Chicken in a thick, spiced walnut sauce with garlic, coriander and saffron — Georgia's iconic Christmas and New Year dish.
Satsivi — meaning 'cold' in Georgian — is a celebration dish served at Christmas, New Year and major feasts. Poached chicken is bathed in a thick, deeply complex walnut sauce flavoured with garlic, coriander, blue fenugreek, marigold and saffron, then chilled overnight to allow the walnut oil to bloom on top. It is unapologetically rich and unmistakably Georgian.
Serves 6
Place chicken in pot with onion halves, bay, peppercorns, salt and water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 45 min until cooked through. Cool in broth 20 min.
Lift chicken out. Reserve 700ml of the strained broth. Carve chicken into 8–10 serving pieces (or pull off bones for ease).
Lightly fry the cooked chicken pieces in 1 tbsp oil 4 min until skin is golden — adds depth, but can skip.
Blend walnuts, garlic, fresh coriander, all spices, vinegar, pomegranate molasses and 200ml of the broth into a thick smooth paste. Squeeze the paste through a sieve or muslin to extract walnut oil — reserve oil. (This is traditional but optional — skip for less work.)
Place walnut paste in a pan. Whisk in 500ml broth gradually. Heat gently to a bare simmer, whisking — sauce should be like thick gravy. Adjust salt.
Add chicken pieces to sauce. Coat thoroughly. Cool to room temperature.
Cover and refrigerate 4 hours minimum, ideally overnight. Sauce will thicken significantly and walnut oil bloom on top.
Serve cold or at room temperature. Drizzle with reserved walnut oil, top with pomegranate seeds. Eat with crusty bread to mop the sauce.
The straining step extracts walnut oil for the signature golden bloom — skip if pressed for time.
Make a day ahead — the dish improves dramatically overnight.
Turkey satsivi — traditional Georgian Christmas version
Add a small pinch of bukhnabsi (Georgian dried summer savory)
Serve with mchadi cornbread for a fully traditional supra spread
Keeps 5 days in fridge. Always serve cold or just slightly chilled — never hot.
Satsivi is one of the oldest dishes in Georgian cuisine, mentioned in 12th-century texts. Walnut sauces are a Caucasian specialty, and satsivi represents the most refined expression. Christmas Eve and New Year's table without satsivi is unthinkable in a traditional Georgian home.
The cold setting allows the walnut sauce to bloom and the oils to separate naturally. Hot satsivi is wrong.
Common with walnut sauces — whisk in cold broth a tablespoon at a time if it breaks.
Per serving · 6 servings total
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