When my book club read Rooftops of Tehran: A Novel, a wonderful book by the way, the hostess made this Persian chicken. She baked it and served it with a delicious green salad and some bolani from the Afghan stall at our farmers’ market. It was a wonderful dinner and a wonderful book. I asked her to send me the recipe for the chicken but I opted to grill it, over a medium hot grill so it would still be very moist. I ended up marinating this about a day and a half. I mixed up the marinade at lunch one day and we had it for dinner the next. It was so good and moist! I’ve done other yogurt marinades before and none has disappointed.
Persian Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- juice from half a lemon 2 Tbs or so if you’re using bottled
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 a pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts
Instructions
- Mash the garlic clove up withe salt, then stir in the yogurt, lemon and pepper. Marinate the chicken in this at least 6 hours, preferably overnight and up to a day and a half.
- Grill over medium heat until done, 6-8 minutes per side. Check the doneness by cutting one breast open and make sure it’s not pink. Don’t have the heat too high. You want it cooked but not charred.
I served this with a lemon rice I made in the rice cooker, a yogurt sauce I had leftover from the lamb chops I made the other night, and a simple salad of chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumbers, chopped fresh parsley, olive oil, lemon juice and salt.
I had some of the leftovers for lunch today and it was very good. My daughter came home with a gaggle of high school girls at lunch on their last day of school and one of them ate the rest with compliments.
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