A rustic Georgian chicken stew braised in ripe tomatoes with onions, herbs, and a generous hand of garlic — the weeknight comfort food of every Georgian household.
The name Chakhokhbili comes from the Georgian word for pheasant (khokhobi), because the dish was originally made with wild game birds hunted in the Caucasus mountains. Today chicken is universal, but the method — braising the meat in its own juices with tomatoes and herbs rather than adding stock — remains the same. This is a pantry dish, a weekday dish, the thing a Georgian mother makes when there is little time. It requires almost no technique: brown the chicken, cook down the onions and tomatoes until everything is soft and fragrant, then simmer until the sauce concentrates around the meat. The herb finishing — fresh cilantro, fenugreek leaf, basil — goes in at the last minute so it stays bright. The key decision is the tomatoes: they must be genuinely ripe and sweet. In Georgia this is easy in summer when the markets overflow with Caucasian tomatoes so ripe they split open in the hand. Chakhokhbili is eaten with mchadi (cornbread) or lavash, the sauce soaked up completely.
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