I’m writing this with a somewhat heavy heart. Today’s dish is inspired by Iran. I used the recipe from the RAF cookbook which is a chicken dish with a yogurt dressing, lemony rocket salad, and lavash. This is served with a quick cooked flatbread.

The chicken is marinated overnight in a mix of onions, yogurt, herbs and spices. Then skewered, then cooked under the grill. The yogurt dressing is creamy, tart and saffrony. The flatbread, although mine didn’t rise as much as I’d have liked, was delish.

Together, the dish was absolutely delicious and one I’d been looking forward to for an awfully long time. I get it, with chicken and salad in a fancy flat bread, I’m basically talking about a kebab. However, the combination of the flavours, the slight char from the grill on the chicken, the flatbread brushed with a little garlic butter, the peppery rocket and the yogurt, it was incredible. And a dish I would definitely serve again. I mean look at it. 

It is also one of the very first recipes that turned out almost exactly like the picture in the book. While technically not the national dish, which is a lamb kebab with some herby stew, to be honest I’m confident my kebab will have tasted better.

One observation on ingredients so far, middle eastern and North African recipes is that they use a lot of saffron, which is more expensive than gold. Granted you don’t need to use all that much, but I figure it must be grown locally and easily with the right climate for them to using it in the quantities that they do.

Also, while I’m not watching football, I’m a bit of a news junkie and I use social media, so I was touched and concerned by the Iranian players not singing their national anthem in protest to what is going on back home. I worry about the sanctions or punishments they’ll face when they return home. But while FIFA tied themselves in knots about armbands, who knew that not singing would bring about such a reaction. 

Anyway, the chicken is called ‘Joojeh Kebab’, look up a recipe, serve it with the lavash, and think about our fellow humans who don’t have it as good as we do.