Joojeh Kabab
Saffron and lemon chicken kabob · جوجهکباب
- 20 min Prep
- 15 min Cook
- 6 Servings
- Easy
Chicken marinated overnight in saffron, lemon, onion and yogurt, then grilled until golden and tender. The easiest Persian kabob to master.
Joojeh means young chicken, and joojeh kabab is the golden, saffron-tinted chicken kabob found at every Persian picnic. The marinade does almost all the work: lemon and onion tenderise the meat, yogurt keeps it juicy, and saffron gives it colour and aroma.
Boneless thighs are the most forgiving cut. Breast meat works too, but take it off the heat as soon as it is cooked through. In Iran, joojeh is also made on the bone with whole small chickens cut into pieces.
Ingredients
Marinade
To finish
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix the grated onion with its juice, the lemon juice, yogurt, olive oil, salt, pepper and three-quarters of the saffron water.
- Add the chicken and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight (but not more than 24 hours, or the lemon makes the texture mealy).
- Thread the chicken onto skewers, leaving a little space between pieces. Scrape off the excess onion so it does not burn.
- Grill over medium-high heat for 10 to 12 minutes, turning every couple of minutes, until golden with a few charred edges and cooked through.
- Mix the melted butter with the remaining saffron water and brush it over the kabobs in the last minute.
- Serve with chelow or lavash, grilled tomatoes and lemon wedges.
Tips & variations
- Indoors, cook the skewers on a rack under a hot broiler for 6 to 7 minutes per side, or in a grill pan.
- For bone-in joojeh, use a whole chicken cut into 10 pieces and grill for 25 to 30 minutes over medium heat.
Where to buy the ingredients
Persian grocers carry the saffron, dried herbs, spices and long-grain rice that Persian cooking depends on:
Rather eat out?
Persian restaurants that serve it:
Kabab Koobideh
Kabab Barg
Salad Shirazi