Chicken and Rice

Jassik’s Armenian Chicken and Rice

Jassik's Armenian Saffron Chicken and Rice

  • 4 cups cooked Basmati rice, cooled to room temperature
  • 1-2 Cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2-3 strands saffron
  • 3-4 Tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 Tablespoons water
  • 2 Tablespoons butter

Jassik* could make this perfectly every time and she flipped the chicken and rice out of the pot and onto a serving platter in a neat “cake” with crispy rice on the outside layer. She also used fresh chicken thighs and drumsticks.  I never got the hang of creating her “cake” so the following instructions are for the Armenian Chicken and Rice that comes out of my kitchen pots.

 

  1.  Make the rice ahead of time, even a day or two in advance. Using a rice cooker is fine. Basmati rice needs to soak before cooking; follow directions on the package.
  2. Grind together the sugar and saffron strands with a small, smooth mortar and pestle.  Set aside for later use.
  3. Using a large non-stick skillet, place the skillet on a cold burner.  Don’t turn on the heat just yet.  Place the oil in the bottom of the skillet, then layer half of the cooked rice over the oil.
  4. Cover the rice layer with the chicken and sprinkle the chicken with the saffron sugar mixture.
  5. Cover the saffron sugar sprinkled chicken with the rest of the rice.
  6. Using a wooden spoon handle, poke holes through the chicken and rice to the bottom of the skillet.
  7. Pour the water into the bowl of the mortar to soak up any remaining saffron powder, then pour the water over the rice. Some may run into the holes; that is okay.
  8. Cut slivers of butter and arrange over top of rice.
  9. Turn heat to high (9 on a scale of 0-9).
  10. Cook on high about 2-3 minutes; you should hear the sizzle of the oil through the holes in the rice. Cover the top of the rice with a paper towel and then put a lid on the skillet.
  11. Reduce to medium and cook 10 minutes.
  12. With paper towel and lid still in place, return heat to high and cook 3 more minutes minutes. Uncover the skillet. You should once again hear the sizzle of the crackling rice. If you don’t hear the sizzle, cook 1-2 more minutes.
  13. Turn off heat, remove lid and slide the hot contents onto a heat-safe serving platter.  The rice should be crispy around the edges.

Note: to boost the servings without significantly increasing the cost, double the rice.  I make a very large batch of Basmati rice (4 cups raw rice, 6 cups water) early in the week, like on Sunday or Monday, and use it throughout the week with recipes like this, red beans and rice, Asian food, meat and gravy, etc.

Veggie Version:

  • 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 4 cups cooked Basmati rice
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon (large pinch) saffron pieces or 2-3 long strands of saffron
  • 2 Tablespoons water
  • 2 Tablespoons butter or oleo

Follow the meat version, just omit the chicken; you can also substitute meatless proteins like Boca chicken or use edmame, chickpeas, etc.  The saffron sugar can go in the middle or on top of rice.

 

Jassik's Chicken and Rice - Armenian style with Saffron

Jassik’s instructions:

Grind together the sugar and saffron strands with a smooth mortar and pestle.  Set aside

Add salt to 2 Cups water and bring to a boil in a large pot.  Add the rice (rinsed until the water runs clear).  Cook uncovered on high 2 minutes, then medium for 4 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Rinse again until water runs clear.  (The rice is not fully cooked and will still feel hard in the center when you test a few grains.)  Clean the rice pot thoroughly.  Any residue remaining will burn in the next step.  Pour oil into pot and swirl around bottom and up sides of pot.  Spread ½ of the rice on bottom of pot.  Sprinkle ¾ teaspoon saffron sugar over rice.  Spread chicken pieces over rice and saffron sugar.  Spread remaining rice over chicken.  Using the round handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes through top rice layer to chicken layer.  Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of water over holes.  Dot the top of the rice layer with bits of oleo.  Sprinkle remaining saffron sugar over butter and rice.  Cover the open pot with a paper towel and then top with a tight fitting lid.  (In this rice dish, the steam should not be allowed to run back into the rice, making it sticky.  The paper towel absorbs the steam.)  Cook on High 30-40 seconds.  Cook on low 17 minutes.  Cook on high again 45 seconds.  Remove pot immediately from heat and immerse into a sink half-filled with water.  The food inside will keep your pot from rebelling against the water, but it will definitely hiss and sizzle.  Flip the rice “cake” onto a plate.  The strange cooking times and temperature will make the first rice layer crispy and it should hold its shape when you invert it.

Jassik Vartanian

Jassik Vartanian crossed my path when we lived in Valencia, California for two years.  We formed a play group with other moms who were living without their previous network of support for their young children.  Before I met Jassik, she had been born in Iran even though she was Armenian because her father had been recruited by the Shah to teach his skills to Iranians.  She grew up in Iran and worked for many years as a translator for West German airlines before immigrating to California with her husband Nick. Their two darling girls, Nicole and Colette, were about the same ages as our two daughters.