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Gulchehra from chickens

Chicken Gulchehra

Everyday ingredients, easy to pull together, and just right for dinner! Gulchehra is an Uzbek dish of chicken braised in milk and sour cream. The dairy keeps the meat soft, tender, and juicy, wrapped in a rich sauce that tastes a bit like béchamel.

Maria

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Chicken

600

Milk

100

Sour cream

100

Garlic

Onion

Vegetable oil

Flour

Sugar

0.5

Khmeli-suneli (optional)

0.5

Ground black pepper

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 39 % 13 g

Fats 48 % 16 g

Carbohydrates 12 % 4 g

211 kcal

GI: 75 / 0 / 25

Cooking method

Step 1:

Ready to make chicken gulchehra? Start by gathering your ingredients. You can use any cut of chicken — breast, thighs, or legs. Rinse the meat, pat it dry with paper towels, and trim away any membrane, excess fat, and skin. Cut it into small, bite-size pieces.
Step 2:

Peel the onion and cut it into small pieces. To keep the onion from stinging your eyes, rinse both the onion and your knife under cold water before you start chopping. Rubbing your cutting board with a lemon wedge helps keep it from picking up the onion smell. Peel the garlic cloves and run them through a press.
Step 3:

In a small bowl, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth and free of lumps. If a few lumps remain, push the mixture through a fine sieve.
Step 4:

Pour a high-smoke-point vegetable oil into a skillet and heat it well. Here's an easy way to test it: dip in a wooden spoon, and if bubbles gather around it, the oil is ready. Add the onion and garlic and fry over medium heat until golden.
Step 5:

Add the chicken pieces to the pan. Fry everything together for 2–3 minutes over medium heat.
Step 6:

Add the sour cream to the chicken and stir well. You can swap in cream of any fat content or a thick, plain yogurt with no add-ins. Keep in mind that the richer the dairy, the higher the calorie count of the dish.
Step 7:

Pour the milk-and-flour mixture into the pan.
Step 8:

Add the sugar, salt, khmeli-suneli (optional), and pepper, then stir. If you reach for a ready-made chicken seasoning blend, read the label first — if it already contains salt, hold back when salting the meat so you don't overdo it.
Step 9:

Pour in warm boiled water or pre-made chicken broth. The liquid should just cover the chicken.
Step 10:

Cover the pan and simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes. Just before serving, sprinkle the dish with chopped fresh herbs (green onion, dill). Any side works here — rice, pasta, buckwheat, potatoes, or pickled, fresh, or grilled vegetables and salads.

Gulchehra can also be made as a soup. Just add more water or broth.
You can swap the chicken for turkey or any other meat you like. Keep in mind that this will change both the cooking time and the calorie count.
Fry with a high-smoke-point oil. Every oil is good only up to its smoke point — the temperature at which it starts to burn and form harmful compounds, including carcinogens. With few exceptions, unrefined oils have a low smoke point: they're full of unfiltered organic bits that scorch quickly. Refined oils stand up to heat better and have a higher smoke point. Whenever you roast, pan-fry, or grill, reach for a high-smoke-point oil — refined sunflower, olive, and grapeseed are among the most common.
To keep the sour cream from curdling or splitting as it simmers, first stir it together with a spoonful of flour in a separate bowl before adding it to the pan. You can use cream of any fat content instead — just remember, the richer the sour cream or cream, the higher the calorie count.