A toffee-like fudge made by boiling milk and sugar for hours until thick and brown, finished with kaimaghi clotted cream. A wonder of Upper Adjaran cuisine, sent to sons in the army by their mothers.
Rdziana, also called milk halva, is an Upper Adjaran dessert made by boiling milk and sugar for two to three hours until the mixture turns thick and brown, then finishing it with a spoonful of kaimaghi clotted cream and pouring it onto an oiled pan to set. Local legend says mothers sent two pieces to sons going to the army and kept them until the son returned, a symbol of waiting. It is a distinctively Adjaran cultural dessert, little known outside the region.
Dense, fudgy and deep caramel-brown, with a concentrated cooked-milk sweetness and a glossy kaimaghi sheen on top. It cuts like fudge, dissolves slowly on the tongue, and is intensely sweet and milky.
Milk and sugar are boiled together for two to three hours, during which the water evaporates and the milk sugars caramelise, turning the mixture from white to deep brown and from pourable to fudgy. A spoonful of kaimaghi is stirred in at the end for richness and sheen, then the mass is poured onto an oiled surface and cut into pieces before it fully cools and sets. The long boil is the entire technique; nothing else is added.
Variations
A festive version adds a little honey near the end. Some cooks flavour it with vanilla.
On the Palate
Where Rdziana sits in the Georgian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
6 steps · 10 min
- 15 min
In a heavy-bottomed pot, combine 2 litres whole milk and 800g sugar; bring to a boil.
- 260 min
Boil steadily, stirring often to prevent scorching, for 2 to 2.5 hours, until the mixture is thick, deep brown and pulls away from the sides.
Watch outBoil, stirring often, until it turns deep brown and pulls away from the sides — that color change is the milk sugars caramelizing; scorch it and the whole batch tastes burnt.
- 35 min
Off the heat, stir in 3 tbsp kaimaghi (clotted cream).
- 48 min
Pour the mass onto an oiled tray and smooth the top; let it cool and set 2 hours.
- 58 min
Before it is fully hard, cut it into diamond or square shapes with an oiled knife.
Watch outCut it while still slightly soft — let it fully harden in the tray and it cracks apart instead of into neat pieces.
- 64 min
Serve at room temperature, with tea.
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