As parents, most of our decisions revolve around children, especially when it comes to eating out. It’s a true blessing to find a place where we can all sit and enjoy a meal without unnecessary arguments like, “Papa, I don’t want to eat this”, or, “Can we please get something else?”, or (God forbid), “I’d rather have McDonalds!”. Zilleh was just that; oh, how I miss thee!

About five years back, we came across a gem of a Turkish restaurant called Zilleh. Unfortunately for me, and much to the dismay of my kids, it was closed down without any notice some three years ago. We still mourn its loss at least once a week – oh, that crispy succulent (extra spicy) chargrilled chicken with a side of fragrant saffron rice was just the pick-up you’d need to get you out of that funk!

For those of you who follow my blog, you are well aware of how much I love my copy-cat recipes, and Zilleh Chicken was no exception. I sauntered into the kitchen one beautiful day, rolled up my sleeves, and raided the pantry with one mission – to recreate the magic of Zilleh!

When recreating a recipe solely based on flavor profile, I always start with the most dominant flavors and then start adding more spices to the mix. I only stop once I get an 85% match. In this case, it was close to 100%, and what resulted was a beautifully cooked, perfectly succulent, tantalizing chicken. When paired with the extremely fragrant saffron rice, it was a party in my mouth.

I’d be selfish if I didn’t share this discovery with the world, so here’s how you can recreate this masterpiece to impress your family and friends. The rice, the salad, and the french fries are totally optional – however, the chicken would feel very lonely without them on your plate!

Ingredients (chicken):

• 1 kg chicken (cut into 4 tikka-style pieces)
• 2+1 tablespoon ground red chili paste (also called Shatta/Sambal – we get this readymade from our local supermarket or you can make it yourself)
• 3 tablespoon heaped ginger garlic paste (use equal quantities of ginger and garlic – blend with very little water)
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Handful of fresh parsley
• Juice from ½ a lemon
• French fries (as a side)
• Cucumbers (as a side)

Ingredients (salad):

• 1 medium tomato
• 1 medium onion
• Juice from ¼ of a lemon
• Some parsley
• Salt to taste
• Sumak (Arabic spice) to taste

Ingredients (saffron rice):

• 1½ cups basmati rice
• 1-2 small pieces of cinamon
• 2-3 cardamoms
• 2-3 black pepper corns (dried whole)
• 2-3 cloves
• 5-6 strands of saffron
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2½-3 cups water (depending on the directions on your rice package)
• Salt to taste

Method (chicken):

1. Apply shallow tikka-style cuts to the chicken
2. Marinate chicken with 2 tbsp red chili paste, ginger garlic paste, salt, and black pepper
3. Keep it in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours, preferably overnight
4. Heat oil in a frying pan and add the chicken to it; cook on a low-medium flame
5. Once the chicken is fully cooked, add in the parsley and half the lemon juce and mix it well
6. Take the pan off the stove
7. Apply the remaining 1 tbsp red chili paste evenly on the chicken
8. Pre-heat the oven to 300 F
9. Place the pan in the oven and grill for 5 minutes

Method (salad):

1. In a bowl, put the thinly sliced onion, the chopped tomatoes, lemon juice, parsley, sumak and salt
2. Mix it well and set it aside

Method (saffron rice):

1. Bring water to a boil on a high flame
2. Add the rice into the water – make sure it is rinsed several times before adding to the pot
3. Add in the cinamon, cardamoms, black pepper corns, cloves, saffron, turmeric and salt
4. Once the water has dried out and is not visible on the surface, cover the pot with a lid and let it steam for 5-7 minutes until done

Final assembly:

1. On a platter, make an even bed of rice
2. Put the chicken on top of the rice – scrape out all the lovely spiced mixture from the pan
3. Put some salad on the side
4. Add in some french fries (optional but oh so delicious!)
5. Garnish with some fresh parsley
6. Dig in!

Note: This recipe is dedicated to some of my office friends who share my love for food. Kavya, Sumaiya, Souvik, Reumaysa – food is what unites us!