Ukrainian home cooks use a traditional chicken heart recipe in sour cream sauce to make a soft meat dish that melts in the mouth. The cooking method relies on controlled frying and slow simmering to prevent the offal from becoming rubbery or tough.
The dish ranks among the simplest meat recipes in Ukrainian cuisine, featuring a delicate sauce with mild tanginess and the aroma of fried onions. The preparation combines browned offal with onions and carrots, which are stewed in broth before receiving a final addition of sour cream.
To prepare the dish, cooks require the following ingredients:
- 1 kilogram of chicken hearts
- 2 medium onions
- 1 carrot
- 200 to 250 grams of sour cream (15% to 20% fat content)
- 150 to 200 millilitres of water or broth
- 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of flour
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 to 2 bay leaves
- Fresh dill or parsley, to taste
Chicken hearts are a popular staple in Eastern European cookery, valued for their rich taste and high nutritional value. In traditional Ukrainian home kitchens, sour cream, known as smetana, is a foundational ingredient used to enrich pan sauces and tenderise meats. Natural yogurt without additives can replace sour cream, though it must be added cautiously to prevent curdling. Chicken or vegetable broth can be used instead of water, while one teaspoon of starch pre-diluted in cold water can replace the flour.
Preparation and initial frying
Preparation begins by trimming the chicken hearts. Each heart must be cut in half to remove excess fat, blood vessels, and blood clots, followed by a thorough rinse in cold water and drying. Larger hearts should be sliced into several pieces.
Cooks begin by heating vegetable oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. The hearts should be added in small batches and fried for 4 to 5 minutes until lightly browned. Frying too many hearts at once causes the meat to release excess liquid, preventing the formation of a golden crust.
Once the hearts are lightly browned, onions sliced into thin half-rings and carrots that are coarsely grated or cut into strips are added to the pan. The mixture is fried for an additional 5 to 6 minutes until the onions turn soft and golden.
Simmering and finishing the sauce
After the vegetables have softened, flour is sprinkled over the contents of the pan, stirred, and heated for about one minute. Hot water or broth is then gradually poured in while stirring constantly, followed by the addition of salt, black pepper, and bay leaves.
The sauce is brought to a weak boil before the heat is reduced to minimum. The pan is covered with a lid and left to stew for 25 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally and monitoring the liquid level. Sufficient liquid must remain so the hearts cook until soft and can be easily pierced with a fork.
Once tender, the pan is removed from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes before stirring in the sour cream. The pan is returned to low heat for another 5 to 7 minutes without allowing the sauce to boil heavily, preventing the sour cream from curdling.
Finally, the heat is turned off, the pan is covered, and the dish is left to rest for 5 minutes before being sprinkled with fresh herbs. The classic recipe is familiar from the home cooking of mothers and grandmothers and is traditionally served alongside mashed potatoes, buckwheat, rice, or pasta.
