Jujeh Kebab | Persian Saffron Chicken Skewers

Summer is here and that means one thing, long days spent in the garden. And that includes food being cooked in the garden over the barbecue. While I love my Indian kebab recipes, I was itching for a new recipe. And just like that I got my inspiration from my Olive magazine subscription. Usually I find myself drooling looking at the recipe pictures. But this time I decided to pick up the recipe and try it out. Jujeh Kebab it read, and the one ingredient that got me hooked was Saffron.

What is Jujeh Kebab?

Jujeh kebab is a popular Iranian chicken dish, where the marinade is lemony rich saffron and yogurt base. Just writing out this recipe is making me drool. The rich flavours that come out of infusing saffron and yogurt, punctuated by the sharpness of the lemon and slices onions is perfect to balance against the chicken pieces. Marinate the chicken pieces overnight for the best results. But a couple of hours should also give you a good result.

What to serve with Persian Chicken?

Grilled vegetables such as whole tomatoes, whole onions or even spring onions go really well with the Jujeh kebab skewers. But I also served some saffron rice, because more saffron is never a bad thing! I made saffron rice by steeping saffron in warm water for half an hour and added this saffrony golden water to the rice whilst cooking.

The result was a delicious rick but delicate golden saffron rice. Don’t forget to stir in some flaked almonds and ghee or unsalted butter. This step completely elevated the saffron rice to a whole new level.

Serve the Jujeh Kebab alongside the saffron rice, grilled vegetables and wedges of lemon.

Print Recipe

Jujeh Kebab

Golden Jujeh Kebab or Persian saffron chicken

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Persian

Keyword

chicken, saffron

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts cut into large pieces to fit onto the skewers and not slide off
• 2.5 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• Pinch saffron gently crushed in a pestle and mortar and steeped in 2 tbsp of hot water for 10 mins
• 1 small onion sliced finely
• 1 lemon juiced
• Salt to taste
• Pepper sprinkled
• 4 tbsp greek yogurt or thick yogurt

Course Main Dish Cuisine Persian Keyword chicken, saffron Prep Time 20 mins Cook Time 30 mins Servings people Ingredients 2 large chicken breasts cut into large pieces to fit onto the skewers and not slide off 2.5 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp turmeric powder Pinch saffron gently crushed in a pestle and mortar and steeped in 2 tbsp of hot water for 10 mins 1 small onion sliced finely 1 lemon juiced Salt to taste Pepper sprinkled 4 tbsp greek yogurt or thick yogurt

Recipe Notes

1. Cut the chicken breasts into 1.5 inch pieces not larger so that they can easily stay on the skewer and not slide off, put the pieces into a glass bowl.
2. Add the sliced onions, 3/4 of the steeped saffron water, salt, black pepper, olive oil, yogurt and lemon juice to the chicken and mix until the chicken pieces are evenly coated.
3. Cover the marinated chicken and refrigerate to marinate overnight or for at least a couple of hours.
4. You could grill this in the oven or over charcoal on a barbecue. Don’t fret, you can also make these delish kebab by roasting on a griddle pan over your gas or induction hob too.
5. While the charcoal heats up/ pan heats up/ oven grill heats up, remove the marinating chicken from the fridge and skewer the chicken pieces.
6. Grill the skewers over heat until the chicken browns and is nicely cooked. Drizzle some olive oil from time to time to make sure the chicken is nicely sizzling hot.
7. Serve alongside Saffron rice, grilled vegetables and wedges of lemon.

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