Chicken Tsimes

This hearty Jewish staple dish will warm your soul and please your taste buds. Few simple steps, several common ingredients and you have your new favorite chicken recipe!

Blog's Category: Chicken, Effortless, Healthy, International

Just a Few Words About

- This recipe comes from my old Jewish recipe book, that I brought from Kiev many years ago. I love this book and have made a lot of recipes from it. Some of them, like this one, has become my family staples.
- If you are curious, that is a squid ink pasta on the picture above I served my Chicken Tsimes with. Its deep black color looks very dramatic, paired with a bright orange colors of chicken. I would mention that color is the only what that differ this squid ink pasta from a regular pasta, no fishy flavor whatsoever, for good or for a bad :)
- For those who doesn't like cooked carrots I would suggest to give it a try. All ingredients are slow-cooked for a while so the flavors of chicken, carrots, onion and prunes are mingled and fused together into a wonderful and unique flavor, distinct to this dish.


Tips

- It is better to use heavy cast iron pot to cook tsimes, such as a dutch oven. If you don't have it, no worry, pick a pot with a thick bottom and do your cooking at a very low heat to avoid burning.

- Of course, you can add some more ingredients suiting this dish, like garlic, bay leaf, cayenne pepper. But, to be honest, as much as I love those ingredients, they are not crucial here, really :) I would say they can even destruct from the main theme of this chicken dish - lightly-sweet, fruity, yet savory aroma.

Chicken Tsimes

You will need:

• about 6 skinless boneless chicken thighs
• 3 large carrots, coarsely grated
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tbs olive oil for cooking
• 1 cup dry prunes, pitted
• 2 cups chicken broth (or 3-4 chicken broth cubes per two cups of hot water)
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
• ground black pepper to taste

- Heat oil in a large dutch oven, add chicken and cook for 2 minutes, at medium heat, turning chicken pieces once or twice.

- Add sliced onion, carrot, prunes, salt. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

- Add chicken broth, stir, cover with a lid, switch to low heat. Simmer for about 1 hours, stirring couple times, until carrots and onion will become very soft, almost fall apart, creating nice chunky sauce.

- Add black pepper, taste, adjust salt if needed (keep in mind that this dish is better under-salted than over-salted). Enjoy!



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In Pictures

As I often do, I add ingredients as I chop/slice/grate them while other ingredients are cooking in a pot. Same here - I sliced onion while chicken was cooking.

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.. and I peeled and grated my carrots when onion and chicken were already in a pot. If you prefer to do all your veggie prep work first - fine, then just add them all together.