Chikhirtma soup is a Georgian thick dish, into which two dressings are poured at once at the main stages of preparation - egg and flour. Most often, the dish is cooked in lamb broth or poultry. This thick soup differs from others in that it contains no vegetable grounds at all.
The calorie content of the dish is 70-90 kcal per 100 g, so it is considered quite light. Let's look at how to prepare chikhirtma in several interpretations step by step and with photos.
Classic chicken chikhirtma
This is a real tender and light Georgian soup, which is distinguished not only by its ease of preparation, but also by its appetizing and incredible taste and aroma. To give the soup a beautiful color, add 1/2 small spoon of saffron.
List of components:
- 2-3 eggs;
- Large onion;
- One lemon;
- 0.5 kg chicken;
- 3 large tablespoons of vegetable oil;
- Green cilantro – 20 g;
- Corn or Wheat flour– 2.5 tablespoons;
- 2.5 liters of water;
- Salt - to taste.
Georgian classic recipe chikhirthms:
- Cut the chicken into pieces, wash it and cook the broth. The foam must be skimmed off during cooking. After the water boils, turn the heat to low and cook for about 1.5 hours. 20 minutes before the end of cooking, add salt;
- Peel the onion, cut into cubes and fry in vegetable oil;
- Beat the eggs with lemon juice;
- Remove the fried onion from the frying pan and leave the frying oil on it. Fry the flour a little in this oil and add hot broth (glass). Mix well so that there are no lumps;
- Remove the meat from the broth and cut into medium pieces;
- Wash and chop the greens;
- At the end of the process, put the fried onions into the hot broth, pour in the flour mixture and stir thoroughly. After boiling, add the egg-lemon mixture in a thin stream. Take a whisk and stir the resulting mixture.
When the chicken chikhirtma boils, remove it from the stove and taste it. If necessary, add salt. Place the meat in plates and sprinkle everything with herbs.
Lamb recipe
This is a Georgian national masterpiece made from young lamb, which does not contain cereals or vegetables and is based on meat and broth. The dish is thickened with flour and egg-acid dressing, which gives it a piquant taste.
Ingredients:
- Lamb – 0.5 kg;
- Two chicken eggs;
- Wine vinegar – 2 large spoons;
- Wheat flour and vegetable oil - one tablespoon each;
- Two onions;
- Cilantro, black peppercorns, salt - to taste;
- Saffron – 0.5 small spoon.
The recipe for chikhirtma is:
- Wash the lamb cold water, cut into small pieces, put in a pan and set to cook, not forgetting to remove the foam that appears. Remove the cooked meat from the container, strain the broth through a fine sieve or cheesecloth;
- Fry finely chopped onion in butter, sprinkle it with flour, stir and fry again. Then put the prepared meat, onion fried with flour into the strained broth, add salt, saffron, pepper and wait until it boils;
- Boil separately light vinegar and add to the soup, let it boil again and then remove the saucepan from the heat;
- Before serving, beat the egg yolks in a separate bowl, mix with the broth, pour into the soup, stir and heat. Do not bring them to a boil because they may curdle.
On final stage Georgian chikhirtma is sprinkled with cilantro. After this, the dish can be put on the table and enjoy the amazing taste.
Azerbaijani recipe
Chikhirtma chicken soup is also prepared in the Azerbaijani version, only it is a little different national name- chyhyrtma. Such a dish in thick aromatic sauce It turns out very tasty, satisfying and tender, and your loved ones will definitely like it. The cooking instructions are slightly different from the similar Georgian variation of this dish.
Product composition:
- Butter – 70 g;
- Onions – 400 g;
- Chicken – 600 g;
- One large tomato;
- Vegetable oil and lemon juice - 2 large spoons each;
- 3 eggs;
- Turmeric – teaspoon;
- Greens, pepper and salt - to taste;
- Chicken broth - a glass.
Home cooking recipe:
- First we set the chicken to cook, because we will need chicken bouillon. At the same time, peel and finely chop the onion. This vegetable is the main ingredient in a great sauce;
- Melt in a deep frying pan or saucepan butter, put the onion in it and simmer, make sure it doesn’t fry, add some salt;
- We remove the skin from the tomato ourselves, to do this we make a cut on it and keep it in boiling water for a minute, then finely chop it;
- Add the chopped tomato to the onion, stir and simmer for 3 minutes;
- Remove the finished chicken pieces from the broth and fry a little (optional);
- Add lemon juice and 1/3 cup of broth to the tomato-onion mixture;
- Next we post chicken pieces into a frying pan, add a little salt and sprinkle with turmeric for aroma and beautiful color;
- Add the remaining broth, close the lid and simmer the bird with vegetables for 25 minutes over medium heat. If necessary, add more broth, because the onion should not be fried;
- Finely chop the greens, beat the eggs with a fork, sprinkle with pepper and salt. Don’t forget that you’ve already added the poultry and onion;
- Pour the eggs into the pan, distribute the mixture evenly between the chicken pieces. Close the lid and cook for about three minutes - the eggs should “set”. Do not stir, but only pierce the omelette so that it cooks well over the entire surface.
Chicken chihyrtma can be served with a side dish of rice, but also as an independent dish. Sprinkle with herbs and serve. The result was a delicious chicken in a fragrant tomato and onion sauce, with the most delicate omelette and greens.
Simplified recipe
In this cooking method, no flour is used, and the required consistency is achieved by increasing the number of eggs.
You will need:
- Whole chicken carcass;
- Wine vinegar – 50 ml;
- Egg yolks – 5 pcs;
- Onion – 250 g;
- Ghee butter – 100 g;
- Cilantro or other greens;
- Salt and peppercorns;
- Bay leaf.
Let's prepare it step by step:
- Cook chicken broth. Half an hour before readiness, add bay leaf, pepper and finely chopped herbs;
- We take the bird out of the pan and divide it into portioned pieces;
- We clean and chop the onion, brown it in melted butter, then put it in a hot broth and boil for another 8-10 minutes;
- Beat the yolks together with vinegar until they form a thick foam. Carefully pour the resulting mixture into the saucepan. The acid prevents the eggs from curdling;
- Place the meat in the hot broth again and bring to a boil.
With this our soup is ready. Pour it into bowls and put it on the table, garnishing with chopped cilantro.
Video: Recipe for Georgian soup chikhirtma
Today I decided to plunge into Caucasian cuisine and prepare an interesting lunch. Georgian chicken chikhirtma - this is the dish I chose. This soup amazed me with its ease of preparation, combination of ingredients and its unusualness, because it is prepared with virtually no vegetables.
Chikhirtma is thick, hearty soup, which consists of chicken, a mixture of eggs with lemon juice, large quantity onions, herbs and thickened with flour. I can say that this dish is similar to ours green borscht, since it has sourness, eggs and herbs are added.
It turns out that this soup does not contain potatoes, which we are so accustomed to seeing in our everyday soups, but this is the highlight of this dish. To make it satisfying, it is thickened with flour. Wheat or corn flour is used, the latter gives the yushka a golden color. Don't skimp on meat and eggs, these are the main ingredients. They mostly use chicken, you can take all its parts, the main thing is to make a broth. Herbs and spices add flavor. With fresh herbs, be sure to add cilantro; without it, you can’t prepare a real Georgian dish, because it gives it an incredible aroma and taste. Spices are another component of Caucasian cuisine, because they add piquancy and spiciness. The main spices that are added are: turmeric, coriander, basil, red ground pepper, saffron, Bay leaf.
Georgian chicken chikhirtma recipe with step-by-step photos
Ingredients
- Chicken – 500 g.
- Eggs – 4 pcs.
- Onion – 1 pc.
- Flour – 3 tbsp
- Lemon – 1\4
- Cilantro – 1 bunch
- Salt - to taste
- Coriander, turmeric - to taste
How to cook chicken chikhirtma
First you need to prepare chicken broth. Cook the drumsticks over low heat for about 50 minutes, if you have domestic chicken this procedure will take much longer, approximately 2 hours. Then, take out the boiled meat, put it in a bowl and let it cool.
Meanwhile, chop the onion into small pieces, fry until golden. If you are an onion lover, use more of them.
Add flour and a little broth to the fried onions. The flour will begin to bubble, stir it to prevent it from burning. 
When it thickens completely and starts to come together, the flour mixture is ready.
Add flour dressing to the soup.
Clean the meat from the bone and add it to the pan.
Beat the eggs into a bowl and add lemon juice, salt and beat with a fork into a homogeneous mixture. Pour them in a thin stream and stir so that they dissolve in the soup and do not turn into flakes. It is advisable to pour the eggs when the soup is not boiling.
At the end of cooking, add spices: coriander, turmeric, salt and finely chopped cilantro. Cook for 10 minutes and remove from heat.
Before serving, season chikhirtma with fresh herbs and serve. Bon appetit!
Adviсe:
- Be sure to prepare the broth, you can cook it on their bones or add ready-made frozen cubes.
- Spices are added: coriander, mint, bay leaf, saffron, basil.
- The soup must contain acid; lemon juice is usually used, but if you don’t have it on hand, you can add vinegar, pomegranate juice.
- The eggs should not curdle, so acid is poured into them.
Chikhirtma is traditional Azerbaijani dish. Can be made from chicken, lamb, veal. It should not be confused with Georgian dish with the same name, which is a soup (although it consists of similar ingredients). Sometimes Azerbaijani chikhirtma is called “chikhirtma”.
For cooking Azerbaijani chikhirtma from chicken we take:
- chicken – 600 g
- onion – 400 g
- butter – 50 g
- chicken broth – 250 ml
- tomatoes – 1–2 pcs.
- lemon juice – 2 tbsp. spoons
- eggs – 3 pcs.
- turmeric – 1 teaspoon
- greenery
- salt pepper
You can take more chicken - even a whole chicken. This recipe just used a small amount, just three thighs. Accordingly, if we take more meat, then it is advisable to increase the volume of other products, especially onions.
Cooking chikhirtma in Azerbaijani style
There are many various recipes chihirtmas. Most often it is prepared from meat or poultry in combination with vegetables and eggs. But there are also options without meat, only from vegetables. Some consider chyhyrtma as a Caucasian version of scrambled eggs or omelet, because it is the eggs in this dish that are very important role. Prepares from them thick sauce, forming a delicate soufflé.
Chicken chikhirtma is often prepared from boiled chicken. This is due to the need to use chicken broth for the dish. However fried chicken tastier than boiled. Therefore, you can take ready-made chicken broth and fry the chicken pieces. Moreover, the chicken does not need to be completely fried, as it will then end up in the sauce. Simply fry the pieces of meat until you get a golden, appetizing crust.
Now about the salt. Since the broth is salty, salt is also added when frying the onions, and we add a little salt to the chicken pieces themselves before frying, it is important not to oversalt the dish during the cooking process.
The process of preparing chikhirtma with chicken
Cut the chicken into portions (we don’t need to do this, we have ready-made thighs). If used boiled chicken– you still need to fry it a little in butter until you get a crust. Add salt and pepper to the chicken, place in a deep frying pan and fry.
All onions need to be finely chopped. We'll make it in time while the chicken is fried.
Take the fried chicken out of the pan, add butter and add chopped onion. In order for the onion to fry better and give off the smell, we immediately salt it.
We set the fire a little more than medium. The onion should not so much fry as simmer. Stir occasionally with a spatula. Lightly knead the onion so that the onion is homogeneous. It should become transparent and begin to caramelize.
Peel the tomatoes. We cut it, pour boiling water for 3-4 minutes, then cold water and immediately remove the skin. Chop the tomatoes finely, almost into porridge.
Our onions have already dried out and become transparent, gradually starting to fry slightly. At this point we add chopped tomatoes and lemon juice.
Pour 1/3 cup of broth into the pan. Mix.
Simmer the vegetables with the broth over low heat for about five minutes, continuing to mash the onion with a spatula.
Place the previously fried chicken pieces on top of the onion. Sprinkle with turmeric.
Pour the remaining broth into the pan, which should not completely cover the chicken pieces. Stir and cover with a tight lid.
That's it, now we leave our chihyrtma to languish. With the heat on low and the lid closed, this should take about 25-30 minutes. The chicken should simmer slowly. The heat needs to be very low so that the sauce, especially the onions, does not burn.
It is desirable that the sauce be as homogeneous as possible.
Chop the greens.
Break the eggs into a bowl and beat. Salt and pepper.
Here you can add the greens directly to the eggs, stir and then cook in the same way as the recipe given. Or you can add greens at the end, sprinkling them on the finished chikhirtma. We use the second option.
Important stage! Carefully pour the beaten eggs into the sauce. It is advisable to try to ensure that the eggs are distributed approximately evenly over the entire surface of the pan.
No need to stir!
Now, over low heat with the lid removed, you need to bring the sauce until it thickens. The sauce should not boil violently! You can't interfere with it either. To speed up the cooking process, you can pierce the sauce so that the moisture evaporates better.
The sauce should remain moist and should not be allowed to dry out.
As a result, we get tasty and aromatic stewed chicken, with soft and juicy meat. Chicken pieces are covered with a tender and delicious egg and onion soufflé.
That's it, our chikhirtma in Azerbaijani is ready! Place the chicken and sauce on plates and sprinkle with chopped herbs.
Chikhyrtma is often served as a side dish for folding Azerbaijani pilaf. However, it will go perfectly as a separate dish.
Step 1: Prepare the chicken.
First of all, rinse the chicken well under running water and then place it on a cutting board. Using a knife, cut the chicken into small pieces and rinse again under running water. Attention: the meat can be cut into parts such as drumstick, thigh, wings and back.Step 2: Prepare chicken broth.
Place the chicken pieces in a deep pan and fill them with purified water. Place the container on medium heat and cover with a lid. When the water starts to boil, remove the lid from the pan, and be sure to skim off the resulting foam from the meat using a slotted spoon. Cook the broth over low heat for 80-90 minutes, adding water as needed until the meat is tender. Important: During cooking, add salt to the broth to taste.
Step 3: prepare the onion.
Using a knife, remove the peel from the onion, and wash the vegetable thoroughly under running cold water. After this, place the onion on a cutting board and chop it into small squares. Transfer the finely chopped component to a free plate.
After this, put a frying pan on low heat a small amount vegetable oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the onion and, stirring from time to time with a wooden spatula, fry until golden brown on the surface. Immediately after this, turn off the burner and transfer the onions back to the plate so that the vegetable oil remains in the pan.
Step 4: prepare the lemon.
We rinse the lemon under running water and then transfer it to a cutting board. Using a knife, cut the citrus into two halves. Squeeze the juice from each lemon part using a manual juicer.
Step 5: Prepare the lemon-egg mixture.
Using a knife, break the eggshells and pour the yolk and white into a small bowl. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice to the same container and, using a hand whisk, lightly whisk until smooth.
Step 6: Prepare the chicken meat.
When the chicken broth is ready, turn off the burner and use a fork to place the chicken on a cutting board. Set the meat aside for 10-15 minutes so that it becomes warm. After this, with clean hands, separate the meat from the bones and use a knife to cut the component into small pieces as necessary. Transfer the shredded chicken to an empty plate.
Step 7: Prepare the greens.
We rinse the parsley under running water and, lightly shaking it off excess liquid, place it on a cutting board. Using a knife, finely chop the greens and then transfer them to an empty plate.
Step 8: prepare the flour.
Place the frying pan again with the remaining onions after frying, vegetable oil on a small fire. Immediately pour the flour into the container and, while constantly stirring with a wooden spatula, lightly fry the flour. Attention: It is necessary to fry the flour in such a way that it does not change color, but simply warms up slightly and absorbs the oil. After this, pour it into the frying pan. 200 - 250 milliliters hot broth and, using a hand whisk, mix everything thoroughly so that no lumps form in the mass. Then turn off the burner and set the flour mixture aside.
Step 9: prepare chicken chikhirtma.
Place the fried onions into the hot broth and mix everything well with a tablespoon. Immediately after this, pour the flour mixture into the broth and mix everything again with available equipment. Now put the pan on medium heat, and after the soup boils, turn the heat to low and cook it for another 5 minutes. After the allotted time has passed, add the egg-lemon mixture into the chikhirtma in a small stream, constantly whisking everything with a hand whisk until smooth. Again we wait for the soup to boil and then immediately turn off the burner. Important: After preparing the dish, taste it for salt; if the soup is still not salty, then add more salt to taste.
Step 10: serve chicken chikhirtma.
Using clean hands, place shredded chicken into serving bowls. Then pour the soup into the meat using a ladle and at the end sprinkle everything well with chopped parsley. If desired, chicken chikhirtma can be decorated with another slice of lemon. Immediately after this, we serve the dish on the dining table and treat friends and family with chikhirtma along with slices of bread and fresh green onions to taste.
Enjoy your meal!
Real chicken chikhirtma can also be seasoned with cornmeal. Then the taste of the soup will be even richer and more aromatic.
Instead of fresh parsley, you can add chopped cilantro to the soup.
If desired, you can add not eggs to chicken chikhirtma, but only chicken yolks with lemon juice.
If you don’t have a manual juicer at hand, don’t worry, because you can squeeze the juice from a lemon with your hands.
To prepare chikhirtma, it is best to use broiler chicken, since such meat boils faster and turns out very soft and tender.
