Shkmeruli (Garlic Cream Chicken)

About This Recipe

Shkmeruli — named for the village of Shkmeri in the Racha region — is one of the most garlic-forward dishes you'll ever encounter. Whole chicken is pressed flat, fried until golden, then bathed in a cream sauce made with as many as 20 cloves of crushed garlic and a splash of milk. The result is intensely savoury, intensely garlicky, and completely transformative. It went viral after spreading from village kitchens to Tbilisi restaurants in the 2010s.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 wholechicken(spatchcocked, ~1.5 kg)
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspfreshly ground black pepper
• 60 gbutter
• 30 mlvegetable oil
• 20 clovesgarlic(yes, twenty — minced and crushed to paste)
• 300 mlwhole milk
• 100 mldouble cream
• 1 tspsalt
• 1/2 tspwhite pepper
• 1 small bunchfresh coriander(chopped, to serve)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare chicken

   Spatchcock the chicken (cut down both sides of backbone, remove, flatten). Season with salt and pepper.

2. 2

   Fry chicken

   Heat butter and oil in a large heavy frying pan or skillet. Place chicken skin-side down. Weigh down with a smaller pot or foil-wrapped brick. Fry 12 min on medium-high — skin should be deeply golden and crisp.

3. 3

   Flip and finish

   Flip chicken. Cook another 8 minutes until cooked through (74°C in thigh). Lift out and rest.

4. 4

   Make sauce

   Pour off excess fat, leaving 2 tbsp in pan. Add garlic paste off heat — it must not burn. Stir 30 seconds in residual heat.

5. 5

   Add dairy

   Return to low heat. Add milk and cream. Whisk and bring to a gentle simmer. Add salt and white pepper. Cook 4 minutes until slightly thickened.

6. 6

   Combine

   Cut chicken into 4 portions. Return to pan, skin side up, into the sauce. Spoon sauce over the top.

7. 7

   Serve

   Bring whole pan to the table. Sprinkle with coriander. Serve with crusty bread to mop the sauce — that's the whole point.

Variations

• •

  Use 6 chicken thighs instead of whole chicken — more reliable, juicier

• •

  Add 1 tsp blue fenugreek (utskho suneli) for traditional Georgian aroma

• •

  Substitute milk with chicken stock + extra cream for richer sauce

Storage

Refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat very gently — sauce can split if boiled.

Frequently Asked Questions