Chicken in cold walnut sauce (Satsivi)

1. Put the chicken in a large pot, cover with cold water, bring to the boil, skim off the foam, add salt and simmer gently for about 1 hour until the meat is tender; set aside 700 ml of the broth.

2. Place the cooked chicken in a roasting tin and brown the skin in a 200 °C oven for 15-20 minutes, then let it cool slightly and break it into large pieces (you can leave the bones in).

3. Grind the walnuts together with the garlic in a food processor or mincer until very fine, almost creamy – done well, the walnuts will even release some of their oil.

4. Finely chop the onions and soften in a little chicken fat or oil until translucent, then add the ground coriander seed, khmeli suneli and utskho suneli and stir for half a minute to release their aroma.

5. Gradually whisk the warm broth into the walnut paste, then add the spiced onions and the vinegar; heat gently for 5 minutes, stirring constantly (do not let it boil or the oil will separate), and season with salt and pepper – the sauce should have the consistency of thick cream.

6. Arrange the chicken pieces in a deep dish, pour over the still-warm sauce and chill for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight; serve cold with bread or gomi (soft cornmeal porridge).

Tip: Satsivi is the king of the New Year table in Georgia: the sauce really comes together the next day, so feel free to make it a day ahead. If you have no utskho suneli, a pinch of ground fenugreek seed works too.