Also known as Chicken Sharkaseya, this is a delicious warming chicken and walnut sauce dish assembled with rice and caramelised onions
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
For the chicken & stock
1 whole chicken
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
1 large onion
2 whole garlic cloves
3 bay leafs
4 cardamom pods
3 cloves
5 whole black pepper corns
1 tsp sea salt
1 chicken stock cube
Garlic powder
For the walnut Sauce
150g walnuts
4 slices white bread
150-200ml double cream
Nutmeg
For the Paprika oil
1 clove garlic minced
2-3 tsp paprika
Olive oil
Other
Fresh chopped parsley
1 medium onion
For the Rice
1 cup rice
Pinch of salt
1 tsp cardamon powder
½ tbsp butter
1 tbsp oil
Instructions
Cook the chicken and make chicken stock
Wash and trim the chicken, put in a large pot with the stock cube, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leafs, cardamom pods, cloves, black pepper corns and salt.
Cover with water and gently bring to the boil and then simmer for 45-60 minutes until the chicken is cooked.
Once the chicken is cooked remove from the pot and place on a roasting tray. Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven on a high heat for 10-20 minutes or until golden brown, remember to baste periodically.
Check the seasoning of the chicken stock and adjust if needed, to concentrate the flavour of the stock return to the heat and allow to cook for a further 20-30 minutes.
Caramelise the onions
To make the caramelised onions, finely slice and fry the onions on a medium heat until golden brown. Adding a sprinkle (1/2 tsp) brown sugar also helps caramelisation, colour and flavour
For the Walnut Sauce
Remove the crust from the bread and soak the bread in some of the stock.
In a food processer blend the walnuts into a smooth paste.
Add the soaked bread and blend again
Gradually add some of the stock while blending until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Sieve the mixture into a sauce pan and bring to the boil, add more stock if the mixture is too thick.
Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, add a pinch of paprika and nutmeg.
Add the cream and warm through when ready to serve
To make the rice
Melt the butter in a little oil, add the rice, a pinch of salt and 1 tsp cardamom powder
Fry until the grains are all opaque
Add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of the chicken stock, cover and cook on a very low heat for 15-20 minutes or until all the water is gone and the rice is cooked.
To make the garlic paprika oil
Put the minced garlic, 1-2 tsp paprika in a pan and cover with olive oil and gently warm through until the garlic is cooked.
Assemble the Circassian Chicken
Tear the chicken into small pieces mixing some of the leg meat with some of the breast meat.
Place the chicken into the base of a bowl.
Add a layer of caramelised onions
Then top with the rice.
Invert the bowl onto your serving plate, cover with the walnut sauce, drizzle with the garlic oil and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.
Notes
Why not try a Vegetarian/Vegan Version
Substitute the chicken for mushrooms fried in Margarine or olive oil, and by using vegetable stock and omitting the cream from the sauce, you can easily make a vegan/vegetarian version
Recipe by MongolianKitchen.com at https://mongoliankitchen.com/circassian-chicken/