Yogurt-Marinated Fried Chicken With Saffron and Paprika Recipe (2024)

Persia, now Iran, has always been famous for pistachios - if you add finely chopped pistachios to the flour then fry up it becomes a WOW dish!

My Persian mom makes this, however there is no paprika in Persian cooking. I suggest onion in the yogurt and most importantly to get rid of the fat, you have to kabob this. I have never seen a fried recepie. in Farsi its called Joojeh Kebab.

My husband and I LOVED this recipe. Too much, as we couldn't stop eating it. ha! ha! I subbed equal amt of turmeric for the saffron (what I had), added a tsp of table salt to the yogurt and allowed the chicken to marinate overnight (in a ziploc bag set in a container - less messy). Tender and flavorful. A trick to keep the "breading" from falling off during frying is give chicken a second coat in the flour and allow it to sit for 30 mins (so breading sets up) before frying.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you used something other than flour to develop the crusty exterior. In years past, I've marinated chicken in seasoned yogurt and then coated with crushed corn flakes or panko. You might try adding the seasonings to panko instead of flour and oven bake, probably at 425 for about 30 minutes.

Love the flavors. Truth be told I don't like to fry chicken, so I baked it instead, drizzled with a little olive oil, in a 450° oven until the pieces tested at 170 (for mine about 25-30 minutes). Anyone looking for a lighter option might try that. Either way I think this is a keeper.

I made adjustments to this great recipe and baked it instead. I used chicken breasts, cut them up in half and pounded them into thin pieces. Mix fat free Greek yogurt instead (32 oz), with the garlic/saffron and refrigerate it overnight. Make a dry mix with Panko, freshly chopped mint, paprika, salt/pepper, and virgin olive oil and coat the yogurt pieces. Bake at 375 for about 25-30 minutes. The additional pistachios, per one of the recommendations below, is a very nice topping idea.

As another reviewers suggested, I doubled the mint, but used only 1-1/2 cups plain goat-milk yogurt. Served just with lemon wedges, an Israeli couscous pilaf, and fatoush salad. Didn't think the walnuts were necessary. Very easy, delicious, juicy. Needed only about 1/4" depth of canola oil in my oversized electric skillet.

Cardamom is another spice that is surprisingly good, with chicken.

Leave the yogurt coating on, just drip off the excess. It's what turns the flour into a batter-like coating.

I just finished a year-long effort to improve my cooking and expand my recipe mix by cooking one new NYT recipe each week. This and the Texas-style chili tied for first place. Both are not only delicious but are simple to make, produce great leftovers, and can be easily adapted for 1-2 people.

Has anyone tried baking instead of frying?

Sumac is essential with any grilled meat in the Persian cuisine.
Will definitely work.

You can substitute turmeric for the saffron. Came out great for me!

I did, 450° oven for 25-30 min (until temp probe read 170) drizzled with some olive oil. Came out a nice golden color and very tender.

I prepared this exactly as the recipe was listed and it was fabulous. I added one thing and that was a side. Honey with chili flake. I thought this friend of mine was going to jump out of his chair it was so good. Thank you, Ms. Moskin for an excellent recipe, I hope you don't mind if I gilded the lily:)

We were not particularly impressed with this recipe. It may be that a different herb mix or substituting Pablo for the flour would improve it, but with so many chicken recipes out there, it’s easier just to move on.

I altered this by using bone-in and skin on chicken thighs. I pureed two small onions and 4-5 garlic cloves, putting them into the food processor with yoghurt and salt. I marinaded the chicken in this for about 4 hours. Used the air fryer instead (190C for about 22 minutes). Beautiful crispy skin and the chicken tasted divine.

Made this last night; accidentally spilled the marinade (with saffron), had a small amount left,and used turmeric for the rest. Many liked pistachio, so I used it in the flour and topping at the end. Family raved! (hard to keep the flour coat on the chicken in my 1st batch, so 2nd batch I dredged a 2nd time as someone suggested, better, still lost some but better than the 1st batch). Will make again!

Do trim off the "excess" fat -- that is, any that you can -- some of your family members may not appreciate the fat inside the breading (I did, they didn't; they insisted on putting the thighs into the oven at 350 for 15 minutes after-the-fact). Also, the hot honey-pepper flakes someone else recommended really made this.We also used less oil (peanut oil) than may be indicated: about 1/4 inch was enough to cook both sides.

This is a wonderful, easy recipe! I made it with skinless chicken breasts, which I sliced and pounded into cutlets with a mallet. I also omitted the walnuts, since I had none on hand. I served the chicken with a green salad for a fairly light summer supper. I plan to serve it with Panzanella or sliced tomatoes and corn on the cob next time.

If you don’t have saffron, don’t like ‘dark’ meat, and/or are full-fat-phobic, just skip this recipe and make something else.

Didn’t have dried mint so I blended some fresh mint into the yogurt sauce- turned out incredible. Recipe is a keeper.

A hit with the whole family! I didn’t have dried mint, and thought dried would work better than fresh for this recipe, so picked some fresh and toasted it briefly in our toaster oven to dry it out. Worked well.

“Oil for frying” seems vague - not all oils are suited for frying. Peanut oil is good but expensive. I think olive oil gives greasy results. Corn and canola are okay, and the leftover oil can be strained and stored in refrigerator for another fry session or two. I’d like to hear what others do - thanks!

Pretty much Persian kebab with chicken. Sugestions: use plain whole cow or goat milk yogurt--the more tart the better (White Mountain and Tremania are the tartest commercial brands); layer the kebabs, yogurt, and add raw onion rings; grill outside; serve with/over basmati rice; sumac. Works perfectly with lamb and beef kebabs too. Absolutely marinate 24 hours!

If you don't want to use flour potato starch works well for deep fried chicken.

My husband made this and I was not in love with it because of the flour coating -I am not a fan of it on fried chicken. The chicken however was very moist and super delicious inside once you got past the fried coating. My toddler and teen both ate this up. No leftovers. Now after reading the comments about coating in pistachios I think we will have to try it again with pistachios instead of flour. We served this with a bag salad and avocado dressing.

This is a great recipe. I have also added other spices to the flour, including Ras el Harout. Good stuff and leftovers make amazing chicken sandwiches.

Unfortunately, most of the batter fell off in cooking and what was left was soggy rather than crunchy. Maybe I should have let more of the yogurt drip off? Perhaps panko or bread crumbs would have worked better. In my view, it wasn't worth all the trouble and mess.

I loved this recipe! I did everything it said to do. Except, I double coated the chicken by mistake. I fried then baked in a Le Creuset cast iron for 15 mins. We ate it with Basmati rice and warm Naan. It was really good and, fun. I would mind something sweet with it. Having the leftovers.