Chicken tabaka in a frying pan. Tsitsila tapaka, or the secrets of cooking tabaka chicken

Every nation has dishes that can be called the hallmark of their national cuisine. For Ukrainians it’s dumplings and suckling pig with horseradish, for Moldovans it’s mamaliga and zama, for Russians it’s cabbage soup and dumplings. And among the peoples of the Caucasus, in particular among the Georgians, the most famous food is considered to be under a strange, even funny name - “chicken tobacco”.

“Tabaka” or “tapaka” - which is correct?

Yes, yes, and this question is not accidental! Why - now you will understand. Tobacco chicken has long been cooked in a frying pan, but not a simple one, but a special one. It is called “tapa” in Georgian. This is a deep, thick-walled vessel that heats up well and evenly on all sides, and it is intended specifically for cooking the entire bird carcass. That’s why the name of the dish translated from Caucasian languages is not “chicken tabaka in a frying pan”, but “chicken tapaka”, i.e. “fried in tapa”. However, either without understanding, or not hearing enough, or to adapt someone else’s speech to their own language, this excellent dish began to be called as it is known throughout the world. And in any restaurant menu, in the assortments of cafes, bars, canteens, it is written only like this: “Chicken tobacco in a frying pan.”

Tapa

As we have already found out, this is a type of frying pan. Initially they were made of stone. Then, naturally, Georgians began to use cast iron ones. The hefty tapa has a molded bottom with a ribbed surface to prevent the meat from sticking and burning. The dimensions of the vessel are such that not only tobacco chicken can be cooked in a frying pan, but also a large chicken, duck, and goose. In national traditions, it was customary to bring roasts to the table directly in the utensils in which they were roasted. The tapa also came with a massive heavy lid. She had to press the meat tightly to the bottom so that it would cook well. Of course, such devices can only be found in professional kitchens, but not among modern housewives. However, the dish itself - the famous “tabaka chicken in a frying pan” - enjoys no less fame and popularity in our time than it did a hundred or two hundred years ago!

Preparing the bird

Not only the dishes, but also the poultry must be prepared in a special way so that the dish turns out the way it is made specifically in the Caucasus. Therefore, before telling how to fry “chicken tobacco”, we need to say a few words about the preliminary stage.

The carcass should be cleaned, legs and head with neck and entrails removed. Next, it needs to be cut along the sternum. After all, the chicken should lie spread out in the frying pan. Also, cuts should be made in the skin to tuck in the tips of the wings and legs: they should not rise during frying.

Nuances

In Georgia, “chicken tabaka” (classic recipe) is a semi-finished product for the further preparation of national meat dishes. Therefore, before putting it in a frying pan, the bird is simply well salted and rubbed with pepper. Then they put it in tapa with hot oil, cover it tightly with a lid (if you don’t have a suitable one, take a deep plate and cover it with a weight on top). And over medium heat, fry first on one side until a brownish crust appears, then turn over to the other. If “tabaka chicken” is prepared as an independent dish, the classic recipe recommends using seasonings: marjoram, cilantro, suneli hops, basil, etc.

"Chicken tobacco" ordinary

If you decide to serve this dish with a side dish, then you will need: poultry carcass, 3-4 tablespoons of melted butter, salt to taste, 0.5 teaspoon of ground red pepper. Your future in the pan) should be butchered, cut along the breast. Using a wooden hammer, lightly beat its back and joints. Tuck in the wing tips and legs. Rub the skin with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a frying pan, place the chicken back up, cover and place a weight on the lid. Make the fire moderate. Fry for about 30-40 minutes. Check readiness by sticking a fork or wooden skewer into the meat. If it comes in easily and the juice comes out clear, consider that the tabaka chicken (recipe in a frying pan) is ready. If the meat is a bit tough or the juice is pinkish, let it simmer for a couple more minutes. Then transfer the bird to a flat dish (whole or divided into portions), sprinkle with herbs. Place sprigs of parsley and celery, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, radishes, young onions and garlic with feathers nearby. Or grate the black radish, add a little salt, sprinkle with vinegar, season with vegetable oil and serve. Boiled rice or fried potatoes are suitable as a side dish. You can also use puree.

“Chicken tabaka” with vegetables (borani)

Cooking tobacco chicken in a frying pan according to Georgian recipes is often combined with stewing vegetables. This dish is called "borani". Spinach, legumes, and eggplants are used as vegetable components. We offer you an example of such a dish. Required: 1 bird carcass, 10 medium-sized blue ones, 7-8 onions, 100-150 g of vegetable oil, chopped cilantro and basil (2 tablespoons each), a pinch of mint, saffron, cinnamon, about 2 teaspoons of salt. You know the main tobacco. But something special needs to be said about eggplants. First, remove the skins from them. Cut the peeled vegetables into circles (thinly) and add salt to remove the bitterness. Leave them like this for 10 minutes, then squeeze them out (not only the bitterness will come off, but also the excess salt). Chop the onion into rings, place it in heated oil, add eggplant, fry well with fresh herbs. When the vegetables and meat are ready, do this: place half of the blue ones on the bottom of the plate, then the chicken, divided into portions, and again the eggplants on top. Sprinkle with saffron and cinnamon. Amazingly delicious! You can serve it with crushed garlic or tomato sauce.

“Chicken tabaka” with crispy crust

The main charm of fried dishes is their amazing crust, which crunches deliciously on your teeth. How to fry "tabaka chicken" so that it is actually golden brown and not burnt? The recipe is as follows: cut the carcass and prepare it, give it a flat shape. Add salt, rub with cut garlic cloves (for flavor), and then generously coat the outside and inside with sour cream or mayonnaise. Place in hot fat (butter), cover with a weighted lid and fry, turning over in time, until fully cooked. You will be pleasantly surprised by the result. Serve the meat with traditional tkemali or garlic-nut sauce. Ketchup will also work. Place the chicken itself on a plate covered with lettuce leaves. You can immediately divide into portions. Alternatively, sprinkle with crushed garlic and drizzle with pomegranate juice. Place pomegranate seeds (and more) on the meat and around the salad. When you put portions on plates, be sure to add a little of them too. This way you will emphasize the pleasant taste of fried meat.

“Chicken tobacco” with giblets

What's new to you about cooking this dish? You have already learned the basic techniques. Just when you start putting the chopped bird carcass into the frying pan, also place the neck, paws, liver, stomach, and heart around it. Just add salt and pepper to the giblets, and rub the chicken with turmeric, also add salt and seasonings, making the meat quite spicy. Fry, pressing the carcass tightly to the bottom. When will you add the remaining components of the dish? Keep the fire low so that the liver does not burn. Cooking time: 45-55 minutes. When serving, sprinkle with chopped herbs.

(5 out of 5)

Chicken tabaka is a delicious dish, the recipe for which came to us from Georgian cuisine. The main difference between this dish is that a small chicken carcass is cooked under pressure. Thanks to this cooking method, the chicken acquires a well-fried golden crust and is very flavorful.

Chicken tabaka (tapaka) is usually prepared from a small chicken carcass weighing about 500 - 700 g. If finding such a chicken is problematic, you can take a slightly larger carcass that will fit in a frying pan.

Instead of a special press, you can use a regular plate and pan or jar of water. The main thing is that there is enough weight to press the chicken firmly onto the surface of the pan.

Try to cook tobacco chicken according to our recipe. Look at the step-by-step photos and cook with us. It will be delicious!

Ingredients

Calorie content

Calories
237 kcal

Squirrels
16.2 g

Fats
19.1 g

Carbohydrates
1.3 g

Preparation:

Step 1

To prepare this Georgian dish, it is better to take chicken or a small chicken for 500 - 700 g. In principle, you can take a larger carcass. The main thing is that it fits flattened into the frying pan.

Step 2

So, we wash the chicken and dry it with napkins. If necessary, remove remaining feathers, entrails and tail.
Turn the carcass breast side up, cut it and carefully unfold it.

Step 3

To ensure that the chicken fits tightly into the pan and is well-fried, it is better to lightly beat it.
Place the chicken on a cutting board, cover with cling film and pound with a kitchen hammer. We especially carefully go through the joints of the wings and paws.

Step 4

We cut the garlic cloves lengthwise into slices and stuff them into the chicken (pierce the chicken with a knife and insert pieces of garlic into the cuts). Thanks to this method, the garlic will not burn, and the chicken will acquire a pleasant garlic aroma.
Next, the carcass needs to be coated with salt and spices on all sides. We used ground pepper, coriander and suneli hops. It turned out very tasty.

Step 5

Pour vegetable or ghee into the pan and carefully place the chicken.

Step 6

In the Georgian version, tabaka chicken (tapaka) is cooked in a special container under pressure. We simply covered the chicken with a flat plate and pressed it down with a heavy cast-iron cauldron of water.

Step 7

After one side is fried, you need to remove the press and turn the carcass over. Do this carefully, because... chicken skin may stick.
When the chicken is turned over, it needs to be covered again with a plate, pressed down and fried on the other side.

Step 9

The finished Tabaka chicken turns out very appetizing, beautiful and aromatic. You can serve it on its own or in combination with your favorite side dishes and salads. Try this chicken recipe. We promise it will be delicious!

Little tricks

To give your chicken tabaka a nice garlic flavor, simply stuff the chicken with chopped garlic cloves. There is no need to squeeze and coat the top of the chicken with garlic, otherwise it will burn and smell unpleasant.

If the carcass is too fatty, simply remove some of the oil with a tablespoon. Conversely, if the chicken is a little dry, add melted butter or a piece of butter.

Spices for chicken can be adjusted to your taste. Coriander, suneli hops, ground pepper and paprika go well with chicken.

Chicken tabaka is an amazingly delicious chicken dish, and most importantly, very simple in terms of ingredients and preparation. I thought for a long time: why do I cook such delicious food so rarely? Finally, I understood - because it was impossible to tear myself away. You eat and want even more until, instead of a whole chicken, the bones left on the plate are gnawed and sucked clean. Chicken tabaka is good when the family is large, but when there are two of us, it results in overeating, and this is not very healthy.

You will need: chicken, garlic, sour cream, butter, pepper, salt.

How to cook chicken tabaka

Take a chicken and cut its breast lengthwise from the belly to the throat. You can, of course, take an adult chicken, just a small one, but still the chicken is better, since it cooks faster, and the taste is more delicate, and during its chicken life it ate less genetically modified feed and other poisons, so it will harm our health less .

We spread the carcass so that the legs and wings look in different directions. We beat it with a hammer. If the bird is a chicken age, then you can lightly beat it with a wooden mallet; if the chicken is older, then you need to beat it with a more serious tool until it is soft. In any case, you should pay attention to the joints of the bones and remove the cartilage.

Squeeze 3-5 cloves of garlic (depending on the size of the chicken and cloves), rub the chicken with the crushed garlic and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Then salt and pepper the bird and spread it with sour cream, mixing sour cream with garlic directly on the skin.

There is another way: instead of sour cream, you can take vegetable oil, squeeze the garlic directly into the oil and rub the carcass with this mixture. Oil can be olive, mustard or sesame. The taste of the finished chicken will, of course, be different. At one time I tried everything and settled on sour cream. This is a classic of the genre.

Heat the oil in a frying pan, place the chicken, cover with an inverted plate and place a weight on top. Now on sale there are special frying pans with screw-on lids, which perfectly press the chicken, since it must be pressed firmly into the frying pan. But if you don’t have such a frying pan, use, like me, the old-fashioned method, that is, an inverted plate and a pan of water instead of a weight.

Fry the chicken over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes on each side. That is, fry for 10 minutes, remove the weight, the plate, lift it and see if a golden brown crust has formed. Then turn it over, cover it with a plate and weight and fry it on the other side.

When you think the chicken is ready, you can pierce it with a fork and see what juices come out. If the juice is pink, reduce the heat and bring to readiness; if the juice is clear, then the tabaka chicken is ready.

Personally, I prefer to enjoy chicken tabaka without a side dish, with a simple tomato and cucumber salad. But if the family is large and there is only one chicken, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes or porridge made from wheat or corn flour are suitable as a side dish. Before serving, you can sprinkle the hot bird with finely chopped herbs.

Bon appetit!

Chicken tabaka - (the original name is tsitsila tapaka) a dish with Georgian roots, which is characterized by a piquant garlicky flavor and a crispy, crispy crust. You will learn how to cook tobacco chicken thanks to our detailed instructions with photos and descriptions.

Basic rules for cooking tobacco chicken

To ensure that the dish you prepare does not become a pathetic parody of the original, you need to follow a few very simple rules:

The carcass should be small: 700 – 800 grams. It must be washed well, dried and be sure to marinate so that as a result you have very aromatic, tender meat.
For marinating, numerous seasonings and lemon juice (sometimes vinegar) are used.
Tapaka chicken in the original version is cooked in a special frying pan under a rather heavy press lid.
Since this is a dish from Georgian cuisine, it is necessary to eat it with its traditional accompaniments: the best sauce for chicken tabaka - goes well with crushed garlic and is sure to have a lot of different fresh herbs and vegetables.

Classic chicken tabaka recipe

The correct recipe for chicken tobacco is actually very simple and does not require any special skill.

Required Products:

1 small chicken;
50 g melted butter;
1 lemon;
4 garlic cloves;
creamy frying spread;
salt, suneli hops, freshly ground black pepper.

Description of cooking stages:

We cut the well-washed and dried carcass lengthwise along the breast. We “tuck” the legs into an improvised pocket and give it a flat shape.
Sprinkle with salt. Mix freshly squeezed lemon juice with spices, finely chopped garlic and melted butter. Rub the resulting marinade completely over the chicken and leave for a couple of hours in a cool place.
Melt the spread in a frying pan and place the marinated chicken back down. We close the top with a special heavy lid (it can be replaced with a regular one by placing something heavy on it). Fry the tobacco chicken under pressure for approximately 12 minutes on each side.

Tsitsila tapaka with garlic sauce

Required components:

1 chicken carcass weighing up to 1 kg;
cream – 50 ml;
salt, dry adjika;
Oleina for frying;
4 garlic cloves;
50 ml vegetable oil;
1 teaspoon hops-suneli;
a handful of cilantro.

Cooking chicken tobacco step by step:

Prepare the carcass: wash, dry, cut in half along the breast. To give it a flatter shape, tap it a little with a hammer on the most protruding parts.
Mix the cream with dry adjika, salt and rub the resulting mixture on all sides of the bird. Let it soak for an hour.
Add suneli hops, cilantro, finely chopped garlic to well-heated oil and add a little salt. Mix well and let it brew a little.
Tabaka chicken is fried in a frying pan. Pour a little vegetable Oleina into it and place the meat with the back down, press down on top with a lid and a press. Fry until golden brown on all sides.
Coat the finished bird with garlic sauce.

Tsitsila tapaka in a special way in the oven

Cooking in a frying pan is optional. The baked chicken turns out very appetizing. In addition, the recipe in the oven is so simple that even a novice cook can handle it.

Required components:

chicken carcass – 700-800 g;
chili powder – 1 tbsp. spoon;
200 ml cream;
4 garlic cloves;
a little fat for frying;
salt, ground allspice.

Cooking diagram in detail:

Divide the bird in half on one side. We knead it with our hands, slightly twisting the joints. Rub completely with salt and chili powder. Let it sit for half an hour.
Place it in a frying pan with heated fat, press down with a press and fry for 10 minutes on each side.
We take out the carcass, pour cream into the frying pan, squeeze out the garlic, season with seasonings and add some salt. Place the meat in the resulting sauce and place in the oven for a quarter of an hour at 180 degrees.
You can make larger chicken this way, but then it will take much longer to simmer.

Tzitsil tapak recipe using wine

Thanks to the wine marinade, the chicken turns out very tender inside.

For this dish you will need:

1 carcass;
dry red wine – 1 cup;
olive oil – 100 ml;
1 small garlic head;
¼ teaspoon each of basil, coriander, saffron, mint, paprika.

Scheme of the cooking process at home:

Wash the carcass, soak out the remaining water. We cut it in half along the breast, turn out the joints, and lightly beat it with a hammer.
In a bowl, mix wine, finely chopped garlic, aromatic spices and salt. Lubricate the bird generously with the resulting marinade and wrap it in film. Place a press on top of the bird and put it in a cool place for 12 hours. It is clear that it is better to marinate it overnight.
After the time has passed, remove the film and wrap it in foil. Place the meat in a heat-resistant dish and bake for a little less than an hour.
Then we get rid of the foil. Grease the pan with butter and carefully place the chicken on it. Bake for about another half hour until crispy.

Tapaka chicken with tomato sauce

Homemade chicken is ideal for cooking because it is much more tender.

List of components:

2 young chickens weighing up to 1 kg;
½ teaspoon each of black and red pepper;
1 head of garlic;
1 cup of tomato juice;
basil, paprika, dill to taste;
2 tbsp. spoons of olive oil;
50 g melted margarine.

Description of cooking step by step:

We cut the washed and dried carcasses into two parts along the brisket. Using a kitchen hammer, break the cartilage. Rub the mixture of salt, black and red pepper well into the meat and leave for half an hour.
Pour olive oil into a saucepan, squeeze out the garlic, add basil, paprika, and dill. Pour in the tomato juice and simmer briefly over very low heat.
Heat the margarine in a frying pan and place the chicken on it, wings down. Cover with a lid, place some weight on top and fry on one side for 15 minutes.
Remove the lid, turn it over and brush with the sauce you made. Fry the other side under load for the same amount of time.
Ready-to-eat Tabaka chickens are served in sauce with lots of herbs.

Grilled tapaka chicken

This famous dish is perfectly prepared on the grill, which makes it perfect for a picnic.

Products for 1 piece:

mayonnaise – 100-150 g;
fresh young herbs (basil, oregano, garlic leaves);
any seasonings you prefer;
salt.

Step by step description:

The meat needs to be prepared as usual: wash, dry, cut and lightly beat with a hammer.
Rub with a mixture of seasonings, salt, aromatic herbs and mayonnaise. Let marinate for at least an hour under a heavy load.
Place the marinated chicken on the grill and fry for half an hour on each side (a little less can be done). Serve the finished dish to the table with fresh vegetables.

We hope that you have received a complete answer to the question of how to cook tobacco chicken. And since there is nothing complicated here, you can safely begin to implement what you have read. And very soon your kitchen will be filled with the unsurpassed aroma of a delicious dish.

Recipes for cooking chicken tabaka.

This is a dish of Georgian cuisine, so it is served with delicious sauces and herbs. Before cooking, the meat is marinated with the addition of aromatic herbs. Ideally, you need to take chickens weighing up to 0.5 kg, but if desired, the dish can be prepared from chicken.

How to properly cut chicken for chicken tabak?

Now there are a lot of options for preparing the dish. But ideally these are small and young chickens. The maximum weight is considered to be a chicken up to 800 g. If it is more, then the meat is no longer as tender and it is not cooked as well.

Instructions:

Take a small carcass, wash it and dry it with a paper towel
Using a sharp knife, cut the carcass lengthwise along the breast
Now just unfold the carcass and spread it out
Flip skin side to board and take a chop mallet
Beat the meat a little, you need to hit the bones too
This manipulation will make the carcass very tender and tasty.

How to marinate chicken for baking chicken tabak: marinade recipe

There are many options for marinade for such a dish. Ideally, in Georgian cuisine, adjika without tomatoes is used for marinade. It can be purchased at the supermarket.

Ingredients:

2 spoons adjika
Pepper
Khmeli Suneli

Prepare the kritsa as above and rub it with pepper and salt.
It is best to leave the chicken overnight to soak in the aromas of the herbs.
Just before roasting, the meat is sprinkled with suneli hops and the skin side is rubbed with adjika

The simplest marinade option is lemon juice with salt and herbs. You also need to keep the carcass in this solution for 2-8 hours.

How to cook tobacco chicken in the oven: a classic recipe

It is worth noting that this recipe is adapted to our kitchen. Ideally, this dish is prepared in a special “tapak” frying pan, which is where the name of the dish came from. But our housewives manage to cook chicken in the oven.

Ingredients:

Small chicken weighing up to 800 g
2 cloves garlic
Pepper

Cut the carcass along the breast and turn it inside out
Beat with a hammer and rub with herbs
Leave to marinate overnight
Place on a wire rack and place a baking tray underneath to catch juice and fat.
Turn on top heat and cook for 40 minutes

Chicken tabaka: recipe in a frying pan under pressure

Of course, in our country, few housewives have a special “tapak” vessel, but you can find a way out.

Ingredients:

1 small lemon
Spices
Chicken
Garlic clove

Prepare the chicken as usual and pound it right into the bones with a mallet.
Rub with spices and lemon juice and let soak in marinade for 2-4 hours
Pour a little melted butter into the pan and place the carcass skin side down
Place a plate on top and place a pan of hot water on it
The result will be a homemade device similar to a “tapak”
Fry under pressure until browned, and then turn the carcass over
After frying, place garlic gruel on the carcass and rub the meat with it

Chicken tabaka: Georgian recipe

A tapak frying pan is used for this. But unfortunately, most people don’t have it, so you can make do with improvised means.

Ingredients:

Chicken carcass
Spices
Ghee butter
Garlic
Vinegar

Select a young chick. If you don't have one, a broiler will do. But you have to cook it in the oven
Cut through the front and flatten it
Beat the bones and joints well with a hoe, making sure the skin fits tightly to the pan
Rub with salt and spices and pour in vinegar, leave to marinate for 2 hours
Pour melted butter into a frying pan with thick walls and place the chicken skin side down
Place a plate on top and a jar of water on it
Fry until golden brown, then turn the carcass over and fry on the other side
Serve with garlic sauce

Chicken tabaka: recipe in a baking bag

This is, of course, not quite tobacco chicken, but rather something between baked chicken and a dish cooked in tapak.

Ingredients:

Little chicken
2 cloves garlic
Lemon
Pepper
Sleeve

Cut the chicken down the breast and turn it out to flatten it.
After this, beat the bones and pour lemon juice over them.
Next, rub with salt, spices and grated garlic
Allow to soak in the marinade and place in a baking bag.
Keep underneath in the oven, preheating it to 180 degrees
Baking time - 80 minutes. If the carcass is not very brown, cut the sleeve and increase the heat

Chicken tabaka: on the grill

This is a great option for a picnic. A very non-standard dish that will decorate a festive feast in nature.

Ingredients:

Spices
Lemon juice
Chick
Olive oil

Rub the chicken with salt and spices, after spreading the carcass and beating it
Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours with a plate and a jar of water on top.
Heat the coals and place the carcass on a double-leaf mesh
Turn the grid over from time to time so that the meat browns evenly

How long to fry chicken tabaka in a frying pan, cook in the oven, or in a baking oven?

Approximate cooking time:

In a frying pan 40 minutes
In the oven 80 minutes
60-80 minutes in the sleeve

What side dish and sauce goes with chicken tabaka: list

Side dish options:

Vegetables cooked on the grill
Baked potato
Mashed potatoes
Beans with spices

Sauce options:

Garlic. You need to crush two cloves in a garlic press and mix with a pinch of salt. Pour in 50 ml of water and 202 ml of olive oil. This mixture should be poured over the finished chicken.
Tomato. To prepare this sauce you need 100 g of tomato paste, 150 g of mayonnaise, salt and herbs. Mix the paste with mayonnaise, add herbs and salt. Serve with the finished dish.
Sour cream. You need to mix 200 ml of sour cream with 2 cloves of grated garlic and chopped herbs. Dip pieces of food into this substance.

In Georgia, this dish is served with garlic sauce, tkemali and adjika.

How to beautifully decorate chicken tabaka on a festive table: ideas, photos

The dish itself looks quite beautiful and appetizing. But you can still decorate the dish a little. Most often, the chicken is placed on lettuce leaves or a vegetable bed. Usually sauces are served in adjacent vessels.