Georgian Chicken Soup (Chikhirtma)
This pearly Georgian chicken soup (chikhirtma) is incredibly satisfying to make—while relatively hands-off—with all of the components are built from scratch.
- Makes6 servings
- Cook Time1 hr 45 min
- Active time plus cooling45 min active
- 9
We wanted a chicken soup that tastes fresh and light, yet also robust and satisfying. We found our answer in chikhirtma, a traditional soup from Georgia, the Eurasian country that bridges Turkey and Russia. Georgian cuisine often marries Western techniques with Eastern flavors. We used a recipe from Darra Goldstein, author of “The Georgian Feast,” as our starting point. Her chikhirtma calls for a whole chicken, but that much meat made the soup feel heavy, so we used just chicken legs. We built flavor with bunches of dill and cilantro stems and a head of garlic, as well as coriander, cinnamon and bay leaves.
Don’t substitute white meat. Bone-in dark meat is better suited to this recipe. The bones and collagen add flavor and body to the broth, and the dark meat is less apt to dry out.
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