Persian Saffron Chicken (مرغ زعفرانی)

This refreshingly simple Persian chicken dish combines chicken, caramelised onions and saffron to make a hearty weeknight dinner.

This dish is one of the simplest shortcuts to Persian flavour, as well as framing one of Iran’s finest items of produce: saffron. Worth more than its weight in gold, saffron is a labour of love, harvested at dawn during a very short harvest window in the autumn. These delicate stamens of the crocus flower are then dried and sold, kept in many Persian cupboards as a prized culinary possession. Like many Persian dishes, this dish doesn’t lean too much into spicing, besides turmeric and black pepper. Some people will add cinnamon to this but the saffron shines much better without it. With more liquid, this dish could be enjoyed as a chicken soup, or ‘khoresh’. In which case, I recommend using bone-in chicken and replacing the stock with water. However, made with a small amount of chicken stock you have this rich, saucy, weeknight chicken dish that goes great with rice and bread - don’t forget the yoghurt too! Let’s go!

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

• 4x boneless chicken thighs

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 2x tablespoons olive oil

• 25g butter

• 1x onion, sliced

• pinch of baking soda

• 1 tablespoons tomato puree

• 300ml chicken stock

• 1/4 tsp saffron threads (about 10-12 threads)

• 1 tsp sugar

WALKTHROUGH

1. First, combine the 4x boneless chicken thighs with 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Mix until the chicken is coated and set it aside for 20 minutes.

2. Now let’s caramelise the onion. Place a frying pan onto medium-low heat and add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 25g of butter. Once melted and foaming, add the thinly sliced onion followed by a pinch of baking soda. Stir the onions to break them up, and gently fry them until they gradually shrivel and brown, which takes about 15 minutes.

   

   

3. Add the 1 tablespoon of tomato puree and fry it into the mixture until fragrant, about 1 minute.

   

4. Add the marinated chicken and stir it into the tomato and onions until well-combined. Add the 300ml of chicken stock and bring the pan to a boil.

   

5. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce reduced to a rich, thicker consistency.

   

6. Now we’ll bloom the saffron. Into a small, microwavable bowl or jug, combine the 10-12 strands of saffron and 1 tsp of sugar. Stir the mixture until the saffron is roughened and slightly broken up. Add 3 tablespoons of water and microwave the mixture of high for 20 seconds until steaming hot. Allow this mixture to sit for a further 5 minutes to infuse; the colour should intensify a lot.

   

   

7. Add the bloomed saffron tea to the chicken and immediately turn off the heat. Stir until the saffron is combined with the dish and let it sit for 5 minutes to infuse further before serving. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your taste with salt and lemon juice.

   

8. Serve the saffron chicken with your favourite rice or flatbreads. It goes great with yoghurt! Enjoy!