COOKBOOK: The Australian All Colour Cook Book
I need to brush up on my history! Here’s what I’ve learnt.
Circassia was a country located in Eastern Europe. Before the Russian conquest of the Caucasus (1763–1864), it covered the entire fertile plateau of the northwestern region of the Caucasus, with an estimated population of between 3 and 4 million.
Between March 6 and May 21, 1864, the entire population had departed for Turkey, where they linguistically vanished. By the end of the movement, more than 400,000 Circassians fled to Turkey.
The vast majority of Circassians have adopted the Turkish language, and only a small minority still speak their native Circassian languages. Here is a traditional dish that represents the Circassian cuisine. Hope you enjoy.
RECIPE
Serves 4-6
1.8kg chicken breast
1 large onion, chopped
4 celery sticks, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 handfuls of parsley
1 teaspoon of dry parsley
1 teaspoon cloves
Salt and pepper
100g walnuts
40g butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon paprika
500g of stock
Place the chicken breasts in a deep saucepan, add the celery, carrots and onions. Add water to cover. Bring to boil. Add dry parsley and cloves. simmer for 40mins.
In the meantime, add the walnuts and 1 handful of parsley in s processor and chop finely.
Drain the chicken but set aside approx 500ml of stock. The veggies can be made in a puree with some mashed potato (if you wish)
Take the chicken pieces and slice lengthways to get two pieces out of each breast.
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add the chicken pieces and brown for a minute on each side. Add the walnut mixture, the rest of the parsley, add cinnamon and paprika. Then add stock, turn once and allow the stock to reduce, approx 10mins.
Ready to be served, pour any juices over the chicken and sprinkle with parsley.
