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Title: Tachin Joojeh (Layer Chicken, Rice, Egg, & Yo
Categories: Poultry Israel Jewish Persian
Yield: 6 Servings
| CHICKEN | ||
| 1 | tb | Corn oil |
| 1 | md | (1/2 cup) onion, sliced |
| 1/8 | ts | Ground turmeric |
| 1/8 | ts | Pepper |
| 1 | lb | Boneless chicken breast & thigh, cut into 2-" cubes |
| 1 | ts | Salt |
| 2 | tb | Water |
| TACHIN | ||
| 1 | Egg, beaten W/ | |
| 1/8 | ts | Salt, AND |
| 1/8 | ts | Pepper |
| 1/2 | c | Yoghurt |
| 1/4 | ts | Whole saffron, crushed W/ |
| 1/4 | ts | Sugar, using a mortar & pestle |
| 2 | c | Raw rice, well rinsed & cooked for 8 mins |
| 3 | tb | Corn oil |
| 2 | tb | Margarine |
| 2 | tb | Barberries (zereshk -- see NOTE) or dried currants (opt garn |
Tachin, which means "what is put on bottom layer of a casserole" (a loose but close translation), is one of most interesting and perhaps easily adaptable Persian dishes for American kitchen. It can be made in large casseroles, an ideal situation for entertaining groups. The tachin, which has a firm crust at bottom of the casserole, is one of culinary novelties that make Persian cooking unique. This is non-kosher version since chicken & yoghurt are combined.
1. Heat oil in skillet, add onions, turmeric, & pepper, & stir-fry for 3 mins. Add chicken cubes & salt, mix well, and cover pan. Cook over low heat for 10 mins, then add the water to lubricate mixture & cook for 5 mins more. Set aside.
2. To make tachin, mix beaten egg, yoghurt, & saffron together well. Add half of half-cooked rice & mix well.
3. Prepare a 1-1/2 quart casserole, round or rectangular, preferably one of heatproof glass, by adding oil & swirling it around. Add tachin mixture & spread over casserole. Over that arrange chicken cubes & onions. Over that spread balance of half-cooked rice. Dot w/margarine. Cover casserole w/ aluminum foil or casserole cover & bake in a preheated 400 F. oven for abt 45 mins, or until you can see that bottom tachin has become quite brown & crisp. Do Not burn.
4. Remove casserole from oven & turn dish & all upside down on a platter. Cover this w/cloth towel for abt 3 mins. The entire contents will descend onto platter w/tachin as firm crust overall. Stir-fry barberries in hot off heat for 1 min, which turns them quite red. Sprinkle over tachin as garnish. Cut through crust to make 3-4-inch servings pieces. Serve warm.
VARIATION: To prepare Tachin Joojeh in kosher style, do not cook yoghurt & chicken together. For those who keep a kosher home this preparation can be modified in a very simple manner, in other words how to have your cake & eat it. In step preparing tachin omit yoghurt & replace it w/1 tb fresh lemon juice. Beat egg, lemon juice, salt, pepper, saffron, & 2 tb water together. Add half of rice to this mixture & put it into oiled casserole. Continue to completion as in basic preparation.
NOTE: Zoch is a Farsi word that means unpleasant aroma associated w/foods. Persians say that using pepper & turmeric w/meat, poultry, & fish removes that aroma during cooking. Turmeric especially has the characteristic & so is used in almost all dishes.
BARBERRIES, ZERESHK (Berberis vulgaris): Persians like these dry tart berries incorporated in rice dishes or used as garnish. They are expensive & not always easily obtained; a Persian friend told to substitute dried currants.
Recipe: "Sephardic Cooking" by Copeland Mark -- 600 Recipes Created in Exotic Sephardic Kitchens from Morocco to India -- C. 1992 Published by Donald I. Fine, Inc., New York, N.Y. D. Pileggi
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