Chicken Satsivi
The sight and smell of walnuts chopped is amazing and this dish is like nothing I have tasted before. I don’t know what alchemy turns finely ground walnuts into the creamiest (cream-free!) sauce I’ve ever had.
Chicken Satsivi
Prep: 30 to 40 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 chicken (about 4 pounds / 1.8 kg), whole or cut into pieces
Kosher salt
¼ cup (½ stick / 55 g) unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
8 cups (910 g) walnuts
1 tablespoon blue fenugreek
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon crushed saffron threads
2 cloves garlic, crushed with a garlic press
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more as needed
Method
Place the chicken in a large pot and cover with water by 3 inches. Season the water generously with several pinches of salt.
Bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the meatiest part of the thigh registers at least 180°F (80°C), 35 to 45 minutes.
Strain the chicken and reserve the broth separately. Place the chicken on a cutting board.
Set a broiler rack 6 inches (14 cm) below the heat source and set the broiler to high.
Cut the cooled chicken into 8 pieces (unless it is already cut up) and arrange the pieces skin side up on a baking sheet.
Sprinkle all over with salt. Broil until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Prepare the walnut sauce, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and a couple of pinches of salt and cook, stirring, until translucent and softened, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Process the walnuts in a food processor until very finely chopped. Transfer the nuts to a large bowl. Add the blue fenugreek, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, saffron, garlic, cayenne, and 1 teaspoon salt.
Use your hands to knead and rub the walnuts until they are very oily and stick firmly together when pressed between your fingers; this will take about 20 minutes.
Add the sautéed onions and about 1 cup (240 ml) of the reserved broth to the walnuts and stir until the mixture takes on the consistency of sour cream; the color will lighten considerably. Add more broth as necessary to loosen the walnuts.
Whisk enough broth into the walnut mixture to make it pourable, and pour it into the large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the pieces of chicken. Return to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer if necessary to reheat the chicken. Remove from the heat. Serve hot.