Georgian Walnut Chicken

Okay, strap yourself in for some former Soviet delicacies! I am just back from a holiday in Russia and I ate A LOT. And discovered Georgian food. And I’m in love. Russian food was lovely, but Georgian food was a complete surprise. It totally wasn't on my radar as a top cuisine, but I enjoyed everything I ate in the many Georgian restaurants we frequented. They have this beefy tomato rice soup called kharcho which is incredible (and coming up on the blog!), and these amazing dumplings called khinkali! Which I might not make because they looked like they would be difficult to put together.

But my favourite thing was this walnut chicken stew dish which is flavourful, warming, delicately spiced and super-duper delicious. So, as I always do, I got home and immediately googled some recipes and got the basics down. And I added a few spiced additions just to get it close to the one I had in St Petersburg.

This is super easy to make, with an incredible creamy sauce (always my favourite part of any meal). You can easily double the paste ingredients to allow you to make this again quickly. Because you will want to. Because it’s delicious.

Serves 4

Ingredients for the walnut paste

• 70g walnuts
• 1 red chilli, deseeded
• ¼ bunch coriander
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 180ml chicken stock

Ingredients for the rest

• 3-4 chicken breasts, roughly diced into 3-4 big pieces
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 500ml chicken stock
• Some coriander, to finish
• Rice and flatbread to serve

Method

First, make the paste. Stick all the ingredients apart from the chicken stock into a food processor and blitz, drizzling in the stock to bring it all together as a lovely thick paste.

Next, chop up the chicken and fry it off in the oil for a few minutes until browned on the outside. 

Remove to a plate and set aside.

Throw the red onion in the pan (you might need a little more oil) and fry for 5 minutes, adding the garlic in at the end and giving it a good stir. Add in the spices and stir.

Throw in the flour and mix through well.

Pour the stock in very gradually and mix well, until you get a smooth sauce.

Turn up the heat, bring to the boil and add all of the walnut paste.

Stir well.

That sauce, tho

Throw in the browned chicken and stir.

Turn down the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 25 minutes.

Serve with bread and/or rice (I always do both) and sprinkle some coriander on top.