One of my oldest friends from childhood comes from a beautiful Persian family. Her home was like mine and her granparents treated me with overwhelming love like one of their own children. As soon as I entered their house, a wonderful smell of Persian rice and exotic spices would always rise to my nose, which makes me crave Persian food until nowadays. Her aunt brought us a bag of Persian rice today. What else to do than to cook a wonderful Persian dish?! I love the subtle taste of Persian rice and the aromatic lemon-yoghurt chicken is delicious – our house smells wonderful.

Saffron-Lemon Chicken

Ingredients (for 2 persons)

• 3 onions
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp.  olive oil
• 1 tbsp. ground tumeric
• salt
• saffron (pinch)
• 2 chicken filets
• 200 g Greek natural yoghurt

Mix the saffron with a few tablespoons boiling water. Cut the onions in half, thinly slice them and finely chop the garlic clove. Mix in a bowl yoghurt, salt,olive oil, lemon juice and onions. Next, cut the chicken into pieces and add it with the safran to the yoghurt mixture – Let it steep for about 1 hour. In a last step preheat the oven, spread the chicken on a baking tray covered with baking paper and leave it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Persian Rice

Ingredients

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups of water
• salt
• dash of olive oil

For Persian rice usually basmati rice is used. The rice is not cooked in plain water like regular rice, but slowly cooked in olive oil, salt and some water – without stirring. This gives the rice a more aromatic flavor and a very delicious crust. As a Tip: You should always use 2 cups of water for 1 cups of rice.

Bring the rice to boil in a coated pan with water, salt and olive oil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 45 minutes – it is important not to stir so that the rice geta a nice crust! Keep the lid closed and rap a kitchen towel around to keep the steam in the pan. When the time has passed, tip the cooked out of the pan onto a plate – and smell the wonderful basmati fragrance.