Khoresh-e-Porteghaal (Persian Orange Casserole)

I made this yesterday, so I’m just keeping the recipe for a later date. This isn’t a dish I grew up with, and I’ve been trying to cook more Persian meals from around Iran, and it came out pretty well! I adjusted the spice levels slightly.

The name Khoresh-e-porteghaal literally means “orange stew”. It’s heavily scented with oranges and complementary spices. (Yes, “porteghaal” is related to Portugal, where oranges are plentiful…)

Usual disclaimer, I’m not a food blogger, just think of this as my recipe folder.

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 kg chicken thighs, boneless, skin-off — can do skin on for taste, but it won’t be as healthy!
1 brown onion, halved and finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp turmeric
1 large carrot, cut into 2cm batons
1 fennel bulb, halved and sliced
1 tsp advieh (Persian mixed spice)
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 tbsp crushed tomato
600 ml good quality chicken or vegetable stock (e.g. Maggie Beer)
1/8 tsp ground saffron, bloomed in hot water
1 bay leaf
3 medium oranges (1 to juice and 2 sliced for the casserole itself)
1 stick cinnamon
Juice of a fresh lemon
2 tbsp dried barberries
Salt and pepper (to taste)
2-3 cups basmati rice for the rice accompaniment

Instructions

Start soaking your basmati rice to make the rice + tahdig.
Bloom the saffron in hot water.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
In a large saucepan, fry the seasoned chicken well on both sides. It doesn’t need to be cooked through – we’ll finish the cooking later. You may have to do this in batches. Take the cooked chicken out and leave it to one side.
Now, heat the oven to 140 degrees (fan forced) with a heavy pan in it, if possible. Keep cooking on the stove as the oven warms.
In the remaining oil in the pan, cook the casserole ingredients
- Cook the onion for a few minutes until it has become translucent.
- Add garlic and stir to release aromas, and then add in the turmeric.
- Add the carrots and fennel, then the advieh and flour and stir until coated.
- Add the wet ingredients: puree, stock, bloomed saffron, juice of 1 orange, and juice of 1 lemon. Stir to combine
- Place the cinnamon stick and bay leaf in the mixture and keep cooking.
When the oven is warm, put the casserole ingredients and cooked chicken into the oven-warmed pan. Ensure the chicken is mostly submerged.
Add the 2 sliced oranges over the top and into the casserole, leaving some of the chicken exposed.
Cook in the oven for a total of 3 hours at 140 degrees (fan forced).
- Cook with lid on for 1.5 hours, and then take the pan out of the oven to spoon juices over the thighs and the part submerged in the gravy.
- Cook with the lid on for 45 minutes more.
- Cook with the lid off for the last 45 minutes to reduce the liquid and to crisp up the chicken a bit.
(At this point, make your rice and tahdig while the chicken is cooking!)
When it’s cooked and out of the oven, sprinkle the barberries over the top of the cooked mixture, getting them into the hot liquid so they absorb some of it.
Taste it – you may need to season it further with salt and pepper (it depends on how salty your stock is).