Tahchin Morgh — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A stunning Persian baked rice cake with layers of saffron-yogurt rice encasing tender chicken, creating a golden crispy crust on the bottom that is the star of the dish.

Ingredients

3 cups basmati rice, soaked
500g chicken thighs, bone-in
2 cups plain yogurt
3 egg yolks
1 tsp saffron, dissolved in 3 tbsp hot water
4 tbsp butter
1 large onion, sliced
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1 Boil the chicken in water with turmeric, onion, salt, and pepper until tender, then shred the meat and par-cook the soaked rice in boiling salted water for 6 minutes.
2 Mix half the par-cooked rice with yogurt, egg yolks, and saffron water to create a rich, golden rice mixture.
3 Spread the saffron rice mixture in a thick layer on the bottom and sides of a well-buttered baking dish, add the shredded chicken as a middle layer, then top with the remaining plain rice.
4 Dot the top with butter, cover tightly with foil, and bake at 180C for about 1.5 hours until the bottom forms a thick, golden, crispy crust, then invert onto a platter to reveal the tahdig.

Did You Know?

Tahchin literally means arranged at the bottom in Persian, and the dish is so revered that it is often the centerpiece of Iranian dinner parties, with the dramatic moment of flipping it out of the pan being a true test of the cook's skill.