Persian Baked Saffron Rice – Tahchin

Tahchin is one of the most iconic dishes in Persian cuisine. It’s also perfect for Nowruz, it’s elegant yet satisfying. Moreover it doesn’t have any outlandish flavors so the annoying people at your house who have finicky palettes cannot really get upset about this dish.

So what is Tahchin? Basically it’s a rice cake, it’s rice, yogurt, eggs, saffron, and chicken. I like to bake mine in muffin tins, because it allows for a more elegant look. But typically you’ll bake it in a pyrex dish.

Tahchin reminds me only of one thing, my Mom and her parties. My Mom learned from her Mom (my Mommon Joon) to throw awesome parties. Not like ragers where everyone gets drunk and blah blah, those parties are not the parties I’m talking about. Even though, some of you might think that those are the only kinds of parties you should have. My Mom’s parties are always dinner parties or lunch parties, basically meal parties. Parties where tons of food is served and numerous dishes are prepared. Why do Iranian hosts prepare so many dishes for their guests? Basically it’s a confidence thing, they’re worried that their guests might not like a certain dish, so they make so many dishes that your guest would have to find something they like. Because remember people, upsetting your guests is basically a Persian host or hostess’s worst nightmare, so a Persian hostess will most likely always choose making sure her guests are happy.

My Mom’s tahchin is famous, Tahchin is basically Persian rice that is cooked part way, then it’s mixed with yogurt and saffron. That’s what gives it that golden color and cake like consistency. Then most will supercharge it with some sort of protein, most of the time it’s chicken. The chicken is always chicken breast (split breast) that has been cooked in a simple broth. This allows the chicken to be nice and juicy. It’s like a delicious chicken surprise inside a rice cake.

This is not a dish that most people outside of the Persian community get to try and it’s a shame, because I think it translates really well to today’s cuisine. The way I make it allows you to have a nice portion without going crazy and overdoing it.

So don’t be scared, give this Persian classic a try.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cup of White Basmati Rice

3 Cups Water

1 Cup of Full Fat Yogurt

3 Egg Yolks

2 Tbsp. Butter

2 Tsp. Salt

1 Split Chicken Breast

1/4 Cup Diced Onion

1/2 Tsp. Turmeric

3 Tbsp. Saffron Water (take a few strands of saffron and a sugar cube, crush it with a mortar and pestle, then brew it with some hot water)

1 3 x3 Deep Muffin Tin  or 9 x 13 Pyrex Dish

Method

Soak the rice in 3 cups of water with some salt (think 2 teaspoons.) Let the rice soak overnight or a few hours. Strain the rice and wash the rice a few times in cold water. Rinse until the rice water is clear.

Boil a split chicken breast with the turmeric, diced onion, and 2 cups of water.  Cook until the chicken is delicate and falls off the bone. Debone the chicken and then break the chicken up into clumps and set aside.

Boil the three cups of water, then add your rice. As it elongates then strain the liquid and wash with some cold water. Then strain the water again.

Mix the yogurt and egg yolks together. Now add them to the rice. Pour your saffron water and turmeric into the rice and mix well. But be sure not to break your rice apart.

Grease a large pyrex with some butter. Lay down a layer of rice, then chicken, then rice, then chicken and finally rice.

Or if you want it to look cute like it does above, grease a muffin tin and layer the rice and chicken in the tin.

Bake in the oven at about 350F until the rice turns a dark golden brown all over the rice forming a nice a tahdig. When it’s cooked, allow it to settle and then use a large baking sheet to flip the tahchin over, allowing it to come out. If you’ve done everything correctly it’ll come out in one piece.

If you are cooking the rice in a muffin tin, cook at 350F for about 30 to 45 minutes. Depending on how crispy you like your tahdig, you have two options. If you like it less crispy, lay a large baking sheet over the tin sheet, and flip the rice into the sheet. For those that don’t come out, use a spatula to get the tahchin out (be careful not to mess up your tahchin)

 

 

 

If you like it crispier, once you’ve removed it from the tin, bake them in the oven to allow them to crisp up further.

Enjoy!