Oct 14

Another one of my favorite Persian recipes! Tah-chin-e Morgh (Tah-chin with chicken). You can make this Tah-chin by cooking it on stove top or in the oven, but here I share the oven version. Also, at times I like to add some zereshk (barberries) to the Tah-chin, but this time I made it simple :D

Tahchin e Morgh

Tahchin e Morgh

Ingredients:
1 medium onion - chopped up
3 cups rice — rinse and then soak in water for at least 1-2 hours…add salt to the water
skinless/boneless chicken breast cut up
oil
turmeric
1 cup water
salt/pepper
1 cup yogurt
4 eggs
1 tablespoon liquid saffron

Directions:
In a frying pan (that has a lid), saute the onion in oil until tender. Then add the chicken pieces and stir around. Add salt, pepper, and turmeric. Add the 1 cup water and place the lid on the pan, leave the stove on a medium-low heat. Allow the chicken to cook for 30-40 minutes. After the chicken is cooked, place the chicken pieces in a dish to cool. Then use a strainer to separate the onions from the chicken stock. Keep the chicken stock for later.

Personal Size Tahchin

Personal Size Tahchin

In a bowl of some sort mix together your yogurt, 3 eggs, salt, pepper, and some of the saffron. Once you do this, take a few tablespoons of the mix and put it in another small bowl, add the left over egg, a tablespoon of oil, a tablespoon of the chicken stock, and a little more saffron to it and stir. Place the second bowl in the fridge. Once your chicken is cool, place all the chicken pieces in the first bowl and coat it. Place the bowl in the refrigerator as well and allow the chicken to be marinaded for awhile. I only do this for an hour or so, but some people even make the chicken the night before and allow it to sit in the mix overnight.

Tahchin e Morgh

Tahchin e Morgh

When you are ready to make the rice you will place a pot on the stove and fill it half way with water. Once the water is brought to a boil add the rice (after pouring out the water covering the rice). When the rice is boiled and ready, drain the water (use a strainer).

Set the oven to a temperature of 350 °F. In an oven safe round dish (needs to be deep as well) pour some oil and coat the sides. Take 2 spatulas full (2 kafgir) of the rice and mix it with the small bowl of yogurt mix you previously had in the fridge. Now pour that rice into the oven dish and flatten it with the spatula. take out all your chicken pieces from the yogurt mix (previously placed in fridge) and place them on top of the rice/yogurt layer. Pour the remaining rice (white rice in strainer) over everything else in the oven dish and flatten with the spatula. Take the chicken broth left and add the remaining saffron to it (if you wish) and pour it over everything. Cover with foil and place in the oven for approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Tah-chin is almost ready. This last note is very important for making a good looking Tah-chin.

Note: When you want to flip it over place the serving dish on top and then slowly flip over. Wait a few minutes for the dish to cool before doing this. Also, if you find that the crust is stuck you may have to use a knife around the sides to make sure it comes loose.

Appetizer Idea:
You can use a regular or jumbo cupcake pan to create smaller personal sized Tah-chin servings. To bake set oven temperature to 350 °F and let bake for 40 - 50 minutes. If you want the crust to be darker let it bake for 50 - 60 minutes.

Enjoy your Tah-chin!

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Oct 07

A simple Persian recipe for khorak that includes chicken and a few vegetables. This is the most common form of Khorak that I enjoy eating. Different varieties can also be made, and you can even add different vegetables.

Khorak ba Morgh

Khorak ba Morgh

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts- cut up into pieces
3 - 4 large carrots - peeled and cut into circles (not too thick and not too thin circles)
2 medium potatoes - cut into little pieces/squares
1 or more cups cut green beans (fresh or frozen)
1 small onion-chopped
turmeric
salt/pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
oil

I also added some green peas (1/2 a cup) and chopped mushrooms (1/2 a cup)– I typically don’t add them…but did this time.

Directions:
In a frying pan pour some oil and fry the potatoes. Once they are done place them aside. Then do the same for the carrots. Then the same for the green beans and the green peas (if using green peas).
In a pot that has a lid, pour some oil and allow it to heat up on a medium temperature. Then saute the chopped onions until they are tender. Add the cut up chicken pieces and stir. Add salt/pepper and turmeric to the chicken. Add the vegetables from earlier and mix the ingredients together.
Add approximately 1 - 1 1/2 cups water to the tomato paste and stir. Also add some lemon juice and salt/pepper to the paste. Pour the paste over the contents in the pot and mix. Place the lid on the pot and allow the contents to cook for an additional 20-30 minutes on a medium-low temperature.

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Sep 24

Zereshk Polo is one of my FAVORITES!!! And I really mean that! I just love this Zereshk Polo dish.  Good thing its also one of my husbands favorites…except he likes to add loads of sugar to his Zereshk Polo.

Zereshk Polo

Zereshk Polo

Ingredients (for 4-5 people):
1 medium onion
2-3 chicken breasts (or other chicken parts) - cut up into pieces
liquid saffron
sugar (3-4 spoons usually is enough)
3 cups rice - soak in salt water after washing the rice
1 cup zereshk (barberries)
salt/pepper
turmeric
oil

Directions to make Zereshk Polo (ba Morgh):
In a pan, saute onions until tender then add cut up chicken pieces. Stir the pieces around a bit and then add salt, pepper, and turmeric powder. Add 1 cup water and cover the pan for the chicken to cook. Set the temperature on medium- low and let it cook for 30 minutes - 45 minutes. Once cooked you can keep 1/2 cup of the chicken stock (after straining it) if you wish to pour it over the rice.

In a large pot bring water to a boil, and then add rice (after draining the water the rice is soaking in). Guessed right! This is the polo for zereshk polo. Once the rice boils drain it and add about half a cup to one cup water to the pot, oil, and if you choose butter. Set the pot back on the stove and leave it on high temperature. Pour the rice into the pot. If you choose you can also place the chicken pieces in the pot between a two layers of the rice. I typically make the chicken separate from the rice for Zereshk Polo. At this time if you chose to save chicken stock you can pour it over the rice. I usually add a bit more oil to the chicken stock, plus some saffron. Obviously, if you want to keep your Zereshk Polo closer to a white and not a yellow you don’t want to pour saffron into your chicken stock. Once this is done cover the lid of the pot with a towel and place it over the pot. When steam starts escaping from the sides of the pot you can take the temperature down to a low setting. Allow the rice to cook for 40 minutes to 1 hour.

Wash the zereshk (barberries) after cleaning them (make sure there are no stones mixed in). Place them in a small pot and set the temperature to medium. Add some oil to the zereshk (barberries) and add a tad bit of liquid saffron and then pour a couple spoons sugar into the pot and mix. Once they have cooked you can turn the heat to low or turn it off. If you leave it on the stove too long it can be over cooked. I usually make the barberries about 10 minutes before everything is done.

Once you are ready to serve the rice put half the rice on a serving platter then mix 2/3 of the remaining rice with 2/3 of the barberries you cooked and pour on top of the rice on the platter. Then take the remaining rice and add saffron to it and the remaining barberries and decorate onto the top of the platter. Place the chicken around the platter or keep in a separate platter. You can save some barberries to sprinkle on top of the chicken as well.

Note: Some people don’t like the barberries to be too sweet, so if you just add about 3 or so spoonfuls of sugar to them that should be good. Then if anyone desires they can add more sugar to their plate…that’s pretty much what my husband ends up doing to his Zereshk Polo :D

I hope you enjoyed this Zereshk Polo recipe, and please don’t forget to check out my other Persian recipes.

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