Georgia · Meat Dishes
Satsivi (Georgian Chicken in Walnut Sauce)
Satsivi (also spelled satzivi, Georgian საცივი) is a Georgian cold dish: poached chicken or turkey in a sauce of ground walnuts, onion, garlic, and broth, spiced with blue fenugreek, marigold petals known as Imeretian…
Ingredients
- whole chicken1500 g
- water, for poaching2 l
- walnuts400 g
- medium onions (about 300 g)2 pcs
- garlic5 cloves
- butter40 g
- blue fenugreek (utskho suneli)1 tsp
- imeretian saffron (dried marigold)1 tsp
- ground coriander1 tsp
- cloves3 pcs
- cinnamon1 pinch
- ground red pepper0.25 tsp
- salt, divided2 tsp
- red wine vinegar1 tbsp
- fresh coriander1 bunch
- pomegranate seeds, to serve (optional)2 tbsp
Method
- 1Put the chicken in a pot with the water, one onion, and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, skim, and simmer on low for 50–60 minutes, until the meat comes away from the bone easily. Lift the chicken out, let it cool, and pull the meat off the bones in large pieces; the skin is optional and adds fat. Strain the broth and measure out 800 ml; keep the rest for soup.
- 2Optionally, brush the meat pieces with 15 g melted butter and roast them at 190°C for 20 minutes for a deeper flavour, then cool completely.
- 3Grind the walnuts through a meat grinder with a fine plate two or three times, until you have a soft, almost wet paste. A food processor works in short pulses; stop before it turns into nut butter, and do not run a blender continuously, as it gives an oily paste. The finer the grind, the smoother the sauce, and the more oil it releases.
- 4Finely chop the second onion and cook it gently in 25 g butter over low heat for about 10 minutes, until completely soft but not coloured.
- 5Pound the garlic with 1/2 tsp salt and mix it into the walnuts with the blue fenugreek, imeretian saffron, ground coriander, crushed cloves, cinnamon, red pepper, and most of the chopped fresh coriander; keep a few leaves for serving.
- 6Stir the walnut mixture into the softened onion, then add about 700 ml of the warm broth a ladleful at a time, stirring, until the sauce is the thickness of pouring cream. Make it slightly thinner than you want it on the plate, because it thickens as it chills; add up to 100 ml more broth if needed. Warm it on low heat, stirring constantly, until it is steaming hot, about 70–75°C. Small bubbles at the edge are fine, but never let it boil hard, or the walnut oil separates out.
- 7Season with the remaining 1/2 tsp salt, adjusting to taste, and the red wine vinegar. Add the chicken pieces, turn them in the sauce, and let everything cool to room temperature. Chill for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, until the sauce thickens. Serve cold with the reserved coriander and a few pomegranate seeds.