Persian chicken with orange juice and barberries
Probably the best new recipe book I’ve come across in the past year is Atoosa Sepehr’s From A Persian Kitchen — notwithstanding the use of the gacky word ‘authentic’ on the cover. Actually, one of the many appealing features of the dreamy 240-page book is the way it gives more than a few ‘inauthentic’ twists and turns to the food of ancient Persia and modern Iran.
This slow cooked sweet and sour-style chicken recipe, for instance, calls for freshly squeezed orange juice. That’s obviously going to be a lot more practical for most readers in the Anglophone world rather than trying to track down bitter oranges, which is presumably the more authentic way to do it. I’ve also adapted it a bit further myself by dissolving the saffron in rose water and by using harissa rather than recommended ground cumin.
As well as tasting sensational, this recipe makes the kitchen smell amazing, too.
Ingredients
1/4 tsp saffron dissolved in 1 tbsp rose water and 1 tbsn hot water
Pinch of sugar
Half an onion, finely chopped
Olive oil
4 skinless chicken thoghs
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp harissa
Kosher salt
60 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
10g barberries, rinsed
Method
Make the saffron water and put it to one side. The best way to do this is put the threads in a small frying pan and allowing them to heat for 30 seconds. Then take them out and crush the threads, adding in a tablespoon of boiling water and a tablespoon of rose water.
Add onion to the oil and cook for 10 minutes until the onion is lightly golden.
Add the chicken and fry until lightly golden
Add the spices and stir for a minute.
Add the orange juice and boiling water and cook covered on the lowest possible setting for 80 minutes.
Now add the saffron water and barberries, and cook for another 20 minutes uncovered.
Serve with white rice, chopped cucumber salad and yogurt.