Name: Persian Chicken with Chelow and Yogurt Sauce
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 2 h
Cuisine: Persian
Ingredients: 4 – 6 Chicken thighs, bone in, skin on.; 2 Tablespoons Baharat Spice Blend ( see below); Salt to taste ( 1 teaspoon per pound); 2 T olive oil; 1 T cumin seeds (or 1 T ground); 1 T coriander seeds ( or 1 T ground); 1 T whole peppercorns ( or 2 tsp); ½ of one whole nutmeg ( or 1 tsp ground); 10 whole unpeeled cardamon pod or (½ tsp ground); 2 inches piece cinnamon stick (or 2 tsp ground); ½ tsp ground allspice; 8 whole cloves (or 1 tsp ground); ¼ of a black lemon (optional); 1 star anise ( optional); 2 Cups long-grain white basmati rice; 10 Cup Water and 1 tablespoon salt for par-boiling (you will drain this); 3 tablespoons hot water; 1 pinch saffron ( 10- 20 threads) or ½ tsp tumeric powder; ¼ cup plain yogurt; 1 egg ( optional); ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 tablespoon butter; 1 Cup plain thick Greek yogurt; 2 small Persian cucumbers cut lengthwise, then thinly sliced ( or 1 C English cucumber) Skin ok.; 2 -3 T chopped fresh mint, dill, Italian parsley or cilantro ( or a combination is nice); 1-2 T lemon juice; 1-2 minced garlic cloves; ½ tsp kosher salt -or salt to taste.; pepper to taste, white pepper is a nice touch.

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Persian Chicken with Chelow and Yogurt Sauce is a flavorful Middle Eastern meal you will love!

Introducing Persian Chicken! The chicken portion of the recipe is fast and easy –made with an Arabic spice blend, called Baharat, that can be whipped up in minutes.

The word “Baharat” simply means “spices” in Arabic, and this wonderfully complex blend has a unique balance of flavors. The chicken is rubbed down with salt and Baharat Spice, seared on the stove and finished in the oven until golden and crispy. Serve with saffron rice, cucumber yogurt sauce and salad and you’ll have a simple, delicious, Middle Eastern style dinner.

Baharat Spice

Baharat is often used in Arabic cooking- most commonly in Persian and Turkish dishes to add spice and a little heat to meat dishes, couscous, and tagines. The warm exotic flavors of Baharat are an easy way to spice up simple dishes and give them a little intrigue.

To make the Baharat spice mix, place all the spices in a coffee grinder, and pulse until it is ground. If you can’t find Black Lemons, don’t fret, just leave them out.

If you don’t have whole seeds, but have the ground spice, it’s perfectly OK to substitute ground spices, although the more whole seeds you have, the better the flavor. But don’t let the lack of the whole seeds stop you from making this.

Black Lemons are actually dried limes, and owe their misnomer to the English translation from Arabic. They’re used in Middle East cooking to add sourness or acidity to chutneys, soups and stews and even ground into flat breads.

Ground Black Lemons have a sweet-tart flavor that is unique and really has no substitute, so for this recipe, leave it out if you can’t track one down. You can also order them on-line.

Because the spice blend contains no salt, be sure to salt the chicken first, before rubbing on the spice. Be generous with the Baharat spice, rubbing both sides. For this recipe, I personally like bone-in, skin-on, chicken thighs best, but feel free to substitute.

This spice blend would also taste great on tofu, with salt and a little cornstarch mixed in with the Baharat, and then seared.

To make the chicken, heat 2 T oil over medium high heat. When oil is hot, add chicken, skin side down and sear until golden brown about 3-4 minutes. Turn heat to medium.

Turn the chicken over and sear 3-4 minutes before placing in a 400 F oven to finish.

When it comes out, the skin will be crispy and flavorful, and the meat tender and juicy.

While the chicken is in the oven, make the easy flavorful Tzatziki Sauce!

If you would like to try making the Chelow Rice dish ( Tahdig) with crispy yogurt saffron crust, here is a step by step. I would recommend reading the whole recipe first, so you grasp the concept and time commitment and start this before you prepare the chicken. It takes about 1 ½-2 hours.

Chelow is a Persian rice dish with a crispy saffron yogurt crust. The crust is called Tahdig, a Persian word meaning “bottom of the pot” where the crispy crust forms while cooking. This recipe is often simply called “Tahdig”.

The pot of rice is inverted and this lovely golden top is created. Because the tahdig is considered the very best part of the meal, it is traditionally served to guests first.

Now…if you don’t want to fuss with the Chelow, make simple saffron-infused (or turmeric) basmati rice.

To make Chelow, use long grain basmati rice or long-grain Jasmine rice. Do not use short-grain rice. Rinse the rice several times and parboil the rice: cook it like you would pasta, in generously salted boiling water until al dente.

Depending on the rice, this will take 5 -10 minutes. Brown rice takes a bit longer. You want the rice to be almost done. This is key.

While the rice is boiling toast a pinch of saffron for a minute. Place it in a bowl, with 2 T of the boiling salted water. Let is sit and infuse the water.

( You can substitute turmeric for the saffron, if you prefer, and skip toasting it)

In a medium bowl, mix together ¼ cup plain yogurt and 1 egg. The egg is optional, so if you don’t like eggs just leave it out. Add a generous pinch of salt, and the 2 T of saffron water ( or turmeric water) and stir.

Once the rice is par-boiled, strain and rinse again several times until the water runs clear, removing all the starch. Drain. Stir in 1 Cup of the parboiled rice to the yogurt saffron mixture. Set aside.

Here is where it gets tricky. If you have a good nonstick pot or high sided nonstick sauté pan, with a tight-fitting lid, that measures 8-10 inches in diameter, use it.

Or, if not, use a dutch oven but make sure to line the bottom with parchment, tracing the bottom of the pot on the parchment to create a circle, and cut it out.

The parchment will allow the tahdig, or crust, to come out all in one piece. Without the parchment, I could not get the crust to release. But I don’t have a nonstick pot.

After lining the pot with a circle of parchment, add butter, olive oil and water ( over the parchment) and heat over med-high heat. This will begin to sizzle up a storm. Give a quick stir, turn the heat down and add the saffron yogurt rice mixture, pressing down lightly to create the crispy base layer.

Then spoon in the rest of the rice and form a pyramid, so the rice is higher at the center. Don’t just dump it all in or you’ll end up with heavy rice.

At this point, you could also layer in fresh herbs like dill or parsley or cilantro, and nuts like pine nuts or pistachios, and/or dried fruit like golden raisins or dried apricots as you are spooning the rice in. Cumin seeds or coriander seeds are a nice touch too.

Poke several “steam holes” into the rice with a chopstick or the end of a wooden spoon.
Cover the pot with a kitchen towel and then the lid.

Fold the corners up over the lid so they don’t catch on fire.

The towel prevents the steam from dripping back down into the rice.

You could also use a couple layers of paper towels.

Turn the heat to medium-high for 2-3 minutes until you see visible puffs of steam. This will be obvious -so wait until you see it. Once you see the puffs of steam, turn heat to medium-low for 25 minutes. Don’t be tempted to remove the lid.

After the timer goes off, place the whole pot in a sink or large bowl filled with very cold water, for one minute, so water is at least 2-3 inches up the sides. This will shock the rice and help it release from the sides.

Remove the rice lid and towel, place a large platter or plate on top, and invert the whole thing. It’s easier with help. Once turned over, give the pot a good shake, knock on the top a few times so the crust releases. And hopefully, the crust will come out perfectly golden brown and in one piece. If the crust breaks, piece it back together and sprinkle fresh herbs over top – it will still taste good. The rice should be light and fluffy.

The first time I made this, the rice was not cooked enough, because I used brown basmati rice, and did not parboil it long enough. The crust had to be scraped from the bottom of the pan.

The second time I made this, I parboiled the rice too long and the rice was mushy and heavy. And the crust still had to be scraped from the pan. I tried various pots, pans, and it wasn’t until I used regular long-grained basmati rice and parchment, did the crust come out in one piece and the rice turn out fluffy and light.

Hope you enjoy this Persian Feast!

Persian Chicken with Chelow and Yogurt Sauce

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

Author: Sylvia Fountaine
Prep Time: 60
Cook Time: 60
Total Time: 2 hours
Yield: 4 -6 1x
Category: Main
Method: Stove top
Cuisine: Persian

Print Recipe

Description

Persian Chicken with Baharat Spice served with saffron yogurt crusted Chelow Rice and cucumber yogurt sauce.

Instructions

Make Barahat Spice: Toast all whole seeds in a dry skillet, then pulse all in a spice grinder until ground. If using ground just stir toegher.
Pre heat oven to 400F
Sprinkle both sides of chicken generously with kosher salt. Rub in a generous amount (¾ teaspoon each) of Baharat Spice on both sides of each piece of chicken. If you have time to do this 30 minutes ahead, before cooking, even better!
Heat oil in a large oven proof skillet over medium high heat. Sear chicken, in hot oil, skin side down for 3- 4 minutes, until golden and crispy. Turn over and sear other side, turning heat down to medium. Sear another 3-4 minutes. Place the skillet in the middle of the oven, uncovered, and baked until cooked through, about 15- 20 minutes or until internal temp reaches 170 F ( for thighs) and juices run clear. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes before serving.

To make Chelow:

Parboil rinsed rice in 10 cups of salted water, and cook uncovered, like pasta, until grains have opened up- are just tender, yet still al dente, about 7-8 minutes, or longer if using brown rice. Drain.
In a medium bowl, mix saffron threads with 3 Tablespoons boiling water ( just borrow from the boiling rice ). Set aside 5 minutes. Add the yogurt, generous pinch salt and 1 egg (optional) and stir.
Add about 1 Cup of the parboiled rice into the bowl with the Yogurt Saffron mixture.
Line the bottom of 8-10 inch diameter deep sauté pan or pot (that has a tight-fitting lid) with a circle of parchment paper. Place on the stove over Med heat. Add butter, olive oil over the parchment. When the butter has melted, swirl it around to coat parchment, add the yogurt saffron rice mixture in an even layer over the parchment. Spoon in the rest of the rice, gently building a pyramid ( don’t just dump it in- or will lose its light quality).
At this point- you could also layer in fresh dill, mint, or parsley, slivered almonds, pine nuts or even golden raisins, or dried apricots, cumin seed or coriander seed.)
With the end of a wooden spoon poke 5-6 steam holes down through the rice.
Cover pot with a thin kitchen towel then place the lid over the towel and fold the corners up and over the lid, so the edges don’t catch on fire. See photo.
Turn heat to Med-high for 2-3 minutes then turn to low heat for 30 minutes. Don’t be tempted to uncover.
After 30 minutes, either fill the sink or large bowl with cold water deep enough to submerge the pot 2-3 inches up the sides. Place the rice pot in the cold water, to shock it, to help it release from the sides… for a few minutes. Remove lid and towel. You could also run a spatula around the edges.
Place a large platter or plate over the top of the pot, and invert the whole thing, shaking a little and knocking the bottom of the pot so it releases. Hopefully, it comes out in one piece. If it sticks, using a sharp metal spatula, scrape and coax it out, piecing it together over the rice. Sprinkle with fresh herbs, like parsley or mint, or dill. Serve immediately!

To make Cucumber Yogurt Sauce, stir everything together in a medium bowl.

Notes

The baharat spice and yogurt sauce can be made ahead.

Nutrition

Calories: 495

Keywords: Persian chicken recipe, baharat chicken recipe, baharat spice recipe, chelow recipe, tahdig recipe, Iranian chicken, persian chicken thighs,

Lovely presentation…. I have been cooking Iranian food for years. Rice is the real center of the meal. I have made tahdig many times. The Yogurt Tahdig is the type I liked the least. There are several types of tahdig you can make that are less fussy. The most common one that is tasty is just a plain rice tahdig. when you take your rice out and put it in a colander to rinse it, you melt a combination of a tablespoon of butter or 2 and a couple tablespoons of oil in the dutch oven, spoon a layer of rice over the bottom and mound the rest of the rice on top ..poke the holes.. cover with a dishtowel/paper towels and the lid.. steam on medium high for 5 minutes.. turn the heat down to under medium for 30 minutes or so I always taste the rice to determine how done it is.. flip and you have a lovely crispy buttery tahdig. for the saffron… you can mix it up the same way without the yogurt and egg and put it on top of the cooked rice, about half a cup of cooked rice and the saffron and water it looks very pretty. Many times the tahdig is taken off the rice and placed on a separate platter or on the side. . Another type of tahdig you can make, slice a raw washed potato or 2 into thin slices and put the slices in your pot on top of the melted butter and oil and mound your rice on top of the potatoes and stream the rice. Another quick one that is delicious is put an flour tortilla on the bottom when your butter and oil have melted and mound your rice on top of the tortilla and steam. Making rice middle east style is an art acquired by practice and error. I have burned my fair share of pots of rice. Stove temperatures vary.. so until you get the knack always monitor and smell your rice for burning, cooking on a lower heat causes less mistakes than cooking on too high heat. You can always increase the heat, but you can’t undo burned rice.
Thank- you for the recipe!

PS. I generally use Thai Jasmine Rice it is a bit softer and moister.. Basmati is a drier rice and is more expensive and popular now. You should soak both, I do it for a few hours.. it allows the rice grain to puff up and elongate more when cooked.

Comments

Anonymous says:

September 28, 2019 at 2:23 pm

Excellent. Made the rice as well and it turned out perfecty. Love the flavors!

★★★★★

Gwenda Meredith says:

January 16, 2016 at 2:18 am

I was inspired to make your dish after eating the recipe at the WONDERFUL TEBAY MOTORWAY SERVICES restaurant in CUMBRIA .If you travel North on the M6 as you approach the area of Shap Fells there is this AWARD WINNING great motorway services with local high quality farm produce and cafe and so on

.So I chose this meal – the chefs make dishes and sell at very good prices but the quality is so and came home inspired to make it for myself.

THANKYOU.Delicious!

Anonymous says:

November 18, 2014 at 2:53 am

There is a Japanese place near where I live that makes something that sounds very similar to this. Crispy rice at the bottom of a well-oiled stoneware bowl, not inverted, with different kinds of yummy things in/on the rice. Korean bibimbap is similar. I’m totally looking forward to trying this version though, since my wife and I have been experimenting with Middle East spices. Yum!

1. Sylvia Fountaine says:
  
  November 23, 2014 at 1:52 am
  
  Japanese crispy rice sounds delicious!
  
Namie J says:

November 12, 2014 at 12:27 pm

Wow sounds good. This made my roasted quail with saffron risotto to shame. 🙁 I will try this one day. No wonder Alexander was impressed with Persian rice!

Anonymous says:

November 8, 2014 at 4:45 am

If i made the spice blend entirely of ground spices, how would the measurements change for each of the ingredients for the blend??

1. Sylvia Fountaine says:
  
  November 8, 2014 at 2:53 pm
  
  I adjusted the recipe above for ground spices….thanks and I hope you enjoy!!
  
Anonymous says:

March 13, 2014 at 12:39 pm

Thank you for your brilliant instructions! I tried this with Persian smoked rice and it worked first time (I have a non-stick pot). I’d been to a Persian cookery class here in Germany and had watched it done, and although I have the (German) cooking instructions, I had never plucked up the courage to try it myself. Thanks to you, it has and it really doesn’t seem as difficult as I first thought.

Teresa Miller says:

January 12, 2014 at 8:48 pm

Lovely presentation…. I have been cooking Iranian food for years. Rice is the real center of the meal. I have made tahdig many times. The Yogurt Tahdig is the type I liked the least. There are several types of tahdig you can make that are less fussy. The most common one that is tasty is just a plain rice tahdig. when you take your rice out and put it in a colander to rinse it, you melt a combination of a tablespoon of butter or 2 and a couple tablespoons of oil in the dutch oven, spoon a layer of rice over the bottom and mound the rest of the rice on top ..poke the holes.. cover with a dishtowel/paper towels and the lid.. steam on medium high for 5 minutes.. turn the heat down to under medium for 30 minutes or so I always taste the rice to determine how done it is.. flip and you have a lovely crispy buttery tahdig. for the saffron… you can mix it up the same way without the yogurt and egg and put it on top of the cooked rice, about half a cup of cooked rice and the saffron and water it looks very pretty. Many times the tahdig is taken off the rice and placed on a separate platter or on the side. . Another type of tahdig you can make, slice a raw washed potato or 2 into thin slices and put the slices in your pot on top of the melted butter and oil and mound your rice on top of the potatoes and stream the rice. Another quick one that is delicious is put an flour tortilla on the bottom when your butter and oil have melted and mound your rice on top of the tortilla and steam. Making rice middle east style is an art acquired by practice and error. I have burned my fair share of pots of rice. Stove temperatures vary.. so until you get the knack always monitor and smell your rice for burning, cooking on a lower heat causes less mistakes than cooking on too high heat. You can always increase the heat, but you can’t undo burned rice.
Thank- you for the recipe!

PS. I generally use Thai Jasmine Rice it is a bit softer and moister.. Basmati is a drier rice and is more expensive and popular now. You should soak both, I do it for a few hours.. it allows the rice grain to puff up and elongate more when cooked.

Peter @Feed Your Soul Too says:

January 8, 2014 at 3:00 pm

I love the crust on both the chicken and the rice. Thx for sharing the tip on successfully getting the crust right on the rice.

Penny says:

January 6, 2014 at 6:30 pm

The rice certainly sounds challenging, but I am always up for a challenge. The chicken also sounds delicious and I will have to scout out the spices. You have definitely peaked my interest Sylvia and I thank you for that.