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AI-generated photograph: Crisp golden chicken thighs sitting in a shallow black clay pan of creamy white garlic sauce flecked with chopped garlic and green coriander, the pan on a dark wooden board, seen from a high three quarter angle

Home · Recipes · Shkmeruli, crisp chicken in garlic and milk

Georgian · Dinner

Shkmeruli, crisp chicken in garlic and milk

crisp roast chicken · garlic and milk · coriander

AI-generated photograph

Shkmeruli comes from Racha in the hills of western Georgia: chicken roasted until the skin is crisp, then bathed in a hot, creamy sauce of milk and a whole head of garlic. It is served bubbling in the pan with cornbread to mop up the sauce.

Contains: milk, as written. Milk (butter, whole milk and double cream). Chicken, garlic, oil, salt, pepper and coriander contain none of the 14.

Ingredients

  • 8 bone in, skin on chicken thighs (about 1.2kg)
  • 1 teaspoon fine salt
  • Half a teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
  • 25g butter
  • 1 whole head of garlic (about 12 cloves), finely chopped
  • 300ml whole milk
  • 100ml double cream
  • A small bunch of fresh coriander (about 15g), chopped

Plan a week with Georgian dishes

Let's cook

  1. Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan). Pat the chicken thighs dry with kitchen paper and season all over with the salt and pepper.
  2. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan or shallow flameproof dish on a medium high heat. Lay the thighs in skin side down and fry for 6 to 8 minutes without moving them, until the skin is deep golden and crisp.
  3. Turn the thighs skin side up and move the pan to the oven. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes until the skin is crackling crisp and the juices run clear. A thermometer in the thickest part, not touching the bone, should read at least 75C.
  4. Lift the chicken onto a warm plate and keep it warm. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pan.
  5. Put the pan on a low heat, add the butter and the garlic and cook gently for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring, until the garlic smells sweet and softens. Do not let it brown, or it turns bitter.
  6. Pour in the milk and cream, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until it thickens a little and coats the back of a spoon. Taste and add a pinch more salt if needed.
  7. Put the chicken back in the pan, skin side up, so the sauce comes halfway up the sides and the skin stays crisp. Bubble for 2 minutes more.
  8. Scatter over the coriander and take the pan to the table, with cornbread for the sauce.

Tips

  • Wash your hands, boards and knives in hot soapy water after handling raw chicken.
  • Cool leftovers within 2 hours and keep them covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat gently on the hob, adding a splash of milk, until piping hot all the way through.

Swaps

  • Lighter: use 400ml whole milk and leave out the cream; simmer the sauce for a minute or two longer.
  • Poussin, as in Georgia: roast 2 small spatchcocked poussins for 35 to 40 minutes instead of the thighs.

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

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