🍚 Tahchin

Name: Tahchin
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Iran
Ingredients: 400 g basmati rice; 500 g chicken breast or thigh, cooked and shredded; 250 g plain yogurt; 2 egg yolks; ½ tsp saffron, ground and steeped in 3 tbsp hot water; 50 g butter; 30 g dried barberries; Salt and pepper

Origin: Iran

600kcal

per serving · 300 g

200kcal

per 100 g

24 gProtein8 g / 100 g

24 gFat8 g / 100 g

72 gCarbs24 g / 100 g

Tahchin is a Persian baked rice cake: parboiled basmati is mixed with yogurt, egg yolks and saffron, layered with pieces of chicken and baked until a golden, crisp crust forms. It is turned out of the dish like a cake and topped with tart barberries sautéed in butter. Inside, the rice is soft and creamy; outside it is crunchy and fragrant with saffron.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

Not vegetarianbecause of: chicken

Not veganbecause of: yogurt, egg yolk, chicken, butter

Contains dairybecause of: yogurt, butter

Not keto24 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Eggs ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

basmati riceyogurtegg yolksaffronchickenbutterbarberries

Recipe

6 servings120 min

Ingredients

400 g basmati rice
500 g chicken breast or thigh, cooked and shredded
250 g plain yogurt
2 egg yolks
½ tsp saffron, ground and steeped in 3 tbsp hot water
50 g butter
30 g dried barberries
Salt and pepper

Method

Soak the rice for 1 hour, then boil it in salted water for 6 minutes and drain.
Whisk the yogurt, egg yolks, most of the saffron water, salt and pepper; fold in half the rice.
Butter a deep ovenproof dish, press in the yogurt rice, add a layer of chicken, then cover with the remaining rice.
Cover with foil and bake at 190 °C for about 1½ hours until a golden crust forms underneath.
Sauté the barberries briefly in a little butter with the rest of the saffron water; invert the tahchin and scatter them on top.

How to make it lighter

Use skinless chicken breast and plain low-fat yogurt.
Grease the dish with a thin film of butter only; 1 tbsp butter ≈ 100 kcal.
Cut it into even squares and serve one with a large herb and cucumber salad.

History

Tahchin is a well-known dish of Iranian home cooking and celebrations; its name is usually explained as meaning 'arranged at the bottom' in Persian, referring to the layered crust. It is served across Iran today, often at gatherings and family meals.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →