5 Days 5 Lunches: Saffron Grilled Chicken Thigh Kabobs & Saffron Water

For 5 Days 5 Lunches this week I’ve decided to tackle Persian Chicken Kabobs or Jujeh Kabob.

This is part of my ongoing series that I do once a week to help you get through the work week with a healthy meal. I like to suggest a recipe that you can cook on a Sunday and pack it for your lunch all week. This is a great way to save money and to eat well.

I’ve written about kabobs and chicken thighs in the past before.

If you can properly make a kabob you will earn the respect of the Middle Easterners who know you (if you know any, I know we are so scary! …If being late to parties and always thinking you’re right is a scary thing.)

In theory, the kabob is a simple dish. Meat on a stick, Something About Mary yearned for meat on a stick, and Middle Easterners have been trying to show you the way for a couple hundred years now, but  no one seems to want to listen.

Grilled Chicken is played out, so played out that it’s EVERYWHERE. It’s so played out that you can get it as a add-on to almost anything. Here’s looking at you SALAD.

Don’t be another one of the millions who grill chicken breast. Chicken breast is an art form, that shouldn’t be attempted as much as it is. It requires lightning quick precision and good technique for a truly delicious piece of chicken.

Chicken Thigh on the other hand is kind of like the AK-47 of the chicken world. You can kind of burn it, overcook it, or under season it, and it will still most likely taste awesome and satisfying.

Chicken thigh kabobs are a nice way of tricking everyone into eating grilled chicken. I’ve also included how to make Saffron Water, which is a classic Persian cooking method. This is the only way Persian cooks use saffron in their rice and cuisine.

Now for the stick part: use a metal skewer. I use ones from the Persian Market, it has wooden handles, it looks like a mini sword, basically it rules. It’s a little messier to use metal skewers but it’s worth it in my opinion. And oddly enough it’s greener? Think about it, you throw that wood skewer away, metal skewers are reusable! Impress your crunchy friends with that side note.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 Packages of Boneless Skinless Organic Chicken Thigh

2 Cups of Water

2 Tbsp of Salt

Yogurt Marinade

2 Cups of Full Fat Plain Yogurt

1 Onion Shredded and the Juice squeezed out

¼ Cup Lemon Juice

2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder

2 Tbsp. Onion Powder

2 Tbsp. Cumin

1 Tbsp. Salt

1 Tbsp. Pepper

2 Tbsp. Saffron Water ** (See below for Saffron Water Explanation)

Yogurt Sauce (Not pictured above, but seen below)

1 Cup Greek Yogurt (Fage Full Fat)

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

2 Tbsp. Sour Cream

Some Salt & Pepper to season

Persian Barbari Bread

Saffron Water

1 Tsp. of Saffron Strands

1 Sugar Cube

1/8 Cup of Hot Water

Method

Saffron water? It’s saffron that has been crushed with a sugar cube with a mortar and pestle. It is then brewed with some warm water. This helps your saffron last longer. Saffron is extremely expensive, so this will help make it less painful. See the transformation below:

 

First, mix the salt and water together to make a salt water brine for your chicken thighs. Add the chicken thighs, let them soak for 3 hours.

While this is happening, get your yogurt marinade ready. Peel an onion and put it in a food processor. (If you don’t have one, you can shred it, but it will make you cry.)

Squeeze out the juice from the onion. Throw that in a big bowl. Now add the rest of your yogurt marinade into the bowl, EXCEPT THE SAFFRON WATER.

Take the chicken out of the brine, and cut it into manageable chunks. Think of each chunk as one or two bites.

Now add your chicken to the marinade, and let it marinate for a few hours or overnight if you are going to a tailgate.

Take the chicken out of the marinade and put it in another bowl, and allow some of the marinade to dredge off when you take it out. Add your saffron water. The chicken should be a nice yellowish color now.

Thread the chicken onto the skewers. Don’t overload it so the chicken doesn’t cook evenly. But also don’t underload it. (Underload? Is it a word? Spell Check says No.)

Set up your grill, I really recommend a charcoal grill, because you want the burner to be extremely hot.

Set up 4 bricks on your grill so you can set your skewers on them. Bring your coal tray as high up as you can so it’s as close to the grill grates as possible. Your skewers won’t be touching the grates, so no worries.

Set your skewers onto the bricks and rotate the chicken thighs until they are cooked. Make sure they are cooked.

 

 

Pull the chicken skewers off the grill, use one of the bread to pull the chicken off the skewer. Serve it with the yogurt sauce and enjoy.