Mom’s Golden Turmeric Chicken
Healthy, delicious and easy to make - Mom’s Golden Turmeric Chicken
Never eat boring chicken again! This is the coziest, most delicious and easy-to-make chicken dish. Plus it’s full of anti-inflammatory phytonutrients and savory flavors, you’ll want to make it every week. And you only need 3 ingredients (salt, pepper and oil don’t count!) to make it:
Chicken (bone in, skin on dark meat)
Turmeric (and lots of it!)
Onions
(I like to add a couple of bay leaves, so that’s 4 ingredients, but the bay leaves are optional)
This recipe will give you the most tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken and sweet, almost melted onions in a velvety soupy sauce that goes perfectly over basmati rice. I usually serve it with brown basmati rice or roasted potatoes, a herby green salad and garlicy string beans or sautéed broccoli. For a lower carb or grain-free meal, this dish is also delicious over cauliflower rice - my favorite way to serve it. Yum!
I learned this dish from my mom, who learned it from my dad’s mom, Maman Ashraf. Even though we assume that this is a Persian dish, since Maman Ashraf only cooked Persian food, I’ve never seen anyone outside our family make it nor have I ever found a recipe for it in any Persian cookbook or on the internet. UPDATE: Turns out, lots of Persian families make this dish and everyone seems to put their own twist on it. My friend Yasi says her family adds tomato paste, and my chef friend Mersedeh adds ground ginger. Both of these variations sound so YUM!
Just so you know, the women of Iran are leading a revolution against the Islamic Republic, and Iranian men and women risking their lives as they fight for their basic human rights. One way to shine a light on what’s happening in Iran is by sharing our culture and cuisine. I share this recipe with you with hope in my heart for a free Iran, and that one day soon, I will be able to safely visit our ancestral home with my dad, aunts, uncles and cousins. Please check out @cookforIran on instagram and their campaign to raise awareness of what’s happening in Iran.
And now, back to the chicken. Here’s what you’ll need:
Bone-in, skin-on chicken legs and thighs are best for this one. In a pinch, I’ve used boneless, skinless thighs together with bone-in skin-on drumsticks and it turned out fine, but the skin really holds in the moisture so the chicken becomes fall-off-the-bone tender. The skinless pieces tend to get a bit dry. Can you use chicken breast? Probably, though I haven’t tried making it that way yet. It’s probably good, but not as great as when you use dark meat chicken with the bone and skin.
Turmeric and lots of it. Side note: turmeric will stain your clothes, so don’t wear white when you make this dish. Splashing happens and it WILL stain. You’ve been warned.
White onions like Vadalia onions (my favorite) impart a yummy sweetness, but you can use any kind of white or yellow onion. There’s no need to chop the onion finely or carefully. A rough chop is all you need because the onions will melt down into the dish and be so deliciously sweet and velvety. I usually cut the onions in half and then each half into thirds.
Bay leaves are my little addition to this family recipe. It’s optional, but I like the herbaceous earthiness that bay leaves brings to the party.
Salt and pepper to taste. Tip: If you’re using kosher chicken, you don’t have to add much salt. If not, salt the chicken pretty well. The pepper helps your body absorb the phytonutrients from turmeric better, but you can leave it out if you prefer. Turmeric beneficially affects your gut microbiome, so it still has health benefits even if not much is absorbed. The more you knowwww.
Recipe: Mom’s Golden Turmeric Chicken
Serves 3-4 people
1 tbsp olive oil
3 large white or yellow onions, peeled, rough chopped into large pieces
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken legs and thighs, pat dry and seasoned with salt
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup filtered water
4-5 tbsp turmeric
1-2 large bay leaves (optional)
Heat a large stock pot under medium heat, add the olive oil and allow the oil to heat up. Then add the roughly chopped onion and stir so that the onion is lightly coated in oil and let cook for about 1-2 minutes, until they’re fragrant. Try not to let the onions brown, we’re looking for translucent cooking.
Add the seasoned chicken pieces, arranging them in a single layer if possible and add salt and pepper to taste, then add the water.
Add the turmeric by sprinkle it all over the chicken pieces so that the turmeric is evenly distributed and coating all the pieces. Add in the bay leaves if you’re using them.
Cover and increase heat to medium high. Bring the pot to a vigorous boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook for an hour or until the chicken is fully cooked, stirring occasionally to mix everything together and evenly distribute the turmeric. That’s it!
Cooking notes: There will be a lot more liquid in the pot than the 1/4 cup of water you added. This is from the chicken rendering and is completely normal. Continuing the simmer will allow that moisture to evaporate to a level that’s about 3/4 to 1/2 of the way to the top of the contents of the pot (not the height of the whole pot). The dish is supposed to be saucy and the collagen from chicken bones will thicken the liquid as it cools.
If after an hour, there’s still too much liquid in the pot, increase the heat to low-medium, remove the lid and bring to a boil - be sure to keep an eye on it to make sure the liquid doesn’t completely evaporate, as that would burn the food. (I did that once at a dinner party I threw - don’t do what I did!)
If there isn’t much liquid in the pot, add a little bit more water so that the onions and chicken at the bottom don’t burn. You can keep simmering the chicken under very low heat until it’s time to serve as long as there’s at least 3-4 inches of liquid at the bottom.
