The classic recipe for kharcho soup involves the use of beef. But as modern cooking tends more and more towards variability, cooking it in chicken broth is no longer nonsense. Chicken kharcho soup is rather a reasonable compromise between a rich, hearty and dense first course (in the best traditions of Georgian national cuisine) and the ability to reduce the high calorie content of a dish with the help of chicken meat.
Family soup kharcho
Ingredients:
- chicken or turkey - 1 kg;
- round rice - 0.5 cups;
- onion - 1 pc.;
- fresh carrots - 1 pc.;
- tomato paste - 2 tablespoons;
- garlic - 4 cloves;
- butter - 2 tablespoons;
- fresh greens - 50-70 g;
- water - 2.5 l;
- salt to taste.
The recipe is not accidentally called "Family". It has no sour base, hot and pungent spices, so it can be offered for lunch even to children.
Cut the chicken into pieces, put in a saucepan, cover with water and cook over medium heat under a lid for 30-40 minutes. While the chicken is cooking, peel and finely chop the carrots, onions and garlic (save 2 cloves of garlic for dressing). Dissolve the butter in a skillet and fry the carrots and onions in it for 3-4 minutes with constant stirring. Add the tomato paste and garlic a minute before the end of frying. Simmer, stirring occasionally, over low heat for 5-8 minutes.
Rinse the rice under running water and pour into a saucepan, after 10 minutes, salt the broth. When the rice is done, transfer the stews to a saucepan. Serve the kharcho soup with the dressing, which is prepared as follows: peel and chop the garlic, rinse thoroughly and finely chop the herbs. Mix the garlic with herbs, salt and grind the mixture in a mortar to make the juice stand out. When serving, crumble the dressing into kharcho soup, laid out in portioned plates.
Spicy kharcho soup
Ingredients:
- chicken - 1 pc.;
- onions - 4 pcs.;
- walnuts - 2 cups;
- garlic - 4-5 cloves;
- fresh greens - 100 g;
- acidic base - 0.5 cups;
- lemon juice - 2-3 tablespoons;
- spices to taste;
- salt to taste.
An acidic base means tkemali sauce, pomegranate or tomato juice, sour berry or fruit puree. The set of spices is arbitrary, but saffron, cloves, black pepper and chilli pepper (pod) are required.
Cut the chicken into pieces, fill with water so that it barely covers the chicken pieces, put on fire. As soon as it boils, remove the foam, reduce heat to low, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 1 hour (cooking kharcho soup according to this recipe allows adding water to the pan as it boils down).
Peel and chop the onion, add it to the broth and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Then add the acidic base and lemon juice. Simmer the soup over very low heat for 10 minutes. During this time, prepare the nuts and spices. To do this, grind the nuts a little in a blender (not very finely, not into flour), and pour the spices with boiling broth in a separate cup, cover with a lid and leave for 10 minutes, then strain.
Add the nuts and pour the infused and strained broth into a saucepan. Stir, turn off the heat and let the soup stand, covered, for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle the kharcho with chopped fresh herbs before serving.
