Lobiani | Georgian Round Bread Stuffed with Beans

Drain and rinse the soaked beans, then put them in a pot with 1.5 liters of fresh water. For the first 10 minutes, boil rapidly with the lid off; this vigorous boil breaks down the natural toxin in red kidney beans. Then cook over medium heat for 50 minutes, until the beans crush easily between your fingers. Reserve and strain 100 ml of the cooking water.

Mix the flour, yeast, and sugar. Add the warm milk, warm water, and oil and bring the dough together, then sprinkle in the salt and knead for 10 minutes. The dough should be soft and elastic, and may feel slightly tacky. Cover and let it rise.

Finely chop the onion and sauté it in 50 g butter over medium heat for 8 minutes, until golden. Mash the hot beans with a potato masher, leaving some whole beans. Add the onion and butter, khmeli suneli, ground coriander seed, blue fenugreek, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and salt. If the filling crumbles on a spoon, add a little of the reserved cooking water at a time until it becomes a spreadable paste. Let it cool completely, then divide it into four equal balls.

Preheat the oven to 220°C / 430°F. Divide the risen dough into four equal portions. Press each into a 15 cm disk in your palm, place a ball of filling in the center, and gather the edges up like a pouch, pinching them together firmly at the top. Turn it seam-side down and press from the center toward the edges with your palm, then a rolling pin, to make a 25 cm round, 1 cm thick. If any filling shows through, patch it with a piece of dough.

Place two lobiani on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake on the lower-middle rack for 15 minutes, until the top is mottled golden brown. Brush with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven. Bake the remaining two the same way.

Transfer the lobiani to a board, cut each into four slices with a sharp knife, and serve hot.