CHICKEN | Bring your chicken to room temperature, wash and rinse. I like to use chicken thighs (bone-in + Skin ), but you can use any part you want.

TOPPINGS | using a strainer, rinse your barberries with cold water and lay them on a paper towel to dry. Repeat the same process for raisins.

ORANGE PEEL | step 1 Peel your oranges in any way you are comfortable doing so (have fun). I like to do mine very thin and in string form (visuals). It is important to remove most if not all of the pith( white skin )of the peel to remove the bitterness. I would recommend doing this before cutting to smaller pieces.

RICE | Rinse your rice a couple of times until the water is almost clear. This means the excess starch is gone, so you get fluffier rice. Leave it to soak in cold water.

RICE | Step 1 Using a medium pot bring 2 liters of water to boil. Add 2-3 Tbsp of salt ( taste the water. Make sure the water is generously salted. Don’t worry if it is too salty; you will run it through a strainer, and you can wash some of the salt away. Add your soaked rice and let it boil for at least 8-10 mins. Note : the boiling time might vary depending on the type and brand of your rice. You need to try a couple of rice grains, the outer layer easy to bite into, the inner core firm but not hard. Similar to pasta, al dente. Strain your rice, add cold water to stop the cooking process.

ORANGE PEEL | Removing the peel’s bitterness is really important, so here is an easy way to do this, it just takes about 6-8 minutes. Place in cold water in a small pot, bring to a boil ( 2 min), then rinse with cold water. Repeat this step 3 times.

RICE | Step 2 Return your pot to your stove with medium-high heat. Add 4-6 tbsp of vegetable oil. Add enough rice to cover the bottom of your rice with a thickness of half an inch. Add a little pressure and compact it evenly. Let your bottom layer of rice heat up and fry ( hear the jilizviliz / sizzling ) for 2-3 min on medium to high heat. Now you can add the remainder of your rice to the pot. Create a dome shape with your rice gently pushing the rice away from the walls and onto the center. Using the back of your spoon, poke a couple of holes in your rice to allow for excess moisture to escape easily. Cover the pot with a lid while still on medium heat for another 3-5 minutes. Now you can lower the heat to low and open the lid and cover it with a kitchen towel and cover the pot again. Now you wait about 20-30 minutes until your rice is nice and fluffy. ( Don’t open the lid to peak)

CHICKEN | Add a generous amount of vegetable oil to a medium to a large pot on medium heat. Make sure again that your chicken is at room temperature. Remove the chicken from the marinade (keep) and add it to your pot. Brown all sides for 4-5 mins to cook and color the chicken’s outer layer. Now you can add all the marinade into the pot (not directly on the chicken). Add 1 cup of water to cover half or two-thirds of the chicken and cover with a medium heat lid. You can occasionally move the pisces around to make sure that they are evenly cooked. Leave for a bout -20-30 mins ( until cooked). Optional you can add a pinch of turmeric and saffron (optional).

TOPPINGS | The toppings don’t need much cooking at all. Add a touch of vegetable oil or butter ina small pan on low heat, add your barberries and a pinch of sugar (optional). Goal here is to lightly heat up and coat the barberries with oil and melted sugar. Stir quickly and remove without cooking them. Repeat the same process for slivered almonds, pistachios and raisins (no sugar). Set the aside for final decoration.

ORANGE PEEL | extra step (optional) orange peels are ready to be used hower if you are feeling adventurous and wanting to elevate the look, flavor and texture of your food then you can flash fry your peels to give it a crunchy texture and a unique look.

Grab a big plate and place your rice. You can now use the saffron rice + toppings you have and get creative and cover the top layer of the rice.

CHICKEN | Add pieces of chicken and place next to the rice and add some of the sauce on top. Note- you can also quickly put your chicken pieces in a frying pan with some oil to give it more color and flavor before serving.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, there really isn’t one way to make any recipe. As long as you and your loved ones enjoy the taste then that is a great recipe. Have fun, be creative and make a recipe your own.