Every nation has national dishes that are known throughout the world. Russian cabbage soup and dumplings have an unforgettable taste, and Ukrainian dumplings with various fillings are prepared in almost every home. The cuisine of the Caucasian people also has its secrets. Thus, in Georgia, one of the most common dishes is tabaka chicken cooked in a frying pan. Its recipe is famous far beyond the borders of Georgia, and you can hardly meet a housewife who has not prepared this delicious dish at least once in her life.

History of the name

Many, seeing the name of the dish, probably wonder: why tobacco? Indeed, the name is unusual. But the explanation is quite simple. In general, in Georgian the dish is called chicken tapaka, which means fried in tapa. Tapa is a special frying pan that has thick walls and a deep bottom - this is what allows it to heat up well from all sides.

However, when translated, this word was changed to tobacco, and today the dish is known throughout the world under this name. So on the menu of many restaurants we see a name that is already familiar to us - chicken tabaka in a frying pan.

What ingredients will be needed for cooking?

The recipe for this dish has many variations, so the ingredients may vary slightly. Let's figure out what products are needed to cook tobacco chicken in a frying pan under pressure according to the Georgian recipe.

So, to prepare a real Georgian delicacy, we will need the following ingredients:

• chicken carcass weighing about 1 kg;
• sour cream - 3 tbsp. l.;
• oil for frying - 1 tbsp. l. cream and 1 tbsp. l. sunflower;
• Georgian adjika - 2 tsp;
• pepper, salt, hops-sumelli (to taste).

For the sauce we need to prepare 2 tbsp. l. broth, salt, 2 cloves of garlic and dried coriander.

You can also add hot red pepper if you like spicy dishes. However, you need to be careful with its proportions so as not to spoil the taste. Instead of sour cream, you can use homemade cream, then the chicken meat will be more tender.

How to cook tobacco chicken in a frying pan: step-by-step recipes

Cooking any dish begins with preparing the ingredients. In our case, we need to properly cut the chicken carcass. It's easy to do:

1. The carcass must be washed thoroughly.
2. Next, you need to cut it lengthwise along the breast and spread it out well.
3. Then you should beat off the carcass from the inside.
4. Then you need to rub it with spices, salt, adjika and leave for 2-3 hours so that the meat is soaked. Now you can choose a recipe and cook.

A simple recipe for chicken tabaka

If you need to quickly prepare dinner or lunch, you can use a simple recipe:

Chicken tabaka according to Georgian recipe

1. If you have enough time for cooking and you want to pamper your family with a real Georgian dish, then you need to use this recipe:
2. We cut the carcass, treat it with various spices and leave it to soak as described above.
3. Place the chicken in a preheated frying pan, cover with a lid and press. Fry over low heat for about 20 minutes, then turn over and fry on the other side.
4. Place the finished meat on a plate, and the fat remaining in the pan can be used for sauce.

Prepare the sauce as follows:

1. Grind coriander, salt, hot pepper and garlic in a mortar.
2. Place the resulting mass in a frying pan with the fat remaining after frying the chicken.
3. Fry for about 30-40 seconds and fill with pre-prepared broth (or water).
4. Cook for about 3-5 minutes and turn off.
5. The sauce is ready and the chicken is ready to be served.

Other cooking methods

As already mentioned, there are many ways to prepare this amazing and delicate-tasting dish. The principle of the cooking process is the same, but the ingredients and sauce may differ. If you want to cook chicken with a crispy crust, then before frying it you need to generously grease it with mayonnaise or sour cream, and add more butter to the pan. You can also cook chicken with stewed vegetables.

Borani: Tabaka chicken cooked with vegetables

Borani is a dish of Armenian cuisine. To prepare it you will need the following ingredients:

Compound:

• eggplants - 7-10 pcs. (average);
• chicken carcass;
• refined vegetable oil - 100-150 g;
• 7-8 small onions;
• cilantro and basil (chopped) - 1-2 tbsp each. l.;
• salt - 2 tsp.

It is also advisable to add mint, cinnamon and saffron.

Preparation:

We already know how to cook chicken, now let’s figure out how to stew eggplants for it:

Chicken tabaka in a frying pan with giblets

This is an exquisite and unusual dish that will appeal to all family members. To prepare it, you need to stock up on chicken carcass and giblets. This delicacy is prepared as follows:

1. We cut the chicken in the same way as according to the classic recipe, rub it with turmeric, salt and seasonings.
2. Place the chicken in a frying pan, around it - the neck, heart, liver, stomach, legs (they must be salted first).
3. Fry on both sides: when turning the chicken, do not forget about the giblets.
4. Fry over low heat for about 45 minutes.
5. Before serving the delicacy, sprinkle it with herbs.

What sauce goes with chicken tabaka?

You can buy ready-made chicken sauce. Any Georgian sauce will suit it, of which there are many in every supermarket. However, you can cook it yourself - it won’t take much time, and it will give the dish a unique taste.

The simplest sauce is garlic sauce. You can prepare it in 5 minutes, using ingredients that are always in the kitchen of any housewife: garlic, sour cream, herbs and salt. The method for preparing it is as follows:

1. Drain any fat remaining in the pan after frying the chicken into a small container.
2. Add garlic, after squeezing it through a press, and add salt.
3. Pour in sour cream: the amount is determined depending on what consistency you want the sauce to be.
4. Mix everything thoroughly, using a blender, and cool.
5. Basil, cilantro and other spices are also commonly added to garlic sauce.

Little secrets of cooking delicious chicken tabaka

Each dish has its own cooking secrets, which experienced chefs share with each other:

• Instead of chicken, you can cook chicken, but just remember that you need to fry it longer;
• To keep the chicken crust crispy, you do not need to pour sauce over it, but it is better to serve it in a separate bowl;
• if there is no special frying pan for cooking tobacco chicken, then it is better to use cast iron products, and take a pan or kettle with water as pressure;
• If you rub chicken with garlic, it is advisable to do this after it has been cooked to avoid a bitter aftertaste.

There are quite a few ways to cook tobacco chicken in a frying pan; you just need to choose the recipe you like best. Be creative and don’t be afraid to experiment: add something new to recipes. The main thing is to remember that any dish will have an unsurpassed taste if you cook it with soul and good mood.

Chicken tabaka (tapaka) is a popular dish inspired by Georgian cuisine. In the original, the bird is cooked in a special tapa frying pan equipped with a flat lid, under the weight of which the chicken is thoroughly fried inside and covered with a crispy crust on the outside. However, inventive housewives, using the means at hand, came up with another cunning way to get a similar dish.

Thus, to cook tobacco chicken at home, it is not at all necessary to purchase special utensils; it is enough to use a regular frying pan (or grill pan, as in our case), and use any container filled with water as a load.

Ingredients:

• chicken - 1 kg;
• vegetable oil - 30-50 ml;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• salt, spices - to taste.

Chicken tabaka recipe in a frying pan with photo

1. Wash the chicken thoroughly, remove excess moisture by blotting it with a napkin or paper towel. We cut the clean bird carcass with a sharp knife along the spine or breast. Next, wrap the workpiece in cling film and beat it thoroughly on both sides, being careful not to damage the skin.
   
2. Having removed the film, rub the chicken on both sides with salt, garlic passed through a press and spices, for example, sweet paprika, suneli hops, hot pepper, etc. You can even get by with just salt and garlic - it all depends on personal culinary preferences.
   
3. Heat a large, thick-bottomed frying pan with vegetable oil over high heat. Place the flattened carcass, skin side down, on a hot surface. Cover the bird with a sheet of foil and place a load on top, for example, a large pan filled with water. Fry the chicken over medium heat for about 20 minutes. During this time, the underside should be well browned and covered with an appetizing crust.
   
4. Next, carefully turn the bird over and fry again under load for about 20 minutes. We check readiness: plunge the knife into the thickest part of the carcass. If the blade enters freely enough and clear juice is released from the meat, remove the pan from the stove. If the outside of the chicken is very browned, but the inside remains damp, reduce the heat to low and simmer the chicken under pressure until fully cooked.
   
5. Serve a freshly prepared dish with fresh vegetables and/or side dishes. Also, chicken tabaka is in perfect harmony with garlic or tomato sauce.
   

Enjoy your meal!

Prepare the ingredients.

Wash the chicken and dry well with paper towels.
Place the chicken on a cutting board, breast side up, and cut open the breast.

Flatten the chicken carcass until it is flat.
Rub the chicken with coarse salt.

The chicken carcass needs to be made as flat as possible so that its skin is in maximum contact with the surface of the pan and a uniform crispy crust is formed over the entire surface. To do this, it is better to turn the chicken upside down, cover it with cling film (to avoid splashes) and beat it well with a hoe (especially the joints).
I did not beat the chicken (there was no way to make noise :)) and as a result, the skin of the chicken did not brown over the entire surface; the greater blush was on the wings. Fortunately, this did not affect the taste for the worse, but it is better not to neglect this nuance and get the perfect result;)

Also, to ensure more uniform frying and maximum contact of the chicken skin with the bottom of the pan, during frying, it must be pressed down with pressure.

IN cast iron pour a little vegetable oil (1 tbsp) into a frying pan, add butter and let the oil heat up well (I would recommend frying in melted butter).
Place the chicken, back side up, in the hot oil.

Fry for about 5 minutes over high heat, covered, until lightly browned.
Then turn the breast side up and fry over high heat, covered, for about 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to low, cover the chicken with an inverted flat plate and press down with pressure (for example, a pan of water).
Cook for about 20-30 minutes.
If we bring the chicken to readiness in this simple way, it will be called tabaka chicken (tapaka).
But you can make the chicken even tastier. Then add garlic to it and get a new dish - chkmeruli. It's simple! :))
For the version with garlic, after 20 minutes of frying over low heat, pour the chicken with niortzkali garlic sauce (see sauce recipe below), increase the heat to high, and fry for about 7-10 more minutes so that excess moisture evaporates and the chicken is completely cooked .

Sauce niortskali.
Place peeled, coarsely chopped garlic cloves in a mortar and add a pinch of coarse salt.
Grind the garlic with salt until a homogeneous mass is formed (if you don’t have a mortar, crush the garlic using a garlic squeezer and mix with a pinch of salt).

Transfer the garlic pulp into a cup or bowl, add boiled cold water and stir. The sauce is ready!

Niortskali sauce is a simple rustic garlic sauce. Part of the sauce is added when frying the tabak chicken, and the remaining sauce can be served with the chicken and Georgian lavash can be dipped into it during the meal (for my taste, a little olive oil will not hurt the sauce so that it is not too watery, although it tastes oilless not bad at all) ;)

What to do if you didn’t buy a young chicken? Cooking with broiler! It also needs to be flattened and rubbed with salt. Fry under pressure on both sides until golden brown, over high heat, and place on a baking sheet. By the way, if you need to cook not just one chicken, but several pieces, fry them one by one under pressure in a frying pan and place them on a baking sheet. Bake until done (time will depend on the weight of the chickens). If the chicken is ready, when you pierce the thickest part with a wooden skewer, clear juice will come out.

Transfer the finished chicken to a plate and serve immediately.

Chicken tabaka in Georgian sounds like “tsitsila tapaka”. Tapa is a Georgian frying pan with a ribbed surface and a heavy cast-iron lid on which chicken is fried with garlic and spices. In Soviet times, such frying pans were very rare in stores, so enterprising and resourceful housewives used ordinary cast iron frying pans and simply placed a heavy iron, sports weight, brick or pan of water on top. Even in such conditions, the meat turned out to be very tasty, which was generously sprinkled with black pepper and spices. It seemed that the chicken was sprinkled with tobacco, so they began to call it that - tobacco chicken, but the word “tapak” did not take root in our Russian reality.

Secrets of cooking Tabaka chicken: preparing the meat for frying

The correct cooking technology begins with choosing a carcass in the store. For this dish, you need to take a young chicken, not chicken, since chickens have tender and soft meat. In addition, the chickens are small and will fit whole in the pan, but the chicken will have to be cut up, it will turn out to be a completely different dish. The weight of the chicken should ideally not exceed 0.5 kg. If there are paws and a head with a neck, they need to be removed.

First, the chicken is cut in half along the breastbone, then each half of the carcass is slightly turned out, placed on a flat surface with the back up and pressed so that the carcass opens. Films, veins and blood clots must be removed. Now you need to turn the chicken “wrong side” up and lightly beat it with a hammer. Next, all that remains is to rub it with salt, pepper and chopped garlic on all sides, and grease the inside with sour cream. Do not get carried away with the hammer, otherwise you will end up with meat full of bones. The most important thing is that the chicken is flat and well-fried - in fact, this is precisely the purpose for beating the meat. Some recipes suggest wrapping the chicken carcass in a plastic bag and pounding it on all sides, not just the inside.

Marinate and fry chicken tabaka

There are different ways to prepare tobacco chicken; for example, some housewives marinate the meat in spices before frying. For this, garlic, marjoram, suneli hops, cilantro, basil and other aromatic herbs are used. The chicken is rubbed with spices, coated with adjika and left for 20-30 minutes, sometimes for a couple of hours. If the meat is too tough, marinate the chicken in vinegar or lemon juice to make it more tender and piquant. When marinating, you can lightly press down the chicken with something heavy, since under pressure it is more quickly saturated with the aroma of spices.

The chicken is fried in butter or ghee and placed in a frying pan with the inside down, greased with sour cream, and a load is placed on top. Fry over high heat under a heavy lid for 20 minutes on each side. Before turning the chicken over, brush the other side with sour cream.

A few secrets for preparing delicious chicken tabaka

If you want to surprise your guests and cook truly tasty and appetizing meat, marinate it for 2-3 hours at room temperature, and then leave the chicken in the refrigerator overnight. This is especially true if we are talking about chicken rather than chicken, since it takes much longer to cook. If you want the meat to be crispy, do not pour sauce over the chicken during cooking; serve the sauce separately along with the side dish. Coating the chicken with garlic before or after frying depends on your gastronomic preferences. Keep in mind that fried garlic acquires a bitter taste, so before frying, the carcass must be cleaned of pieces of garlic and bay leaves if they were used in the marinade. Serve ready with garlic sauce and fresh herbs.

Tobacco chicken: recipe for cooking in a frying pan

This Georgian recipe uses cream, so the chicken is especially tender, tasty and aromatic. Cut a small chicken weighing 0.8-1 kg into the breast, spread it on the table and lightly beat it with a hammer. Mix 4 pinches of ground chili pepper with salt and grease the carcass well - not only the skin, but also under the skin.

Heat melted butter in a frying pan and fry the chicken halves for 15 minutes on each side. Place the chicken on a plate, pour 200 ml of cream with 10-20% fat into the pan, add 4 cloves of chopped garlic and a little salt. Place the chicken in the cream and simmer until done, covered, and serve with potatoes or rice.

Tobacco chickens: recipe for cooking in the oven

Chicken cooked in the oven is considered low-calorie, because it does not have to be fried in a large amount of oil. Cut the chicken carcass in the usual way, removing excess fat from it, rub with coarse salt and leave in a sealed container. Meanwhile, prepare the marinade with 50ml olive oil, a bunch of chopped cilantro, 2 crushed cloves of garlic and half a packet of chicken seasoning. Coat the chicken carcass with the resulting spicy sauce and leave for half an hour.

Place a frying pan with a piece of butter in the oven and, when it melts, place half the chicken skin side down on it and press down on top with a press. Bake the chicken for an hour at 190°C, turning it occasionally to ensure even browning. If you want the dish to be juicy and soft, pour the juice flowing from the carcass over it. Serve the tabaka chicken with boiled and fresh vegetables.

Tobacco chicken: recipe with wine

Prepare 4 chicken halves weighing approximately 500-600 g and lightly pound them with a hammer. Prepare a marinade from 300 ml dry red wine, 2 tsp. dried basil, 2 tsp. ground coriander, 1 tsp. ground black pepper and 0.5 tsp. sea ​​salt. Marinate the chicken for 2 hours in a plastic bag or pan.

Fry each chicken half in olive oil, skin side down, in a hot frying pan, pressing the meat well to the bottom of the pan - 25 minutes on one side and 15 minutes on the other. Chicken tabaka is especially tasty with a sauce made from 200 ml of sour cream, 3 crushed cloves of garlic and a pinch of sea salt. Taste it with bread, lavash and sour cream sauce.

Tabaka chicken is best eaten hot, so don’t linger too long and, as soon as the meat is cooked, serve it immediately. Enjoy Georgian cuisine - tasty, original and healthy!

Greetings, my dear readers. Tell me, what dish do you associate with Georgian cuisine? Many will say: “Khachapuri or lavash.” And I have such an association when I see tobacco chicken. The crispy browned skin on the outside and the soft meat on the inside make this dish delicious. It is this delicacy that will be our guest today. I will teach you how to properly prepare chicken tabaka recipe in a frying pan. With a detailed description of the cooking process.

History of the dish

This dish is called so not because the chicken is fumigated with something. Because in Georgia there is a tapa pan. This is a heavy cast iron frying pan with a ribbed bottom and an obligatory addition - a heavy lid-press. It is in such a vessel that this delicious dish is prepared in the Caucasus. Therefore, the correct name of the dish is “chicken tapaka”.

But there is another explanation for such a wonderful name. It is connected with the technology of preparing this dish. Before heat treatment, the chicken is cut in half along the breast and unfolded as if flattened. But the Arabic word tabbaq translated as “flattened or crushed.” Hence the name of the dish.

But whatever the origin of the name of this dish, it is divinely delicious. And somehow it became a custom among people that everyone calls it chicken tabaka.

Features of cooking tobacco chicken

The most important thing is to find a small chicken. It can be replaced with a small chicken, but it will be a little higher in calories :)

Cut the carcass along the breast. The young bird does not yet have bones, but cartilage, so cutting will be easy for you. Start separating the carcass from where you gutted it and work your way up to the breast. Next, remove the lungs with your hands, rinse the bird and dry with a paper towel.

Remember that the chicken should be completely flat when fried. During cooking, it should not rise like a “zombie”. Otherwise, the meat will not cook evenly.

Typically the breast is thicker than the legs. Therefore, the bird must be recaptured. Place the chicken on a board, bone-side down, and cover with cling film. Take a kitchen hammer and go over the entire carcass, breaking the joints. Don’t feel sorry for her :) Many people trust this Jesuit procedure to their husbands. Therefore, involve them in work too.

Now the bird needs to be marinated a little so that the meat has a light flavor. But I don’t recommend adding thermonuclear spices to the marinade. This composition will overpower the taste of tender chicken.

Transfer the chicken to a large plate, skin side down, and squeeze the juice of half the lemon over the meat. Pour some juice onto the plate itself so that the bottom of the bird is in contact with it. Season the chicken on both sides and add a little vegetable oil. You can also sprinkle some more red pepper. But just a pinch.

Let the meat sit in the marinade overnight in the refrigerator. But if time is running out, let it marinate for at least half an hour. When frying, constantly press down on top of the carcass. Because the joints will try to lift the chicken when cooking. There are, of course, special lid presses. But you can get by with improvised means.

For example, use a heavy pan filled with water. However, after cooking you will have to wash the bottom of the saucepan. But you won’t need to buy a special frying pan and clutter up your kitchen. Or use a heavy metal pestle.

How to cook a Georgian delicacy

We will fry the chicken in a mixture of vegetable and butter. They will give the dish a characteristic taste. Chicken tabaka is prized for its crispy skin. And although many shout that there is cholesterol. Well, let them chat. And we will eat on both cheeks :) This is incredibly tasty.

Heat the pan to maximum. Once the oil is hot, place the chicken skin side down and press down on top with pressure (a pan of water or a metal pestle). That is, the chicken should be under pressure.

Reduce heat to just above medium to prevent skin from burning. When removing the pan from the carcass, place it on a flat plate so as not to stain anything in the kitchen. While frying, check that the skin is browned. And then fry the other side thoroughly.

While the chicken is sizzling and frying in the pan, take 3 cloves of garlic. Finely chop them with a knife or grater, put them in a cup and add salt. Add hot pepper. Exactly how much is up to you, whatever you want. Next add 1 tsp. vegetable oil, 2 tbsp. water and mix everything thoroughly. The oil will begin to draw out the flavor from the garlic and pepper. This aromatic liquid will give the chicken a special taste.

Once the chicken is browned on all sides, take the flavor mixture and brush the surface of the chicken. Each time before applying, stir the oil and spices in a mug. Next, cover the bird with oppression.

Fry the carcass on one side for about a minute. Then turn the chicken over and pour the mixture over the other side. Quickly cover the meat with pressure again. After 30 seconds, lift the press, turn the chicken over again and fry for 10 seconds. There is no need to fry the bird in the aromatic mixture for a long time, otherwise the garlic will burn in the pan. And this is not very pleasant. You want the aroma to remain fresh and light.

In summer, the preparation of the dish can be slightly modified. To prepare this delicacy, you can use a grill pan and fry over coals. Of course, this is a slight deviation from the rules for preparing tobacco chicken, but it also turns out very tasty.

In addition, you can fry vegetables in the oil remaining after cooking the chicken. These could be tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, etc. Place the cooked meat and vegetables on a plate. And pour the aromatic oil mixture directly from the pan on top.

And here is the promised step-by-step recipe - it has a photo and contains detailed recommendations. My dear readers, be sure to write your review about this Georgian delicacy in the comments. And post a link to the article on the social network. Then friends, inviting you to visit, will treat you to this dish.

Ingredients

4 servings 45 min. Weight of the finished dish: 1150 gr.

For the chicken

	1.5 kg	even less is better
	3 tbsp. l	for marinade
		half a lemon
	1 tsp
		red pepper if desired
	3 tbsp. l	for frying
	3 tbsp. l	for frying

For the sauce

		5 cloves
	500 ml
	0.5 tsp
Step 4. Leave the chicken to marinate for at least 30 minutes if guests are already arriving. Although ideally it is better to marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Step 5. Heat a frying pan, add butter and vegetable oil. Wait until it warms up well. Then place the chicken skin side down. Reduce the heat to slightly above medium. Step 6. Place pressure on top of the carcass. Use a metal pestle or any suitable heavy object for this. The chicken needs to be kept level in the pan, otherwise it will cook unevenly. Step 7 Once golden and crispy, turn the chicken over to the other side. Don't forget to place pressure on top of the meat. Step 8 While the bird is roasting, prepare the garlic sauce. Peel the garlic cloves, chop and transfer the garlic pulp into a small cup. Add red pepper, 1 tbsp vegetable oil and 2 tbsp. water. Mix everything well, leave for 2-3 minutes (during this time the liquid will be saturated with spices). Do not add additional water yet. Step 9 During the last minutes of frying, pour the garlic mixture over one side of the chicken and press down. Fry the meat for about a minute (but no more). Then turn the bird over to the other side and repeat the same thing. Step 10 Place the finished chicken tabaka on a plate. If you wish, you can fry vegetables in the same frying pan and place them on a plate with the meat. Step 11 Add 500 ml of water to the aromatic mixture remaining in the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil. And as soon as the liquid boils, turn off the heat. Step 12 Cut the chicken into large pieces and pour over the garlic sauce. Video