Shkmeruli — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Crispy pan-fried chicken pieces smothered in an outrageously garlicky cream and milk sauce, baked in a clay ketsi until bubbling and golden.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, jointed into pieces
1 head garlic, minced
250ml whole milk
200ml heavy cream
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp sunflower oil

Instructions

1 Season chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper, then sear in hot oil in a cast-iron skillet until deeply golden on all sides.
2 Remove chicken and set aside, then melt butter in the same skillet, add all the minced garlic and cook gently for two minutes.
3 Pour in the milk and cream, stir to combine with the garlic and pan drippings, and bring to a gentle simmer while stirring.
4 Place the seared chicken pieces in a clay ketsi or baking dish and pour the garlic cream sauce generously over the top.
5 Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for twenty-five minutes until the sauce is bubbling vigorously and the chicken is cooked through.
6 Let rest five minutes before serving directly from the ketsi with crusty bread to soak up every drop of the garlicky sauce.

Did You Know?

Shkmeruli went viral in Japan in 2020 when a convenience store chain created a shkmeruli rice bowl, briefly making it more popular in Tokyo than in Tbilisi.