Chikhirtma — Georgian Lemon Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 1½ lb Chicken Thighs
• 8 cups water or stock
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3 eggs + juice of 2 lemons
• 1 tsp coriander + ½ tsp fenugreek or curry powder
• Big handful cilantro

Method

1. Simmer the Chicken Thighs in the water until cooked (165°F), 20 minutes; shred and return. Keep the broth at a whisper.
2. Soften the onion in the butter with the spices; stir in the flour, then ladle in broth to make a velvety thickener and return it all to the pot.
3. The silking: whisk the eggs with the lemon juice, then temper with hot broth one ladle at a time before stirring back in OFF the heat — same physics as avgolemono, Georgian accent.
4. Never boil again — silk, not scramble.
5. Finish with the cilantro cloud. Sour, rich, and restorative — Georgia prescribes it after long supra feasts, and Georgia hosts a LOT of supra feasts.