Tabaka and Tkemali

Tabaka is flattened fried chicken from the part of Russia known as the Caucasus. It is related in cooking style to pollo al mattone, the Italian chicken that is cooked under the weight of a brick or some such heavy object. For those of us who don’t have bricks for cooking, a cast-iron pan will work, or a few phone books piled into a sauté pan. The easy way out is to use boneless chicken breasts. Serve the chicken with the spicy prune condiment known as tkemali sauce.