Persian Chicken and Rice

We have a wonderful Persian restaurant by the name of Shahrzad in a city near where we live. They serve the most amazing Persian chicken and rice dish (Zereshk Polo ba Morgh)… among other yummy dishes.  We can’t make the trip out to the restaurant as much as we would like, so we tried making it at home. Their Persian chicken and rice is the inspiration for this recipe.

We haven’t yet searched local Middle Eastern markets for barberries but we really like the way the sour cherries work in this dish. And good news!  All the ingredients for this dish can be purchased at Trader Joe’s, with the exception of the rose water.

This is one dish where any leftovers are eaten entirely by the following day and sometimes we fight over them!

Persian Chicken and Rice

Chicken:

• 4 ½ – 5 pounds bone-in, skin on chicken thighs and/or breasts
• ¼ cup plus 2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 large onion, sliced into thin rounds
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp saffron threads, crushed
• 1 tsp rose water (optional)
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 TBS lemon juice

Rice:

• Water
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups long grain basmati rice
• ½ tsp crushed saffron threads, crushed
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• ½ cup dried sour cherries, chopped
• 1 TBS sugar
• ½ cup slivered, toasted almonds or chopped pistachios

For the Chicken:

Preheat oven to 375˚.

In a small bowl, combine the saffron with 2 teaspoons of hot water to dissolve. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. Add rose water, if using.

In a large bowl, whisk the ¼ cup of the olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, salt, pepper and saffron/rose water. Add the chicken pieces turning to coat. Let the chicken in the refrigerator for one hour minimum.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from marinade and place skin side down (in batches if needed) and cook until skin is brown, about 6 minutes. Turn chicken over and brown for 5 minutes longer. Remove chicken from pan and add the onion, stirring until soft, about 3 minutes. Add ½ cup of water to pan and place chicken in a single layer over the onions, skin side up. Cover and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove lid and cook for 25 minutes longer, or until chicken is cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking, make the rice.

For the Rice:

Butter a 2-quart oven-safe dish.

Bring water and salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Add rice and cook until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the rice in a colander and shake out excess water.

Dissolve saffron in 1 tablespoon of hot water. Return the rice to the saucepan and stir in the saffron water.

In a skillet, melt the butter. When it starts to foam, add the cherries and the sugar. Stir a few times until cherries are coated and sugar is dissolved.

Spoon one third of the rice into the bottom of the buttered dish. Top with half of the cherry mixture and half of the almonds. Top with half of the remaining rice, then the remaining cherries and almonds. Add the remaining rice to the top and pour any remaining butter over it. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until rice is fluffy.

We serve the chicken over the onions with the rice on the side but you can serve the rice topped with onions and then chicken or whichever way you’d like!

Serves 6.