Chicken tabaka in the oven: history of origin and recipes

Chicken-based recipes today form the basis of hot dishes for everyday and holiday tables. This meat is quite light, but very nutritious, benefiting even a child’s body. The cuisine of the peoples of the Caucasus has its own special dish based on it - of course, we are talking about “chicken tobacco”, hot-spicy, incredibly aromatic, with a crispy crust.

If you do not take into account the duration of marinating of the bird, it cooks very quickly, and due to its unpretentiousness in terms of garnish, it is suitable for any table. How to cook tobacco chicken in the oven and in a frying pan correctly?

Where did the name of the dish come from?

In fact, there is still debate about why chicken tabaka is called that. If we talk about the Georgian spelling, it is more likely “chicken tapaka”, since the frying pan in which it is cooked is called “tapha”, and the voiced consonant comes from the Arabic word “tabbaq”, which stands for dish or tray.

The peculiarity of the frying pan used for cooking poultry lies not only in its depth and material, but also in the cast iron lid, which acts as a weight: thus the carcass is flattened. Outside the Caucasus (and the recipe spread around the world quite quickly), in the absence of an original “tap”, housewives generally placed a heavy weight on a lid of a smaller diameter in order to achieve the closest possible effect.

It is noteworthy that in its historical homeland, chicken tabaka is not an independent full-fledged dish, but just a kind of preparation, which can subsequently be used in almost any recipe for lunch or dinner. But in this case, they do not use any seasonings other than ground black pepper and salt for rubbing the bird.

An alternative version of the origin of the name, and in its most common form, is based on the appearance of the finished dish: richly flavored with herbs, the chicken really seems to be powdered with fine dried tobacco. Perhaps for the option that is prepared as an independent hot dish for the holiday table, this is the most reliable explanation.

As previously stated, this dish is cooked in a frying pan, and for a person who has no idea about the subtle differences between national cuisines, the algorithm and final result are absolutely identical to what you get if you simply fry the chicken without a side dish.

However, there are a number of features that make it possible to confidently distinguish between truly similar, but far from identical dishes. And first of all, this applies to the frying pan. It must be stone or cast iron, with thick walls and bottom, and have a diameter of at least 25 cm, otherwise the bird will not lie down correctly. Experts call the optimal figure 35 cm. Today, such dishes can be found even among the offers of domestic manufacturers, the cost varies between 1000-3500 rubles.

Compound:

• Young chicken carcass - 800 g
• Ground black pepper - 1 tsp.
• Coarse salt - 1 tsp.
• Butter - 30 g
• Lemon - 1 pc.
• Garlic cloves - 3 pcs.

Preparation:

You can easily check readiness with a sharp stick, which you need to pierce the chicken at an arbitrary point: light, translucent juice indicates that the pan can be removed from the heat.

According to the classic algorithm, the dish turns out to be quite fatty, especially considering that the skin is kept on the bird and subjected to heat treatment using butter, i.e. extra fat. This makes the final product difficult to digest, especially if it is subsequently served with a very filling side dish: potatoes, cereal, etc. Therefore, housewives often try to lighten the dish a little by replacing frying with baking. But how to bake tobacco chicken in the oven to preserve the classic taste and appearance?

Compound:

• Chicken carcass - 0.8-1 kg
• Adjika - 1 tbsp.
• Khmeli-suneli - 1 tsp.
• Onion - 1 pc.
• Carrots - 1 pc.
• Celery root - 1 pc.
• Garlic cloves - 2 pcs.
• Salt - to taste

Preparation:

1. Boil water (2 liters) in a large saucepan, throw in the halved onion in the peel, celery root and carrots. Be sure to wash the vegetables before doing this. Because they were not crushed, the broth will be clear but flavorful. Add salt and cook it covered for 25-30 minutes.
2. Wash the bird, cut along the belly lengthwise, press down on the back so that it is well flattened. Go over the top with a hammer or wooden rolling pin, but do not allow the bones to completely break.
3. Mix adjika in a bowl (there should be no tomatoes in it), suneli hops, chopped garlic cloves, rub the chicken with this mixture and leave it for 3-4 hours. If you can’t buy adjika, take hot peppers, walnuts, salt, cilantro , dried coriander and fresh parsley. Vary the proportion of each ingredient according to your taste, grind them with a pestle and let it brew for 6-8 hours.
4. If you are concerned about the softness of the meat, bake the tobacco chicken in the oven in a sleeve for 30 minutes, then transfer to a baking sheet and let it brown. The baking temperature in this case will be 180 degrees and will remain unchanged. Then the broth that was prepared at the very beginning will not be needed.
5. An alternative and more common method is to bake on a wire rack placed on the lower level of the oven. A baking tray is placed under the grate where the broth is poured. Every 20-25 minutes. the chicken is poured with broth. The total baking time is 45-50 minutes. at a temperature of 170 degrees.

If you want golden brown skin, turn on the grill for the last 5-10 minutes and move the rack to the highest level of the oven.