Teheran Zereshk

• 2 cups basmati rice
• 2 whole chicken breasts, boned and skinned
• 6 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 cups yogurt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon powdered saffron or crushed saffron threads
• 1/3 cup dried barberries

1. Wash the rice in warm water and rinse in a colander under the cold water tap.
2. Saute the chicken pieces in 2 tablespoons of the butter or oil until tender, adding salt and pepper and turning them over once.
3. Then cut each piece into 6 slices.
4. Mix the yogurt and the egg in a large bowl.
5. The egg prevents the yogurt from curdling.
6. Add salt and pepper and the saffron mixed with 2 tablespoons boiling water.
7. Beat well.
8. Put the pieces of chicken in, and turn them so that they are well coated with the mixture.
9. Then lift them out onto a plate.
10. In a large (910-inch), heavy-bottomed, preferably nonstick pan, boil the rice in plenty of salted water for about 10 minutes, until it is still a little underdone, then drain quickly.
11. Mix half the rice with the yogurt mixture.
12. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter or oil in the bottom of the pan.
13. Cover the bottom and sides with the rice-and-yogurt mixture to form a kind of inner mold.
14. Put a layer of chicken pieces in this mold, sprinkle with a few barberries, and cover with a layer of plain rice.
15. Repeat, making sure that there is always the wall of yogurt-and-rice mixture on the sides, until the ingredients are finished.
16. Using a piece of plastic wrap, press gently down all over.
17. Put the lid on and cook for about 30 minutes on very low heat.
18. To serve, turn out onto a serving platter.
19. If the sides are not detached from the pan, cut around them with a pointed knife.
20. The outside should be a crisp brown crust, and the beautiful yellow and white layered inside crumbly.
21. If you are not using a nonstick pan, dipping the bottom into cold water will help you to turn out the rice.
22. You can use a nonstick oven dish or pot and bake the layered rice, covered, in a preheated 350F oven for 11 1/2 hours.

basmati rice, chicken breasts, butter, salt, yogurt, egg, powdered saffron, barberries

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/teheran-zereshk-373528 (may not work)