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Traditionally Georigian, chakhobili – combining mostly chicken and onion -- is one of the most popular dishes on Armenian tables.

“The whole secret,” Nvard says, “is in the onion.” After washing the chicken pieces, she puts them into a pan, covers with water and puts on the heat.

By the time the chicken is half-cooked, Nvard peels one-kilo onion, washes it and chops the onions thin, half-moon shape.

“It is necessary to chop the onions neither too thin, nor too thick, so that when cooked the onion does not soften too much. Chakhobili ‘loves’ onion very much,” she says.

Nvard cuts onion into two equal pieces, and then starts chopping them. In a few minutes, a pan becomes full of white chopped onion.

She adds some 200 grams butter to the onion and puts the pan on a gas fire to cook.

By the time the onion is being cooked, Nvard chops one small hot pepper and one tomato. She adds the vegetable to the onion on the gas fire, and starts stirring the mass with a wooden ladle.

After 20 minutes the chicken is cooked. “Don’t cook the chicken completely, so that it cooks with the stewed onions,” Nvard explains.

Nvard adds some black capsicums (black pepper), one-tablespoon cayenne pepper, and one-tablespoon tomato paste, and stirs the mixture. After cooking the stewed onions for some ten minutes, Nvard arranges the half-cooked chicken pieces on the stewed onions and adds two ladles of chicken broth, and covers the pan tight with a lid.

“Chakhobili must be cooked with its steam, and in very little water,” Nvard says.

While the last stage of chakhobili is cooking, Nvard passes to the final procedure – chopping greens.

“You should have fresh parsley, coriander, and dill, and basil and savory – preferable dried ones. These dried greens have unique aroma and they give specific flavor to the dish,” she says.

Before adding the greens, Nvard adds more than half a tablespoon of salt to chakhobili, and then come the greens, and she covers the pan with lid tight and turns the heat off.

The aroma of chakhobili is spread in the kitchen. Nvard fills plates with the dish and says, “Anush arek” (enjoy it).

The following ingredients are necessary to prepare chakhobili:

1 chicken
1 kg onion
1 hot pepper
1 tomato
some black capsicums
1 tablespoon tomato paste, and cayenne pepper
greens – parsley, coriander, dill, dried basil and savory

How to prepare chakhobili:

Cut one chicken, wash and put it on a gas fire to cook for some 15 minutes. By the time the chicken is being cooked, prepare stewed onions (chopping the onions half-moon shape) using 1 kg onion and 200 grams butter. Add one chopped hot pepper and one tomato to the stewed onions and keep on stirring the mass with a wooden ladle. Add some black capsicums (black pepper), cayenne pepper and tomato paste to the mass. After cooking it for some minutes, arrange the half-cooked chicken pieces on the stewed onions, and add two ladles of chicken broth, keeping on cooking it on slow flame. Next, add some fresh chopped parsley, coriander, and dill, as well as dried basil and savory, salt – depending on taste.