Morgh - Saffron Chicken

Ingredients: (4 servings)

- 3-4 chicken breasts
- 1 medium onion
- 3 teaspoons liquid saffron
- Salt and pepper

Directions:

Slice the onion finely. In a pan, add the onion, salt, pepper and three or four tablespoons of water. Lay the chicken breasts on top, cover and simmer for 30 minutes on low heat until the chicken becomes soft and tender. Add the liquid saffron over the chicken breasts and turn them over a couple of times to coat thoroughly in the saffron sauce. Serve in a shallow dish.

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Morgh-e Sorkh Karde - Fried Chicken

Ingredients: (2 servings)

4 drumsticks
3 tablespoon plain flour
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 small onion
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Wash the chicken and soak it in cold water for a few minutes. In a pan, add the chopped onion, chicken, salt and pepper. Cover it with water and let it simmer for 30 minutes on a medium heat. Strain the chicken pieces and discard the onion. Before serving, roll the pieces of chicken in seasoned flour, brown in hot oil turning the pieces until golden. Serve on a plate.

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Morgh-e Kamel - Whole Chicken Roast

Ingredients: (4-6 servings)

2 Tbs. Olivier Tuscan Lemon Pepper Oil
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 chicken, about 5 lb., rinsed and patted dry

Directions:

Combine oil, thyme, salt and pepper and stir to form a paste.Using your hands, separate the skin from the chicken around the breasts and legs, being careful not to tear the skin. Rub some of the oil mixture under the skin, then rub the remaining mixture on the outside of the chicken and inside the cavity. Place the chicken in a large sealable plastic bag or wrap with plastic wrap and set on a baking sheet. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 400ºF.Place the chicken on a rack in a large roasting pan. Roast, basting occasionally with the pan juices, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone, registers 170ºF, about 1 1/4 hours.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

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Kotlet-e Morgh - Chicken Cutlets

Ingredients: (6 servings)

one whole medium chicken
ground skinned almonds, one cup (optional)
milk, one cup
butter, 50 grams
medium eggs, 3-4
medium onions, 2-3
chopped parsley, 2-3 spoons
bread crumbs, one cup
flour, 1/2 cup
cooking oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Skin and chop onions. Clean and wash chicken. Add a glass of water, salt, and onions. Cook over medium heat for about 20-30 minutes, adding water by small amounts if necessary. There should be about 1/2 cup of water left when chicken is cooked. Add that water to milk. Add melted butter, salt, pepper, almonds, parsley, and bread crumbs, and mix well.
Remove chicken bones and grind the meat in a meat-grinder. Add the mix and again mix well. Remove balls about 4-5 cm in diameter from the mix. Spread some flour on a clean, flat surface. Shape each ball into an ellipse with a thickness of 2 cm on that surface.
Break the eggs open into a bowl, add salt, and mix well. Heat up cooking oil in a pan. Soak kotlets in the egg mix, and fry on both sides until golden. This dish can be served with potatoes and parsley.

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Tah Chin-e Morgh - Saffron Yogurt Chicken

Ingredients: (4 servings)

chicken, 1 kg
basmati or long grain rice, 500 grams
yogurt, 300 grams
saffron, 1/2 teaspoon
large onions, two
3 eggs (yolks only)
cooking oil
salt and pepper

Directions:

Start by washing rice and soaking it in warm water (with added salt) for 2 hours. Then filter out the water. Chop onions into thin slices and fry in oil until slightly golden. Wash and cut chicken, remove skin, and fry in onions until color changes. Add some water and bring to boil. Turn heat down and let boil slowly until cooked, adding more water if needed. Remove the bones. While chicken is cooking, beat the yogurt until it is smooth. Dissolve saffron in half a cup of hot water. Add saffron, salt, pepper and egg-yolks to the yogurt and mix very well.
Pour a few glasses of water in a large pot and bring to boil. Pour in rice and cook while stirring occasionally until rice grows longer and slightly softens (Take care not to overcook the rice. It should still be too hard for eating). Again filter out the water.
Pour several spoons of oil and several spoons of the yogurt mix into a non-stick pot. Add a thin layer of rice and flatten using the back of a spoon. Add a layer of chicken on top followed by another layer of rice. Again flatten the rice. Spread several more spoons of the yogurt mix on the rice. Continue in this fashion until chicken, rice and the yogurt mix have been used up. Add some more oil on top. Put the lid on and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat.
Place the pot in an oven (preheated to 250 F) and cook for 1.5 to 2 hours. Note that the longer Tah-Chin is cooked, the thicker the Tah-Dig (delicious crispy layer of rice at the bottom) will be. When cooked, remove the lid and let cool for a few minutes. Place an inverted large dish over the pot and turn it over. Tap the pot in order to loosen the contents inside. The contents should fall on the dish in one piece with the Tah-Dig on the outside.

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BOOGHALAMOON BA ZERESHK - TURKEY & BARBERRY RICE STUFFING

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
11/2 tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups white Basmati rice, semi cooked** (see below)
1/2 cup dried craberries
1/2 cup zereshk (barberries), stems removed, rinsed
1/2 cup slivered dried Turkish apricots
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 cup crushed walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons ground saffron dissolved in 3 tablespoons warm water

This recipe should be cooked inside the turkey, as opposed to baked separately as a side dish.Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onions to pan and cook until golden. Add the cumin, salt, pepper, cook about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, toss onion mixture, semi-cooked rice, cranberries, barberries, apricots, almonds, walnuts, raisins, butter and saffron.

Use this mixture to stuff the turkey just before baking.

** SEMI-COOKED RICE

2 cups water
2 cups white Basmati rice
2 teaspoons salt

In a medium saucepan, place the water, rice, salt and mix. Bring the water to boil over medium heat and cook until the liquid fully evaporates, occasionally stirring. You can serve this with our Cranberry Quincy Chutney.

Special thanks to our Persian Cuisine expert Azar Kamarei. For more about Azar, visit the Persian Pantry.