This recipe for tahchin chicken and eggplant two colors in the oven with saffron produces a crisp golden shell around distinct saffron and pale rice layers, with tender chicken and eggplant in between.
Tahchin is also written tachin or tacheen in English. This version combines chicken tahchin with eggplant tahchin, sometimes called tahchin bademjan, and uses the oven for steady browning.
Chicken and eggplant tahchin ingredients
- Rice: 2 cups
- Chicken breast: 1
- Small onion: 1, for cooking the chicken
- Eggs: 3
- Plain yogurt: 1 cup
- Fried eggplants: 2
- Neutral liquid oil: 1/2 cup, plus a little for the dish
- Melted butter: 3 tablespoons
- Brewed saffron: 1 tablespoon
- Ground cinnamon: 1 teaspoon
- Salt: as needed
- Black pepper and turmeric: as needed
- Barberries: optional, for the chicken layer
Cook and season the chicken
Put the chicken breast in a saucepan with the small onion, a little salt and enough water to cook gently. Simmer until the breast is fully cooked and only a small amount of liquid remains, then lift it out and shred it.
Check the centre of the thickest part before shredding. The CDC food-safety guidance gives 165°F (74°C) for poultry.
For the optional richer finish in the old chicken tachin recipe, warm the shredded meat briefly with a little of the melted butter and some of the 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Keep it moist; it will spend another 1 1/2 hours in the oven.
Prepare the eggplant and rice
Slice and fry the 2 eggplants until golden and almost tender, then drain them well. Large, thin slices work better than small cubes because they create a recognisable middle layer.
Rinse the 2 cups of rice. Boil it in salted water until the grains are flexible on the outside but still firm in the centre, then drain thoroughly. The rice must remain slightly undercooked so it can absorb the yogurt-and-egg mixtures without becoming soft.
Make the saffron rice mixture
In a large bowl, beat 2 of the eggs with 1/3 cup of the yogurt, the tablespoon of brewed saffron, salt and half of the pepper, turmeric and cinnamon. Whisk until smooth.
Set aside enough drained rice for the pale upper layer. Add the larger portion of rice to the saffron mixture with the 3 tablespoons of melted butter and most of the 1/2 cup of liquid oil. Fold until every grain is coated and the mixture holds together lightly.
If you need to bloom the saffron first, use a concentrated infusion. Our guide to the best way to brew saffron explains the hot-water method.
Make the pale rice mixture
Beat the remaining egg with the remaining 2/3 cup of yogurt and the rest of the seasonings. Fold in the rice you set aside.
This portion remains pale because it contains no saffron. It is the second colour in the finished tahchin, even though the egg and yogurt still bind it into a sliceable layer.
Choose and grease the oven dish
Heat the oven to 170°C (338°F). Generously grease the base and sides of a deep oven-safe dish with some of the reserved oil. A metal or ceramic dish with straight sides makes inversion easier.
The old method says to heat the greased mould on the stove. Do not put an empty glass or ceramic baking dish over a direct flame. A well-greased room-temperature dish and a fully preheated oven give a safer, more even result.
Build the two-colour tahchin
Spread a firm layer of saffron rice over the base of the dish. Press it gently with the back of a spoon so there are no large gaps, but do not crush the rice into paste.
Add an even layer of shredded chicken and fried eggplant, leaving a narrow border around the edge. Cover with more saffron rice and press again. Continue only if your dish is deep enough; the filling should remain enclosed by rice rather than touching the sides.
Finish with the pale yogurt-and-egg rice. Smooth and press the surface so the layers join during baking. This pale top becomes the base after the tahchin is inverted.
Bake at 170°C until golden
Cover the dish tightly and bake on the middle shelf for about 1 1/2 hours. Check near the end: the edges should look deeply golden and pull slightly from the dish.
A moderate oven gives the rice time to set before the crust darkens. If the base remains pale at 1 1/2 hours, uncover for a short final bake rather than raising the temperature sharply.
Rest and invert the tahchin
Remove the dish from the oven and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. This short pause allows the egg-and-yogurt bind to settle while the crust is still warm enough to release.
Place a serving tray larger than the opening over the dish. Hold the tray and dish firmly together, then turn them over in one controlled movement. Lift the baking dish straight up.
Optional barberry variation
For a tart accent, rinse and dry a small amount of barberries, then warm them briefly in butter. Mix them with the chicken or scatter them over that layer before adding the eggplant. Avoid prolonged frying because barberries darken quickly.
Keys to a clean layered slice
- Drain the parboiled rice and fried eggplant thoroughly.
- Use 2 eggs with 1/3 cup yogurt for the saffron rice, then 1 egg with 2/3 cup yogurt for the pale rice.
- Keep chicken and eggplant away from the side of the dish so rice can form the outer crust.
- Press each rice layer gently enough to remove gaps without mashing the grains.
- Bake moderately at 170°C for about 1 1/2 hours, then rest before inversion.
The cut tahchin should show why the recipe calls it two colours: a saffron-gold rice section and a paler yogurt rice section surrounding chicken and eggplant. The crisp exterior holds the structure, while the filling remains recognisable rather than blended into the rice.
