The Recipe: Warm Your Bellies With Creamy Walnutty Chicken Sharkaseya
Circassian Chicken, also known as Chicken Sharkaseya, is an old Turkish dish that was later added to Egyptian cuisine. This recipe is perfect for all types of gatherings, easy to make, and the ingredients are mostly available in every household or supermarket.
During the Ottoman Empire, the Sultans were very fond of women of Circassian origin, and since many were captured to serve the harems as concubines and wives, these beauties delighted the Sultans by serving this dish! The ingredients are really simple; just follow the recipe below.
For the chicken and stock:
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 carrot
- 1 stick of celery
- 1 large onion
- 2 whole garlic cloves
- 3 bay leafs
- 4 cardamom pods
- 3 cloves
- 5 whole black peppercorns
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 chicken stock cube
- Garlic powder
For the walnut Sauce:
- 150g walnuts
- 4 slices white bread
- 150-200ml double cream
- Nutmeg
For the Paprika oil:
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2-3 tsp paprika
- Olive oil
And finally, the Rice:
- 1 cup rice
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- ½ tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp oil
Start by cooking up the chicken first by either boiling, frying, grilling it, whatever you prefer. Then place the chicken and cooked rice in a bowl, and turn it upside down on a plate. Top with your creamy walnut sauce. And to add more flavor, garlicky paprika oil would work perfectly.
