Juicy Persian Joojeh Kebab | Saffron Chicken Kebab made by Iranian husband

Juicy Saffron Chicken Kebab made at home

Iranian food doesn’t use many spices but offers a huge variety of fragrant. Every Iranian dish is unique in its own way and doesn’t compare to any other.

Saffron is mostly used for the famous Iranian rice with the incredible slightly burned crust, called Tahdig.
However, there are only a handful of dishes, which use Saffron as a main ingredient. The Iranian Saffron Chicken Kebabs is one of them.
The skewers are part of every Iranian picnic in the woods, as they are easy to transport and protected by the yogurt marinade.

flavorful chicken kababs marinated in buttermilk and saffron mixture

List of ingredients:

• 800g of boneless chicken
• 1g saffron (about 15–20 strings)
• salt to taste
• 1 lemon
• buttermilk (recommended) or yogurt
• 1 onion
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp butter

Steps:

1. Grind the saffron and pour hot water over it. Let it sit and cool down
2. Cut your chicken pieces into strawberry-sized bites
3. Cut your onion into slices — not too small as we only want them in the marination.
4. Move your chicken and onions into a bowl
5. Cover it with buttermilk or yogurt and add salt, turmeric powder and the zest of 1 lemon to it.
6. Add approx. 80% of your saffron water to the marinade. Save 20% for the glazing.
7. Place your chicken in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Better overnight.
8. Skew your chicken pieces on a proper shashlik skewer. Alternatively, you could also use wooden skewers — just make sure you soak them in water before to prevent them from burning.
9. Rinse off the buttermilk from the marination and move the onions into a pan. Sauté the onions lightly with salt and add the remaining saffron water together with some butter and lemon juice.
10. Place your chicken skewers on the bbq and sear them properly on both sides.
11. Once seared on both sides, you can add the glaze the skewers with your butter-lemon-saffron glazing to keep them juicy and adding tons of flavor.
12. When the chicken is done, take them off the heat and pour the remaining glazing over them.
13. Saffron Chicken Kababs can be served with rice or bread. I love eating them with bread, some homemade pickles and parsley leaves.

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