hazelnuts. 

Next step. 

Preparation. (Tatara): Add the flour and sugar to a bowl. 

Gradually add up to 500 ml of badagi and mix with a wooden spoon. 

Once the flour, sugar and badagi have been mixed with a spoon, use an electronic blender to ensure that the mixture is absolutely smooth.