Darra Goldstein, author of The Georgian Feast, calls khinkali the "best appreciated legacy of the Mongol occupation" (Goldstein, 12). Historians believe that khinkali made its way to Georgia during the Mongol invasion (Söderlind, 2011). If khinkali were in fact brought to Georgia by way of the Mongol invasion, the mountain settlers would have been the first ones to have been hit by the invasion. Georgia is surrounded by the Caucasus Mountains from the North, and since Mongolia is to Georgia's Northeast, the Mongolians would have needed to cross the mountains in order to enter the country (Kuchukhidze).
