Caramelised Onion & Chicken Tahchin
Tahchin is my go-to comfort dish, that fluffy filling and crispy exterior (TAHDIG)? Oh baby say no more. My favourite filling combination is comprised of caramelised onion, spiced shredded chicken thighs and toasted walnut and dates. It’s a family favourite and it’s about to be yours too!
Also, please save yourself from the head and heartache and make sure you use a non-stick pan - it will not work with anything else, trust me.
I recommend serving this with a salad, and/or fresh herbs, some sort of torshi (pickles) and thick thick yogurt. I can’t wait for you to try this!
Rice mixture
4 C long-grain Basmati rice
1/4 C sea salt
1 1/2 C Greek yogurt
2 medium eggs
1/4 TSP sea salt
1 TBSP ghee/ oil
Bloomed Saffron
1/4 TSP saffron powder*
2 TBSP hot water
Shredded chicken
1 TBSP ghee/ oil of choice
8 medium boneless chicken thighs
1 TSP cinnamon
1 TSP turmeric
1 TSP sea salt
1/4 TSP black pepper
Onion
1 TBSP ghee
2 medium onions, sliced
Salt to taste
squeeze of lemon juice
1 C walnut, chopped
1 C dates, chopped
Method
Wash the rice in a sieve/ colander with small holes, gently swirl the grains around with your fingers under running water, until the water runs clear. Soak the rice for at least 20 minutes.
Bloom the saffron by adding saffron powder and hot water to a small bowl. Set aside.
Carefully wash the chicken and pat dry. Add to a pan with ghee/ oil and seasonings, mix, cook on medium, flip once the bottom part is golden brown and let the other side cook until golden too. Once cooked, take off heat, set aside.
While the chicken cooks, heat another pan on medium, add 1 tablespoon ghee/ oil, then add the sliced onion, stirring frequently until the onion’s soft and browned. Take off heat and add a few pinches of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon juice, transfer to bowl and set aside.
Rinse the rice through with cold water. Add to a large pot filled with boiling water with 1/4 cup of salt. Boil on high until 'al-dente' (mostly cooked, a little firm in the middle of the grain). Drain and rinse with cold water, set aside.
Once the chicken has cooled slightly, shred with clean fingers, mix into the juices in the pan, set aside.
In the pan that the onion was in, add the dates and walnut, cook on medium-high heat until toasty and fragrant (about 5-8 minutes) then set aside.
Mix the eggs, yogurt, salt, pepper, bloomed saffron to a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Add three-quarters of the cooked rice to the yogurt mixture.
Now the fun part, we put it all together! Grease a non-stick pot generously with 1-2 tablespoons of ghee or oil. Add two-thirds of the yogurt-rice to the base and up the sides of the pot.
Next add the shredded chicken, then dates and walnuts, onion, then top with the rest of the yogurt-rice mix, smoothed on top (don't press down too much, you want the steam to be able to rise through). Finally sprinkle the white rice, then add a lid wrapped in a tea towel - this catches the steam in order to make sure the base comes out crispy crisp.
Cook in a rice cooker for 40-45 minutes. If cooking on the stove, cook on medium-high for 10 minutes, then switch to medium-low and cook for 45-50 minutes, until when you lift the lid, you can see the steam coming through the rice.
Flip onto a large round serving dish, slice and enjoy!
* Make saffron powder by grinding saffron threads in a pestle and mortar. If this is not available to you, use a couple pinches of threads and bloom them using the same instructions.
