Shkmeruli, Traditional Georgian Dishes

Shkmeruli is a chicken fried until golden brown in a spicy milk-garlic sauce, a favorite dish for many meat lovers who visit Georgia. Its name is derived from its birthplace, the village of Shkmeri in Georgia’s mountainous Racha Region.

According to legend, a local ruler wishing to diversify his menu spontaneously ordered his personal chef to create a completely new dish for him. Pressed for time, the chef decided to use only ingredients which he already had on hand: chicken, milk, garlic and spices. The king was delighted with the chicken in milk-garlic sauce which he was served, and today this now-famous Georgian dish is eaten throughout the country, with nearly every holiday gathering and large restaurant including shkmeruli in a pan on its menu.

The classic shkmeruli recipe involves roasting chicken in a ketsi, a traditional Georgian pan. In lieu of a ketsi, a regular skillet will also suffice, and occasionally shkmeruli is even cooked in the oven. The chicken is greased with sunflower oil or an equivalent, sprinkled with seasonings and salt and fried until golden brown. As it cooks, the sauce should be prepared. For the sauce, chopped garlic and the fat in which the chicken is fried is immersed into hot milk. The cooked chicken is cut into medium-sized pieces and added to the milk-garlic sauce. When serving shkmeruli, fresh vegetables, herbs and hot bread must be placed on the table.