🇬🇪 Georgia · Kakheti and Kartli
ChikhirtmaGeorgian chicken and egg soup
A Georgian chicken soup with sautéed onion, thickened with a little flour and beaten eggs stirred in with vinegar (or lemon), seasoned with cinnamon and saffron and finished with coriander.
Origin and history
Georgia's tourism board calls chikhirtma the king of Georgian soups and says it is most popular in Kakheti and Kartli, where it is a winter fireside dish, and is now on most restaurant menus across the country. According to one tradition it took shape in the reign of King Erekle, when turkey was the main meat before chicken and lamb replaced it; the page's 19th-century dating does not fit Erekle II, who reigned in the 18th, so treat the story with care.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 1 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 40 min
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg3.3 lb chicken, a hen or whole chicken cut up; add wings for a gelatinous broth
- 2.5 l10 cups cold water
- 4 onions, 1 finely chopped for sautéing, the rest left whole in the stock
- 1-2 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp wine vinegar, 1 tbsp for the flour, 1 tbsp for the eggs
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 bunch fresh coriander (cilantro), tied with string
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon, to taste
- 5-6 drops saffron infusion, a pinch of saffron steeped in 2 tbsp hot water
- 1 pinch black pepper, to taste
- salt, to taste
Method
-
1. Put the chicken in a large pot, cover with the cold water, bring to a boil and skim off the foam; discard the first water if you like a very clear soup.
-
2. Add the 3 whole onions and a little salt and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
-
3. Lift out the chicken, salt it lightly, and when cool enough pull the meat from the bones and shred it. Strain the broth and skim off about 2 tbsp of the fat into a clean pot.
-
4. Sauté the chopped onion in that fat over medium heat until soft and still pale.
-
5. Whisk the flour with 1 tbsp of vinegar and a cup of cool broth until smooth, and pour it over the onion.
-
6. Gradually add 7 to 8 cups (about 1.8 l) of the hot broth, stirring, and bring to a boil.
-
7. Add the bunch of coriander and simmer for about 30 minutes, then lift it out and discard it.
-
8. Add the cinnamon, pepper, saffron infusion and salt and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more.
-
9. Take the pot off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Beat the eggs with the remaining vinegar and pour them into the soup in a thin stream, stirring constantly.
-
10. Stir in the shredded chicken, check the salt and serve warm; do not boil it again.
Notes
- The egg liaison is the point: eggs beaten with vinegar are stirred in once the soup has cooled slightly, so it turns creamy and slightly sour without curdling. Stir constantly and never let the soup boil afterwards.
- Quantities follow Georgia's tourism board: 4 to 5 onions (one minced), 2 tbsp wine vinegar, 1 to 2 tbsp flour, 1 bunch of coriander, 2 eggs and 5 to 6 drops of saffron infusion, with 7 to 8 cups of broth. The page gives no chicken weight (it says a hen), no spice amounts and no water volume; those, and keeping the other onions whole in the stock, are our estimates. A Georgian recipe blog uses a whole chicken, 3 l water, 2 onions, 3 tbsp flour, 3 tbsp vinegar, 70 g coriander and bay leaves, with 5 eggs.
- The tourism board advises using herbs and spices sparingly, adds that Kakheti cooks prize chicken wings because their gelatin thickens the broth, and says the herbs and vinegar can also be added separately at the table. Herb garnishes vary: some use only coriander, others add dill and mint, and an 1885 cookbook included tarragon.
- Milk Street, drawing on a Georgian cookbook, uses chicken legs instead of a whole bird, a roux, egg yolks, lemon juice, and dill and cilantro with garlic. Lemon can replace the vinegar, as many modern cooks do.
- It resembles Greek avgolemono in its egg-and-acid finish, but chikhirtma has its own onion, flour and spice base. See the avgolemono page.
- Make the broth a day ahead; add the egg mixture only when you are ready to serve.
Adapted from Georgia Travel (Georgian National Tourism Administration): Chikhirtma (English and Georgian pages), Georgian Recipes: Chikhirtma, and Milk Street: The Chicken or the Egg in Chikhirtma? Both.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.