Satsivi — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Cold poached chicken or turkey bathed in a velvety walnut sauce spiced with cinnamon, cloves, saffron, and fenugreek — the essential Georgian New Year dish.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken or turkey
300g walnuts
3 large onions, finely diced
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp blue fenugreek
Half tsp ground cinnamon
Quarter tsp ground cloves
Pinch of saffron threads
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 egg yolks
Salt and pepper
Fresh cilantro and pomegranate seeds

Instructions

1 Poach the whole chicken in salted water with onion and bay leaves for sixty minutes until tender, then reserve the broth.
2 Joint the chicken into serving pieces and arrange on a platter while you prepare the walnut sauce using the reserved broth.
3 Saute diced onions until golden, then grind walnuts with garlic, all spices, and vinegar in a food processor until very smooth.
4 Combine the walnut paste with sauteed onions and gradually add chicken broth, stirring until you reach a pourable sauce consistency.
5 Temper egg yolks with warm sauce, stir back in, and cook gently for five minutes without boiling to thicken the sauce further.
6 Pour the walnut sauce over the chicken pieces, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight and serve cold next day.

Did You Know?

No Georgian New Year table is complete without satsivi — serving it warm is considered a serious culinary faux pas as the cold sauce is essential.