Georgian · Soup
Silky chicken broth thickened with egg, lemon and herbs.
Photo by Lamro · CC BY-SA 4.0 · No local modifications; served from the Wikimedia Commons original.
Chikhirtma is a Georgian chicken soup without noodles or vegetables crowding the bowl. Its body comes from eggs carefully tempered into concentrated broth, while lemon gives a bright finish.
Technique notes
Recipe status
A named independent cook or chef has published a prepared version of this dish, and that verification is credited below. It verifies their version—not Gastromica’s exact quantities, timing or method. Measured search evidence, exact-recipe testing and final JB approval remain separate gates.
How the new system works →Evidence behind this edition
Reviewed August 2, 2026. Research sources inform this edition. Any external cook verification is separately named, linked and limited to the independently prepared version described in that source.
A Georgian chicken broth thickened with tempered egg/egg yolk and sharpened with lemon or vinegar, characteristically sparse in vegetables and finished with herbs.
Declared allergens: chicken, egg, milk, wheat
Chicken must reach 165°F/74°C; egg-thickened soup should reach 160°F/71°C without boiling, then be refrigerated within 2 hours and reheated gently to 165°F/74°C.
Ingredient labels and cross-contact must be checked for the actual brands used; USDA temperatures are safety floors, not claims that the current recipe was tested.
Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street test kitchen, adapted from Darra Goldstein is credited with preparing and publishing an independent version of this dish in Georgian Chicken Soup (Chikhirtma) for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street.
What this supports: dish identity, method, texture/doneness, failure cue, serving result.
Verifies an independently prepared version of the dish, not Gastromica’s exact recipe. Milk Street’s chicken-leg adaptation and its herb/spice balance do not establish that Gastromica’s ingredient amounts, egg-acid thickening or timing were tested.
Georgian kitchen
Make Georgian chikhirtma, a silky lemon chicken soup thickened with eggs and scented with cilantro and saffron.
Simmer chicken, water, halved onion, bay and 1 teaspoon salt for 40–50 minutes, until chicken reaches 165°F (74°C). Strain and shred.
Melt butter in the pot. Cook diced onion 6 minutes, add flour for 1 minute, then whisk in 6 cups broth and simmer 5 minutes.
Whisk eggs and lemon. Slowly whisk in 2 cups hot broth, then reduce the pot to very low and whisk the mixture back in.
Add chicken and saffron water. Heat without boiling for 3–4 minutes; season and finish with cilantro and pepper.
Review ingredient labels for allergens and cross-contact. Follow the recipe’s handling notes, refrigerate perishable food promptly, and use an instant-read thermometer where a safe internal temperature is specified.
You are the test kitchen
Cook, taste and record what happened. These private notes stay in this browser; Gastromica does not receive or publish them.
Research EditionGood to know
Chikhirtma is a Georgian chicken soup without noodles or vegetables crowding the bowl. Its body comes from eggs carefully tempered into concentrated broth, while lemon gives a bright finish.
Refrigerate for up to 3 days and reheat gently without boiling.
Serve hot with bread, lemon wedges and extra herbs.
