JOOJEH KEBAB - SAFFRON AND LEMON CHICKEN DISH

July 04, 2016

Tired of the usual chicken recipes? We really loved this Persian inspired recipe from Iranian-born Sabrina Ghayour that was featured in the Irish Times magazine in April. Sabrina has a new book called Persiana which she has written for home cooks. Joojeh kebab is a traditional chicken dish in Iran and while is typically cooked using poussin over a barbeque, Sabrina adapted her recipe to make it easy for people to create without a barbeque. This can be served as a hot or cold dish. We have this recipe a try and found it absolutely delicious, the end result is pictured above, served on our Forget Me Not Small Oval Serving Dish.

Ingredients - Serves 4 people:

• 4 onions, thinly sliced into "half moons"
• Juice of 5 lemons
• 4 tbsp olive oil  
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 400g (14oz) Greek yoghurt (can alternatively use just a plain yoghurt, even low fat)
• 3 tbsp crushed sea salt
• Generous pinch of saffron threads
• 3 tbsp boiling water
• 6 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 5cm (2in) pieces.

How to Prepare:

1. Put the onions, lemon juice, olive oil, turmeric, yoghurt and sea salt into a large mixing bowl and mix well. Using a pestle and mortar, grind the saffron to a powder, then pour over the boiling water and leave to infuse for 5-10 minutes.
2. Add the chicken to the mixing bowl. Mix well to evenly coat the chicken pieces in the yoghurt, then add the saffron water to the bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the chicken in the refrigerator to marinate for a minimum of 1 hour or preferably overnight.
3. Once the chicken has been marinated, preheat the oven or grill to the highest setting possible. Line a large baking sheet with nonstick baking paper.
4. Remove each piece of chicken from all the marinade using a slotted spoon. Lay out all the pieces of chicken on the prepared baking sheet and bake or grill for 18-20 minutes maximum, or until the pieces have slightly charred edges but remain beautifully moist on the insides. Serve with flour tortilla wraps or basmati rice with a little salad and some yoghurt.

Fancy giving this recipe a try? We'd love to know what you thought of the dish so drop us a comment below.

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