Achma

Adjaran·Hard·1 hour 45 min active + 45 min resting

Multi-layered cheese pastry where boiled then baked sheets of pasta-thin dough envelop melted sulguni — Adjara's lasagna-meets-khachapuri.

Egg

Achma is the labor-intensive pastry of Adjara — sheets of unleavened dough are rolled paper-thin, briefly boiled, layered in a buttered pan with grated cheese between each layer, then baked. The result is part lasagna, part cheese pie, deeply golden on top. A wedding and feast-day specialty, not weekday food.

Cut into a slab and the cross-section reveals 8-12 alternating layers of soft pasta sheet and salty cheese, baked into a cake that's part lasagna, part cheese pie. Top is golden; inside is impossibly tender.

Boiling the dough sheets before baking gelatinizes the starch — they then absorb butter and milk during the bake and turn silky rather than tough. It's the same technique as Italian lasagna, but with five times more cheese.

Variations

Some Adjaran cooks add a layer of imeretian cheese in the middle for textural contrast against the sulguni; purist versions use only sulguni and let butter carry the rest — the dish's variations are about cheese ratio, nothing else.

On the Palate

Where Achma sits in the Georgian flavor cloud

Cook to learn

Boil each rolled dough sheet for a minute before layering — that pre-gelatinizes the starch so the sheets drink up butter and milk in the oven and turn silky, where un-boiled sheets bake tough and dry.

Techniques

Baking Kneading

Ingredients

Serves 4

How it's made

5 steps · 1 hour 45 min active + 45 min waiting

1
30 min
Dough: 600g flour + 2 eggs + 250ml warm water + 1 tsp salt. Knead 8 min; rest 30 min.
2
30 min
Divide dough in 8 balls. Roll each paper-thin into a sheet larger than the baking pan (24cm).
3
30 min
Boil sheets one at a time in salted water 1 min; transfer to ice water; lay flat on damp towels.
Watch out
Pull each sheet the moment it turns floppy and translucent, about a minute, then straight into ice water so it doesn't overcook.
4
30 min
Filling: combine 500g grated sulguni + 200g grated imeretian (or feta). In a buttered 24cm pan, layer: dough sheet, butter, cheese, repeat 6-7 layers; top layer is dough.
Watch out
Butter and cheese every layer generously and end with a dough sheet on top so the surface can crisp.
5
30 min
Brush top with melted butter. Bake at 200°C for 45 min until deeply golden. Rest 10 min; cut into squares.
Watch out
Bake until the top is deep gold and set, then rest 10 minutes before cutting so the layers firm up.

Archive tool suggestions — not reviewed

These legacy suggestions have not been evidence-reviewed and are not presented as required tools.

Saucepan

Round metal pot, 14-26 cm diameter, with vertical walls and a long handle, designed for sauces, soups, oatmeal, rice, boiled vegetables. The vertical walls minimize evaporation (vs. a sauté pan). Sizes: 1 qt for melting butter, 2-3 qt for sauces, 4 qt for soups. Stainless-steel-clad aluminum or copper is best for conduction; cast-iron is too thick for delicate sauces.

Techniques

Baking Boiling Kneading