Tahchin-e Morgh — Saffron Yogurt Rice Cake

Name: Tahchin-e Morgh — Saffron Yogurt Rice Cake
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Persian
Ingredients: 500 g Basmati rice; 600 g Chicken thighs, boneless; 300 g Thick yogurt; 3 Egg yolks; 4 tbsp Bloomed saffron; 1 large Onion, thinly sliced; 60 g Butter, melted; 3 tbsp Oil; 0.5 tsp Ground turmeric; Dried barberries (zereshk); 2 tsp Salt

A showpiece rice cake: parboiled rice bound with yogurt, egg yolks and saffron, packed around layers of saffron chicken and baked until the whole base sets into one deep-gold, crunchy crust. Turned out and cut into wedges like a savoury cake.

Fuente

Receta de Persian home kitchens · 🏺 Tradicional · Everyday and festive cooking of Iranian households — the shared repertoire behind sofreh (the spread) that no single person owns

Persian · traditional dish — An ownerless traditional dish, so no cook is credited. The cited article describes tahchin (also tahcheen) as an Iranian rice dish consisting primarily of rice, yogurt, eggs, saffron and various types of meat — which fixes the defining binder-and-crust set used here, made with chicken (tahchin-e morgh). Quantities and the layer-and-flip method here are this book's own.

Background on Wikipedia ↗

Watch it being made

Atycook

⏱ 130 min🍽 6 porciones🔥 480 kcal🇮🇷 Irán

HalalSin glutenSin frutos secos

Pasos

Simmer the chicken with the sliced onion, turmeric, a little salt and just enough water to cover for about 30 minutes, until tender. Lift out the chicken, shred or slice it, and toss it with a spoonful of the saffron water. Save the poaching broth for the barberries.
Bring a big pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Drain the soaked rice, tip it in, and parboil for just 5 to 6 minutes — the grains should be soft outside but still firm at the very core. Drain and rinse briefly with lukewarm water.
💡 Undercook the rice on purpose — it finishes cooking in the oven. Fully cooked rice at this stage turns to mush in the cake.
In a big bowl, whisk the yogurt, egg yolks, most of the saffron water and 1 tsp salt until smooth. Fold in about one-third of the parboiled rice until every grain is coated golden. Keep the rest of the rice plain.
Brush a deep non-stick oven dish with the melted butter and oil. Press the yogurt rice firmly across the base and a little up the sides to build the crust. Spread the chicken (and barberries, if using) over it, then cover with the plain rice and press flat. Pour over any remaining butter and saffron water.
Cover tightly with foil and bake at 180°C for 60 minutes, then uncover and give it another 10 to 15 minutes for the top to dry. The edges should look set and deep gold.
Let it settle for 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge, lay a board over the top and flip the whole thing over in one confident move. Lift the dish away to reveal the crust, and cut into wedges.
💡 The nerve-wracking flip is the whole payoff. If a corner sticks, ease it with a spatula — a good non-stick dish and the full 10-minute rest are what make it release cleanly.

💡 Consejos

No confident flip in you? Bake it in a lined springform tin — release the ring, invert onto a plate and peel the paper. The crust survives, and your nerves too.
Some cooks scatter slivered pistachios or almonds over the top for a wedding-table look. They are kept out of the recipe here so it stays genuinely nut-free — add them at the table only if no one at the table has an allergy.
Tahchin is a make-ahead dream for a dinner party: assemble it hours before, keep it in the fridge, and slide it into the oven when guests arrive.