About Food – Chikhirtma
Chikhirtma (Georgian: ჩიხირთმა) is a boiled chicken and broth dish popular throughout Georgia as a family meal and also as a hangover cure. Turkey can be used instead of chicken but the dish is usually made with chicken.
Ingredients: 1 whole chicken, 5 eggs, 2 medium sized onions, 3 tbs of flour, 2 bay leaves, 70 grams of fresh coriander, 3 tbs of white wine vinegar, 3 liters of water, and salt (amount dependent upon personal preference),
Preparation: Add the chicken and 2 bay leaves to a deep pot and add 3 liters of water. Heat on a low temperature until the chicken is cooked.
Remove the chicken but do not discard the water it was cooked in as this will be used later to make a broth. Cut the chicken and salt it.
Finely chop the onions and add to a pan. Fry on a low heat until the onions are soft but still white. If the onions brown they will affect the color of the Chikhirtma.
Add the fried onions to the water that the chicken was boiled in. Bring to the boil and then allow to simmer on a low temperature. This is the basis of your broth.
Add 5 egg yolks to a mixing bowl (some recipes use the whole egg – in this case, 4 eggs are used). Whisk the eggs and then very slowly add around 700 ml of the hot chicken broth, continuously stirring as you pour.
Whisk with a fork.
Slowly add the egg mixture to the chicken broth, stirring continuously. Continue to simmer.
Add 3 tbs of flour to a bowl. Add 50 ml of water.
Mix the flour and water.
Slowly add the flour/water mixture to the chicken broth, stirring continuously. Continue to simmer.
Add 3 tbs of white wine vinegar and stir thoroughly. Continue to simmer.
Add salt (amount dependent upon personal preference). Continue to simmer for 3 minutes.
Finely chop and add the fresh green coriander. Stir thoroughly. Simmer for a further 3 minutes and then remove from the heat.
Serving: Serve hot by the side of the salted chicken.
Enjoy your Chikhirtma!
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