Tahchin is a delicious and aromatic Persian rice dish made with saffron. This Persian Saffron Rice Cake includes a layer of shredded chicken and is garnished with barberries (zereshk), pistachios and almond slivers.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Persian
Keyword tahcheen, tahchin
Prep Time 1 hourhour
Cook Time 2 hourshours
Additional Time 1 hourhour
Total Time 4 hourshours
Servings 10
Calories 193kcal
Author Laura Bashar | Family Spice
Ingredients
2boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 ½teaspoonsaltdivided
½teaspoonturmeric
½teaspoondried parsley
¼teaspoongarlic powder
⅛teaspoonblack pepper
1tablespoonextra virgin olive oil
2tablespoonlemon juice
3cupsbasmati rice
½teaspoonground saffron
4egg yolks
2cupsyogurt
2tablespoonbutter
¼teaspoonzereshk
2teaspoonsugar
1tablespoonchopped pistachios
1tablespoonalmond slivers
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Instructions
In a small bowl combine crushed saffron with 2 tablespoon hot water and set aside.
In a small bowl combine ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon dried parsley, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ⅛ teaspoon black pepper. Season both sides of each chicken breast.
Heat a pan over medium high heat and add 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil. When oil is hot, add the chicken breasts. Cook chicken until browned, about 5 minutes.
Flip chicken over and brown other side. Reduce heat to and add 2 TBS lemon juice. Cover pan and cook until chicken is done, about 10 minutes.
Remove chicken from heat and shred it with two forks. Add 1 teaspoon of saffron water to chicken juices in the pan and mix with shredded chicken. Reserve.
In a medium-sized bowl soak rice with water. Gently wash the rice by stirring the rice in the water with your hand. This helps wash some of the starch and grit out. Pour out the water and repeat two more times.
After washing the rice a third time, rinse and then cover rice with water and add 1 tablespoon salt.
In a 5-quart non-stick pot add 8 cups of water and 1 TBS salt and bring to boil. When the water has come to boil, pour out the water in the bowl containing the soaking rice. Add the wet rice to the boiling water.
When the water boils again and the rice floats to the top of the pot (approx. 6 mins), pour the contents of the pot into a fine colander. You know your rice is ready to strain if you bite a rice kernel and the center is still uncooked. Allow rice to cool slightly before mixing with yogurt and eggs.
Preheat oven to 500ºF.
In a very large mixing bowl whisk together yogurt and egg yolks until smooth. Stir in remaining saffron water. Add the drained and cooled rice and gently mix until all of the rice is coated and yellow.
Use 1 TBS butter to grease the bottom and sides of a 9x13 pyrex pan.
Spread half of the rice mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.
Spread the shredded chicken over the rice layer.
Top with the remaining half of rice mixture.
Cover with foil and place in the oven. If you like your tahchin crispy, reduce heat to 450ºF and bake for 30 minutes, then reduce to 350ºF and bake for 1 hour. If you do not want it crunch, reduce heat to 400ºF bake for 30 minutes then reduce to 350ºF and bake for 1 hour. Rotate the dish halfway through the cooking time to insure even browning.
Right before serving, heat a small pan over medium high heat. Melt 1 TBS of butter then add zereshk and sugar. Once sugar is mixed and combined, remove from heat.
To serve, remove foil and place a large serving platter over the rice. Carefully invert and remove the pan. Top with chopped pistachios, almond slivers and zereshsk.
Notes
Tahchin can also be made in the pot that you parboil the rice. Just make sure that the pot is oven safe and greased all over.If you can't find zereshk, you can use dried cranberries.Tahchin can easily be reheated in the microwave. Add a damp paper towel over your rice and the steam will help puff up the rice and rehydrate it. The crispy tahdig is best the day you first bake your tahchin. Once reheated, it does soften. You can also reheat tahchin in a pot. This works best if you have a lot of tahchin to reheat. Add some oil to the bottom of the pot and place the tahchin crust side down and sprinkle a little over the rice. Heat over medium for 20 minutes, raising the temperature to medium high for 5 minutes to crisp up the crust.Leftovers will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. You can freeze it, but the rice does get a little mushy when thawed. It will last in the freezer for up to 4 months.