Persian Chicken with Tumeric, Lime and Cucumber

I found this recipe on Epicurious. I made my own version as always. The reason was a bag with 3 chicken thighs and no idea what to do with them. I had planned to stuff them into the air fryer and make them crispy, but the day went by and I did not use them. So I needed an other plan. And that was a good one.

The ingredients were all in stock and no need to go out grocery shopping. Since I still have a couple of fresh herbs on the balcony that have not gone bad in the cold, I was able to use them today.

This recipe is great when you have a bit of time to marinate the chicken and let the salad rest a bit. The cooking process later is done in 20 minutes.

Recipe for 3:

600 g chicken thighs, 1 medium red onion, 4 cloves of garlic chopped, 1 clove of garlic minced

2 tsp tumeric, 1 lime juiced, 1 lime in wedges, 3 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp quartre épice, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp salt, 2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp Sumac, ground coriander

1 cup Basmati rice, 1 3/4 cup water, 1 cup Turkish yogurt, 2 tbsp whole shelled pistacchios

1 hothouse cucumber, lots of fresh herbs (mint, pimpinelle, sorrel, bloody dock, chives, parsley)

Chicken:

I cut the bone out, took off some of the skin and cut large chunks of chicken. Then the onion in slices and the chopped garlic in the bowl. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, the lime juice, 1/4 tsp salt and pepper, quartre épicem cinnamon, 2/3 of cumin. Marinate the chicken for 90min.#

Salad:

Peel some strips off the cucumber, cut it open lengthwise and scoop out all the wet middle bits. Cut into bite size chunks. Chop the herbs. Mix with salt, pepper, olive oil and Sumac and set aside.

Cook the rice: 

Heat up one tbsp of oil in a pot and add the Basmati rice. Give it a good coating and cook for 2 min. Add salt, cinnamon, coriander and a bit of cumin and pepper and pour in the water. Bring to a boil, put on a lid and reduce to low temperature and cook for 15-18 min. When the rice is cooked, take it off the heat and let it sit until the dish is complete.

Cook the chicken:

While the rice is cooking use a cast iron skillet and heat the rest of the olive oil. Toss in the chicken mix from the bowl and on high heat let it get color. Then stir until after 6-8min the chicken pieces are done. It depends on the size of the chunks. Take it off the heat and stir in the yogurt.

Build the plate:

Use a big serving plate and start with the rice on the bottom. Now top that with the chicken, then with the cucumber salad. Sprinkle some pistacchios on top. Done.