The Hirshon Georgian Chihirtma Soup – ჩიხირთმა

Ingredients

• For the broth:
• 1 chicken, bottled water to cover
• 2 small peeled and cut-up carrots
• 1 large onion, cut in half and unpeeled
• 1 large washed and peeled celery root
• 6 lightly crushed garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp. khmeli-suneli spice (buy it here)
• 2 tsp. black pepper
• For the soup:
• 5 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 tbsp. khmeli-suneli
• 1 large peeled onion cut into small
• 1 stick of butter
• 3 tbsp. grapeseed oil
• ½ cup flour
• 1 large pinch of saffron (or zaprana, if you want true authenticity - buy it here)
• 3 large eggs and separate out yolks (discard whites)
• Juice from ½ lemon
• ½ tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. zaprana (or substitute crumbled saffron)
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. minced fresh peppermint
• 1 tsp. freshly-ground seeds of coriander
• For Garnish, Per Bowl:
• 1 tsp. minced fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. of minced dill
• ½ tsp. minced mint
• ½ tsp. minced basil
• ½ tsp. minced parsley
• ½ tsp. minced celery leaves
• 1 slice of lemon

Instructions

1. Prepare a chicken stock from one chicken, bottled water to cover with two small peeled and cut-up carrots, one large onion, cut in half and unpeeled, one large washed and peeled celery root, 6 lightly crushed garlic cloves, cleaning the foam as the stock is lightly boiling on a slow heat.
2. Add 2 tbsp. khmeli-suneli spice (buy it here) and 2 tsp. black pepper about halfway through the cooking of the stock. When the stock is done, take out the chicken and separate meat from bones (discard bones). Let cool, then cut the meat into small cubes.
3. Add 5 cloves of minced garlic and 1 tbsp. khmeli-suneli to the meat, mix thoroughly and store in the fridge overnight.
4. The stock stays overnight on the cooktop cooling down, but take 1 cup of stock, separate from the rest and put in the fridge to have it completely chilled.
5. In the morning, remove the solids from the stock through a colander or cheesecloth and discard solids. Cut a large peeled onion into small dice and sauté it in the frying pan with a little salt using about one stick of butter and 3 tbsp. grapeseed oil until it begins to get golden.
6. Add ½ cup flour to it, stir thoroughly then start adding stock to the onion to keep it from burning and bring onion to the point it's almost dissolved to a paste (which takes a while).
7. Push the onion paste through the colander (at this point it is a paste) into a container and let it cool, add chilled stock.
8. Take a large pinch of saffron (or zaprana, if you want true authenticity - buy it here) and steep it with ½ cup of boiling water and let that cool. Take three large eggs and separate out yolks (discard whites), add the juice from ½ lemon to it and beat it together slowly, adding chilled stock and strained saffron liquid to it.
9. Add in ½ tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. zaprana (or substitute crumbled saffron), ¼ tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. minced fresh peppermint, and 1 tsp. freshly-ground seeds of coriander. Stir and reserve.
10. Heat the burner under the stock again and while mixing the stock, add a slow stream of egg/saffron liquid to it, do the same with the onion mix, bring soup to a slow boil and turn down the burner or turn it off completely depending if it's ready to be served.
11. While the soup is heating, put a frying pan with the chicken plus its garlic and spices on the stove with some butter so the chicken is fried nicely by the time the soup is ready to be served.
12. When ready to serve, add some chicken to each bowl, then add 1 tsp. minced fresh cilantro, 1 tsp. of minced dill and ½ tsp. minced mint, ½ tsp. minced basil, ½ tsp. minced parsley, ½ tsp. minced celery leaves and a slice of lemon. Pour soup over it and enjoy.

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