Fresh lamb boiled with onion, coriander and red pepper, served with hot garlic sauce (shchips) and paste, the broth following after.
Melil Gheva (Boiled Lamb with Garlic Sauce)
Ingredients
Method
- Put the lamb into salted water just as it comes to the boil.
- Boil, skimming off the froth continuously.
- Add the onions, red pepper and coriander to spice the meat; simmer until tender, about 1 hour.
- Lift the greens out of the broth with a skimmer.
- Make shchips: pound the garlic with salt and stir it into a little hot broth (or sour milk); make it hot and salty, with red pepper.
- Serve the meat first, with shchips and paste.
- Serve the broth afterward, taken with paste rather than bread.
This is the recipe from the Recipes section of the Circassian app, where you can also scale it and save it to your favourites.
Kitchen words in Circassian
The words for what is in this dish, in Kabardian (East Circassian) and Adyghe (West Circassian), with audio from the Circassian app’s lessons and audio course.
| English | Kabardian | Adyghe |
|---|---|---|
| meat | лыly | лыlə |
| milk | шэshe | щэshche |
| salt | шыгъуshyghu | щыгъуshchəghu |
| food | шхынshkhyn | шхыныshkhənə |
| delicious | IэфI'ef' | IэшIу'eshIu |
| This is delicious! | Мыр IэфIщ!Myr 'ef'shch! | Мыр IэшIу!Myr 'esh'u! |
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Melil Gheva: questions
How long does it take to make Melil Gheva?
About 90 minutes, according to the recipe in the Circassian app.
How many people does this Melil Gheva recipe serve?
It serves 6. The servings control above the ingredients recalculates every quantity for 1 to 40 people.
What is Melil Gheva made of?
The ingredients are: 1.5 kg fresh lamb on the bone, in pieces; 2 onions (or a bunch of green onions); 1 red pepper (or 1 tsp red pepper); 1 bunch coriander; salt; for shchips: 5 garlic cloves + 1 cup broth or sour milk + salt + red pepper; paste, to serve.
Is Melil Gheva an everyday or a festive dish?
The Circassian app files it as a festive dish (Mains & Sauces).
Where does this Melil Gheva recipe come from?
From the Recipes section of the Circassian app. The app’s recipes draw on Amjad Jaimoukha’s book Circassian Cuisine and were cross-checked against Russian and Adyghe food sources.
Sources
- Circassian app, Recipes section, recipe “Melil Gheva (Boiled Lamb with Garlic Sauce)” (recipe data last changed July 2026). The app’s recipes draw on Amjad Jaimoukha’s book Circassian Cuisine and were cross-checked against Russian and Adyghe food sources.
- Circassian app: audio course, Kabardian and Adyghe (the kitchen words: cheese, meat, milk, bread, tea, water, food, delicious), and the lessons’ vocabulary (chicken, salt, butter, honey).
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