Curious About Iranian Food? Don’t Miss these Top 10 Dishes: Tahchin

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Tahchin — known as “rice cake” among many non-Iranians because of its cake-like shape – has a crispy outer crust and soft inner section. The dish contains rice, yogurt, saffron, egg and chicken, although you can also make it with vegetables, fish and different types of meat.

Recipe for tahchin, adapted from food.com

2 onions

1⁄2 tsp turmeric

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed

1 lb low-fat plain yogurt

1 tsp saffron, dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water

2 eggs (optional)

1 1⁄2 lbs basmati rice or 1 1⁄2 lbs long grain rice

3 cups water

1⁄2 cup cooking oil

2 tsp salt

black pepper (to taste)

Method

Chop onions and fry in oil until slightly golden then add the turmeric. Add chicken onions until its color changes. Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water and bring to boil. Turn heat down and let boil slowly until chicken is cooked.

While chicken is cooking, beat the yogurt until smooth. Dissolve saffron in half a cup of hot water. Add saffron, salt, pepper and optional eggs to the yogurt and mix very well.

Wash rice and pour three cups of water in a large pot and bring to boil. Pour in rice and cook while stirring occasionally until rice is al dente. Drain. Pour several spoons of oil and several spoons of the yogurt mix into a non-stick pot. Add a thin layer of rice and flatten using the back of a spoon. Add a layer of chicken on top followed by another layer of rice. Again flatten the rice. Spread several more spoons of the yogurt mix on the rice. Continue in this fashion until chicken, rice and the yogurt mix have been used up. Add some more oil on top.

Put the lid on and cook for about 1.5 hours on medium low heat. Note that the longer tachin is cooked, the thicker the tahdig (the crispy layer of rice at the bottom) will be. When cooked, remove the lid and let cool for a few minutes. Place an inverted large dish over the pot and turn it over. Tap the pot in order to loosen the contents inside. The contents should fall on the dish in one piece with the tahdig in place on the outside.

Curious About Iranian Food? Don’t Miss these Top 10 Dishes