Tahchin with Chicken

Place the chicken in a pot with the onion, garlic, turmeric, half the salt, black pepper and 250 ml chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for 30–35 minutes until tender. Remove the chicken, let it cool, take the meat off the bones and cut it into pieces; reserve the stock.

Rinse the rice, cover with 1500 ml water, add the remaining salt and cook for 7–8 minutes after it comes back to a boil: the grains should stay firm in the center. Drain the rice in a colander and let the water run off.

Grind the saffron with 2 tbsp of the hot chicken stock. Whisk together the yogurt, egg yolks, saffron liquid, cinnamon and half the oil until smooth.

Set aside about a third of the rice and mix it with the yogurt-saffron mixture. Add 2 tbsp of the reserved stock to this portion so the rice is evenly coated with the sauce. Leave the rest of the rice plain.

Grease a baking dish with half of the remaining oil. Spread half of the saffron rice and press it down firmly with a spoon, spread the chicken over it, then cover with the plain rice and finish with the rest of the saffron rice. Smooth the surface, drizzle with the remaining oil and 2 tbsp of stock.

Cover the dish with foil and bake in a preheated 180 °C oven for 75–90 minutes, until the edges and bottom turn golden and crispy. Remove the foil 10 minutes before the end so the top browns.

Let the tahchin rest for 10 minutes, run a knife along the edges, then invert the dish onto a large platter so the crispy crust ends up on top.