Saffron Chickensaffronchicken.com

Braise7 min

Chicken and onion, stained gold

Thighs, a slow onion, and saffron that was bloomed in a cup before it ever met the pan.

The onion does the sweet work. The saffron does the floral work. The chicken, skin on and bone in, does the rich work. Keep the heat low once the bloom goes in, so the pot murmurs instead of boiling the aroma out of the kitchen.

Serves 4About 1 hour

Saffron chicken with onion

Ingredients

  • 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, about 2 pounds
  • 0.1 g saffron threads
  • 3 tablespoons hot water
  • 2 medium onions, sliced thin
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil or ghee
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a pinch for the saffron
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Optional: 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • A handful of parsley or cilantro, chopped

Method

  1. Crush the saffron with a pinch of the salt. Cover it with the hot water and wait 15 minutes.
  2. Pat the thighs dry. Salt and pepper them.
  3. Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium. Cook the thighs skin side down until the skin is deep gold, about 8 minutes. Turn them and cook 2 minutes more. Set them aside.
  4. Add the onions to the fat. If you are using turmeric, add it now. Cook, stirring, until the onions are soft and sweet, about 15 minutes. Add a spoon of water if they start to scorch.
  5. Return the thighs, skin side up. Pour in the saffron, threads and liquid, and the 1/2 cup of water. The liquid should come a little way up the meat.
  6. Cover. Keep the heat low. Cook until a thermometer in the thickest part of a thigh, away from the bone, reads 165°F, about 25 to 35 minutes.
  7. Rest 5 minutes. Spoon the onion and the gold liquid over the meat. Scatter the herbs.

The skin softens under the lid. If you want it crisp, set the thighs skin side up under a hot broiler for a minute or two after they have already reached 165°F. A bitter broth means too much saffron or too hard a boil.

Serve it with the plain saffron rice only if you want the spice twice. Plain rice, or bread, lets this pot be the one that smells like saffron. The rice recipe is on Saffron Recipe if you want it on another night.

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Chicken and onion, stained gold · Saffron Chicken