Chakhokhbili: Georgian Chicken Braised in Tomatoes and Herbs
Chakhokhbili (ჩახოხბილი) is Georgia's chicken and tomato stew, once made with pheasant. Learn how to brown the chicken, manage the moisture from onions and tomatoes, substitute for khmeli suneli, reduce canned tomatoes, add the herbs at the right moment, make it ahead and mop up the sauce with bread.
This recipe was translated from the Japanese original by the Sekai Gohan editorial team. Read the original (Japanese)
Prep25 min
Cook55 min
Total1 hr 20 min
Serves4 servings
LevelEasy
Browned chicken sinking into tomato steam
Once the chicken is browned and the onions and tomatoes go into the same pot, the evening kitchen suddenly turns red. The toasty smell of the skin meets garlic, coriander and bright green herbs, and the sauce starts to bubble. This isn't a stew thinned with water; it's a dish where the fat from the chicken and the juice of the tomatoes slowly come together.
Chakhokhbili (ჩახოხბილი / chakhokhbili) is a much-loved Georgian stew of chicken and tomatoes. The name is said to come from khokhobi, the Georgian word for pheasant: the dish was originally made with pheasant and has since spread as a home-cooked chicken dish that's far easier to manage. In a home kitchen, bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks work best. The bones give their savoriness to the sauce and round off the acidity of the tomatoes.
Bring chakhokhbili to the table in its pot and scoop up the tomato sauce with bread
The hard part isn't the ingredients but the moisture. Fresh tomatoes can taste thin depending on the season, and canned tomatoes are watery. Add too much water or broth here and instead of a red, herb-forward Georgian sauce you end up with a weak chicken-tomato soup. In this recipe the order is: brown the chicken to render its fat, cook the onions until sweet, reduce the tomatoes, and only then return the chicken.
Among Georgian chicken dishes, it's easy to see the difference when you set it beside shkmeruli (in Japanese), finished with garlic and dairy. For a bean side, try lobio (in Japanese); for cheese bread, khachapuri (in Japanese); and to build out a meat-centered table, shashlik (in Japanese) fits right in.
Where this recipe lands
This isn't the one correct version that sums up every Georgian family recipe. It uses easy-to-find bone-in chicken, ripe or canned tomatoes and a substitute spice blend for khmeli suneli, and puts the priority on bold, Georgian-style herbs and a sauce that isn't watered down.
Background: from pheasant to a home-style chicken stew
Georgia Travel introduces chakhokhbili as a dish that began with pheasant and explains that today it's usually made with chicken. The way the meat is first cooked in its own fat and juices, then in the juices of the vegetables, and finally in tomato juice is a useful key to understanding the dish. Recipes from Georgian Recipes and Georgian Eats share the same backbone: brown the chicken, then layer onions, tomatoes, garlic and herbs.
Plenty of tomatoes, onions and herbs make it easier to build both the moisture and the aroma of the sauce
The spice names are where people tend to get stuck. Georgian cooking calls for khmeli suneli, blue fenugreek, coriander and marigold, among others. Even if you can't find them all, a mix of coriander, dried basil, dried dill and a little fenugreek steers you toward that sweet, green aroma. On the other hand, patching the flavor with soy sauce or bouillon turns it into a different stew altogether; this dish is better tightened up with salt, acidity and herbs.
Georgian element
What to hold on to in a home kitchen
Pheasant or chicken
Use bone-in chicken and carry the browning and the flavor of the bones into the sauce
A braise without much added water
Reduce the juices of the tomatoes and onions and adjust with only a little liquid as needed
Khmeli suneli and blue fenugreek
Get close with coriander, dried dill, dried basil and a little fenugreek
A table generous with herbs
Add cilantro, flat-leaf parsley and basil at the end to keep their fragrance
Scooping up the sauce with bread
Serve baguette, pita, naan or khachapuri and finish every bit of sauce on the plate
Ingredients (serves 4): braised in the tomatoes' own juice
Bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks give the sauce body even with a shorter braise. Boneless thighs work too, but cut them into large pieces, about 5 cm (2 in), so they don't fall apart, and shorten the simmer in step 5 to around 12 minutes.
If you'd like the same tomato-and-herb direction with beef, move on to chashushuli (in Japanese), where the meat is seared hard and stewed down thick; it's an easy way to see the differences among Georgia's red stews.
Ingredient
Amount
Substitutes & notes
Bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks
900 g
About 2 lb. If using boneless thighs, 700 g (about 1 1/2 lb) cut into 5 cm pieces
Salt
1 1/2 tsp
1 tsp to season the chicken, 1/2 tsp to finish
Black pepper
1/2 tsp
Coarsely ground is best
Onions
2 (400 g)
Sliced 5 mm (1/4 in) thick
Garlic
3 cloves (18 g)
Remove the germ and mince
Ripe tomatoes
4 (600 g)
About 1 1/3 lb. Or 400 g canned diced tomatoes plus 1 fresh tomato
Tomato paste
1 tbsp
Especially helpful when using canned tomatoes
Vegetable oil
1 tbsp
2 tsp if the chicken has skin and plenty of fat
Khmeli suneli
2 tsp
See the substitution table below
Ground coriander
1 tsp
Grinding whole seeds gives a brighter aroma
Bay leaf
1
Too much and its aroma takes over
Dried red chile
1/2
Seeded and thinly sliced; 1/4 if you don't like heat
Red wine vinegar
2 tsp
Or 1 tsp pomegranate molasses plus 1 tsp water
Cilantro
30 g
About 1 oz. Mince the stems, roughly chop the leaves
Flat-leaf parsley
20 g
10 g if using curly parsley
Basil
10 g
Purple or sweet basil both work
Baguette or pita
For 4
Serve alongside for scooping up the sauce
Allergies and food safety
Make sure the chicken reaches an internal temperature of at least 75°C (167°F), and keep separate cutting boards and knives for raw meat and for vegetables. Wash the herbs well under running water and dry them before chopping. If you use pomegranate molasses, some products contain sugar or preservatives, so check the allergen label.
Ingredients and tools for this dish
Chicken, onions and tomatoes are easy to find at any supermarket. The items worth tracking down are whole coriander for aroma, pomegranate molasses to get closer to the Georgian sourness, and an instant-read thermometer to check that bone-in chicken is cooked through. Look for the first two at Middle Eastern or international grocers, or online.
Method: build the browning, then hand it to the tomatoes
If you start simmering in tomatoes right away, the surface of the chicken turns soft and the sauce never gets that toasty depth. Brown the chicken first, cook the onions in the same pot, reduce the tomatoes and then return the chicken, and even ordinary ingredients taste vivid.
Prep the chicken
12 min
Pat the 900 g of bone-in chicken dry, and where it will cut at the joints, divide it into easy-to-eat pieces 4–5 cm (1 1/2–2 in) wide. If using boneless thighs, cut them into 5 cm pieces. Rub 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper all over and let sit, skin side up, at room temperature for 10 minutes. You're looking for the chill to have eased off the surface and the salt to have settled in, slightly moist.
Trim the chicken to 4–5 cm pieces and let the salt settle in before browning so it seasons more deeply
Brown the chicken
12 min
Heat a heavy pot or deep skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes and spread 1 tbsp vegetable oil across it. Lay the chicken in skin side down and cook, still over medium heat, for 6 minutes. When the skin is a deep golden brown and releases naturally from the bottom of the pot, turn it and cook for 4 minutes more. Don't cook it all the way through; once the outside is browned, take it out for now.
Don't cook it through here; leave the toasty flavor of the skin in the pot
Cook the onions and garlic
10 min
Add the 400 g of onions, sliced 5 mm thick, to the same pot and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom with a wooden spoon as you stir. When the onions turn translucent, lower the heat, add 18 g garlic, 1/2 red chile and the bay leaf, and cook for 5 minutes. Stop when the edges of the onions are a light golden color and the garlic is fragrant.
Don't scorch the onions; move the chicken's browning into the sauce
Cook the tomatoes down
15 min
Cut the tomatoes into 1.5 cm (about 1/2 in) dice and add either 600 g ripe tomatoes or 400 g canned diced tomatoes plus 1 chopped fresh tomato. Stir in 1 tbsp tomato paste, 2 tsp khmeli suneli and 1 tsp ground coriander, and keep it at a steady bubble over medium-low heat. Simmer for about 8 minutes, and when a line drawn across the bottom of the pot with the spoon holds for about 2 seconds, season with 1/2 tsp salt.
Cook off the tomatoes' water until a spoon leaves a trail that lingers briefly
Return the chicken and simmer
18 min
Return the chicken to the pot along with its juices and spoon the sauce over it. Don't add water. Lower the heat to a gentle bubble, set the lid slightly ajar and simmer for 15 minutes, turning the pieces once halfway through. The chicken is done when a thermometer in the thickest part near the bone reads at least 75°C (167°F), or when a skewer brings out clear juices. Add 2 tbsp hot water only if the sauce looks like it might scorch.
Simmer over low heat and confirm the chicken has reached at least 75°C at the center
Finish with herbs and acidity
5 min
Turn off the heat. Roughly chop 30 g cilantro, 20 g flat-leaf parsley and 10 g basil into 5 mm pieces and add them. Drizzle in 2 tsp red wine vinegar and fold from the bottom about 6 times in big strokes. Stop when the sauce is glossy and the herbs, still bright green, are loosely bound into everything. Cover and let rest for 3 minutes so the green aroma of the herbs moves into the sauce. Place the chicken in the center of each plate, pour the red sauce around it and scatter a few of the herbs over the top.
Add the herbs after turning off the heat to keep their color and fragrance
Substitutions: aromas to protect, acidity you can swap
Chakhokhbili looks like any tomato stew, but its character is decided by the herbs and spices at the end. Rather than sourcing every Georgian ingredient, keeping to three rules makes it taste right at the table: brown the chicken, reduce the tomatoes, add the herbs last.
No khmeli suneli? Point it in the same direction with coriander, dried dill, dried basil and a little fenugreek
Tricky ingredient
How to substitute
Khmeli suneli
Combine 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp dried dill, 1/2 tsp dried basil and a pinch of fenugreek
Blue fenugreek
If you can't find it, use a tiny pinch of regular fenugreek. Too much turns bitter
Ripe tomatoes
Add 1 fresh tomato to 400 g canned diced tomatoes. With canned only, reduce thoroughly for 15 minutes
Cilantro
If you don't like it, increase the flat-leaf parsley to 30 g and the basil to 15 g
Red wine vinegar
1 tsp pomegranate molasses plus 1 tsp water, or 2 tsp white wine vinegar
Pheasant
At home, bone-in chicken thighs, drumsticks or chopped bone-in chicken are plenty. Breast alone dries out easily
If you want to widen the Georgian aromas a little more, a tiny pinch of Svanetian salt (in Japanese) at the end works well. Just don't make the stew itself too salty, or it'll feel heavy with bread; cook it with the salt in the recipe first and adjust on the plate.
Troubleshooting: watery, sour, tough chicken
Most problems with this dish come down to moisture and heat. When the tomatoes taste sharp, it's tempting to keep simmering, but chicken cooked too long tightens up. Reduce the tomatoes first, and once the chicken is back in, keep the finish short.
If it's watery, take out the chicken and reduce just the sauce; it's easy to bring back
Problem
Cause
Fix
Watery sauce
Tomatoes were very juicy, or the lid was shut tight
Take out the chicken and reduce just the sauce over medium heat for 5–7 minutes
Too sour
The acidity of canned tomatoes came forward
Next time, cook the onions more thoroughly. For this pot, add a pinch of salt and 1 tsp oil
Tough chicken
Kept at a hard boil, or simmered too long
Shred it back into the sauce and serve it piled on bread
Herbs turned dark and limp
Herbs went in while the sauce was boiling
Off the heat, add 10 g fresh herbs, cover and rest for 3 minutes
Flat flavor
Salt, acidity or herbs are too weak
Finish with a pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp vinegar and 10 g chopped herbs, in that order
Serving and storage: mop up the sauce with bread
Chakhokhbili is good with rice, but for a Georgian feel it's more fun with bread. After the chicken, wipe up the red sauce with a baguette or pita and you get the layers of tomato, chicken fat and herbs in a single bite. To lean into a Georgian spread, pair it with cheesy khachapuri (in Japanese), bean lobio (in Japanese) and garlicky chicken shkmeruli (in Japanese), setting out small portions of several rich dishes.
One cold side keeps the meal from getting tiring: thinly sliced cucumber tossed with a little salt and wine vinegar, sliced red onion, or a plate of leftover cilantro and parsley. On days you serve it over white rice, reduce the sauce a little thicker, stir in only half the herbs and add the rest at the table, so it's a dish with fresh aroma right before eating rather than a reheated tomato stew.
With bread on the side, not a drop of the rich tomato sauce goes to waste
Storage
Guideline
How to serve
Refrigerator
3 days
Transfer to a pot and warm over low heat for 8–10 minutes
Freezer
3 weeks
Thaw in the fridge for half a day; if the sauce separates, add 1 tbsp water
Make-ahead
Can be made the day before
Add the herbs and vinegar just before serving
Packed lunch
Not recommended
The herbs and watery tomato sauce don't travel well
FAQ
Can I make it with only boneless chicken thighs?
Yes. Cut 700 g into 5 cm pieces and change the browning in step 2 to 4 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes after turning. Simmer for about 12 minutes over low heat in step 5 and confirm an internal temperature of at least 75°C (167°F). The sauce will be lighter than with bone-in chicken, so increasing the tomato paste to 1 1/2 tbsp helps pull the flavor together.
Will it be sour if I use only canned tomatoes?
You can use only canned, but the acidity tends to come forward. With 400 g diced tomatoes, reduce them over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes in step 4, until the sauce is thick enough to hold a spoon trail. If it's still sour, the better fix for this dish is not sugar but cooking the onions more thoroughly next time.
I don't have khmeli suneli. Can I leave it out?
Leaving it out pushes the dish toward an ordinary tomato-chicken stew. Without khmeli suneli, substitute 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp dried dill, 1/2 tsp dried basil and a pinch of fenugreek. Fenugreek turns bitter if you add too much, so use just enough for aroma.
Wouldn't it be easier to braise with water or chicken broth?
Add 2 tbsp hot water only if it looks like it might scorch. Adding water or broth from the start thins the sauce and makes it far less satisfying to scoop up with bread. Use the juice of the tomatoes and the moisture of the onions, and simmer over low heat with the lid ajar, so both the chicken and the sauce keep their flavor.
Can I make it a day ahead?
It's well suited to that. Just save the herbs and vinegar for the next day. Cook the chicken and tomato sauce, refrigerate, then before eating rewarm over low heat for 8–10 minutes, turn off the heat and add the herbs and acidity; it will taste almost freshly made.
