After trying abkhazura and adjika I was excited about this hobby. I was ready to cook in my own kitchen. The next dish I picked was a chicken dish which included two sauces to make the dish. The name on the recipe was Abkahazian Chicken. I looked for what the more traditional name could be, but couldn’t find it. The recipe described it as the national dish.
The first step is to make purpuliga sauce. Which is a bland, salty, and spicy white paste.
The next step is a Walnut sauce, again I’m pretty sure their has to be a traditional name, but failed at finding that too. The purpuliga is added to the walnut sauce. I thought to toast the walnuts to give extra flavor. The sauce tasted like walnuts with a slight hint of onion. There was some spice that carried through from the purpuliga sauce but over all fairly bland.
Next step is to boil the chicken and cook some onions, at this point I realize this is not getting better, but I have to stick with it as its my dinner. I dilute the walnut sauce with chicken stock and pour it on the onions and chopped boiled chicken. The final step is to add olive oil and Cayenne pepper. I tried it and it tasted like spicy walnut oil. I let it cook while I made Abysta again and prayed it would get better.
At the store I couldn’t find fine cornmeal. So I made it with the medium grain. Knowing the water to cornmeal ration now the Abysta came out better. However the chicken didn’t improve with cooking time. The result was a bland mushy meal.
Thankfully I had some Adjika left over from the meal the night before, so I wasn’t going to starve.With the addition of the Adjika the meal was savable. Actually with a day of sitting, the Adjika had improved its taste. The meal may be appreciated by the the Abkhazian old world, but isn’t by this girl. I hope the next dish is better.
Recipes
Purpuliga Sauce
Original recipe can be found here
1 dozen hot red cayenne peppers, dried
3 Tbsp sea salt
½ cup shelled walnuts
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp coriander seed
½ tsp oregano, crushed
3 slices day old bread, soaked in water and squeezed gently
¼ cup water
Beginning with the hot peppers, put all items one by one into blender. After adding each ingredient whip until fine. Add enough water to make a thick paste.
Walnut Sauce
Original recipe can be found here
½ lb. shelled walnuts, crushed in blender
1 small onion, quartered
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp Purpuliga
4 slices day-old bread, soaked in water, squeezed dry
Water
Mix altogether in a bowl. Add water to thin just enough for the mixture to be properly whipped in blender. Put in blender and whip in quantities according to the size of the blender until no lump is left in it. You will obtain a sauce with the consistency of an ordinary porridge.
Abkhazian Chicken
Original recipe can be found here
1 chicken, 4-5 lb.
2 Tbsp salt
Water to cover
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 Tbsp butter
1 lb. Walnut Sauce (2x recipe)
1 cup chicken stock
¼ cup olive oil
Cayenne pepper or paprika
Cover chicken with water, add 2 Tbsp salt, put lid on pot and boil gently until cooked. Cool. Strain, retaining stock. Debone chicken and break into bite-sized pieces.
Saute the onion in the butter for 5 minutes, or until cooked. Add the chicken pieces and stir well.
Make a sauce by diluting 1 lb. walnut sauce (double the recipe on page 53), with 1 cup chicken broth. Blend thoroughly, adding more chicken broth as required, until the consistency of a normal white sauce is reached. Pour the sauce on the chicken in the cooker. Stir once. Leave on medium heat just to start bubbling. Take it off to the serving bowl. Let it cool.
In a small bowl mix olive oil and cayenne pepper. Blend thoroughly. (Paprika may be substituted for cayenne.) Pour over the dish, and serve.
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