Persian-Style Chicken Wings (Joojeh Kabob)
Crispy, fatty, charcoal-barbecued wings that are tender, juicy, and full of flavour! These Persian-style chicken wings (Joojeh Kabob) are marinated in a traditional saffron, lemon, onion and yoghurt sauce, and grilled to perfection. An iconic Persian way to barbecue chicken!
What is Joojeh Kabob?
In Persian, Joojeh translates to a young chicken, and Joojeh Kabob refers to the iconic dish of marinated, barbecued chicken. Usually, it's made with pieces of chicken thigh or breast, sometimes with or without the bone! My version is with whole chicken wings, because I love the fattiness of the skin when it crisps up on the barbecue!
Some choose to skewer their Joojeh Kabob so it resembles the equally iconic barbecued lamb kebab, Kabob Koobideh. I sometimes do skewer these chicken wings, but often just throw them right on the charcoal grill. Whatever you do, family and friends will eat these Persian-style chicken wings before you've had a chance to serve them!
Making these Persian-Style Chicken Wings (Joojeh Kabob)
The key to this entire recipe really is the marinade. It's a traditional Persian marinade of saffron, onion, lemon, and yoghurt. These beautiful ingredients all work together to tenderise the meat and infuse the chicken with flavour. The result? Delicious, fall-off-the-bone chicken wings, every time.
Because the marinade includes yoghurt as well as lemon, you've got two acidic elements here. The acids in the yoghurt and lemon work their way into the chicken, and break down the protein, which is basically what it means to tenderise meat! When the proteins break down, more flavor seeps into the meat. So after the chicken wings sit in the marinade overnight, they are packed with delicious Persian flavors.
The marinade itself is quite simple to put together. You just need some plain Greek yoghurt, olive oil, salt, pepper, finely grated onions, lemon zest and juice, as well as saffron, turmeric, and chilli powder. Mix it all together, coat the chicken wings with it, and let it sit overnight before barbecuing them over charcoal! Some recipes will call for garlic, some won't have turmeric - each Persian family will have their signature blend! I'm just showing you the version I grew up with and love (inspired by the way my dad used to make it!).
Complete your Persian-Style Barbecue!
In my family, we typically make Joojeh Kabob as part of a larger barbecue. That larger barbecue includes skewered tomatoes, onions, chillies, as well as the iconic skewered Persian lamb kebab known as Kabob Koobideh. Since you've got the coals fired up, make these traditional Persian Kebabs (Kabob Koobideh) for a complete Persian barbecue experience! Hot tip: typically we grill the vegetables first while the coals are very hot. Then we grill the chicken wings, and we do the koobideh last, since you want a gentle heat for them. Yes, there is a delicate order of operations in a Persian barbecue!
But this means that as you wait for your koobideh to cook, you've got a delicious grill plate of chicken wings in front of you. The smell of the barbecue is so good that people come and pick at these chicken wings. It's like mezze, or an appetizer (and mahze translates to 'a small taste' in Persian!). It's a beautiful way for family and friends to gather around a fire and grab a delicious bite!
Serving Your Persian-Style Chicken Wings (Joojeh Kabob)
However, if you have some shred of self-control, serve these Persian-style chicken wings the traditional way. This means laying them on a bed of buttery saffron rice, with grilled tomatoes, onions, chillies, and a Shirazi salad. And it wouldn't be traditional without the all-important sabzi khordan. This translates to ‘herbs for eating’, and is enjoyed along many Persian meals, or wrapped in traditional Persian flatbread (naan-e lavash) with feta cheese and walnuts for breakfast! It typically includes fresh parsley, coriander, mint, basil, radishes, radish leaves, and spring onions.
Finally, when you are taking the chicken wings off the grill, line a pot with Lebanese bread or traditional Persian flatbread (naan-e lavash). The bread at the bottom will soak up all the delicious chicken juices and is something people will fight over! It is hands-down one of my husband's favourite bits!
In any case, I truly hope you love this recipe! xxx
Traditional, Persian-style chicken wings (Joojeh Kabob) marinated in saffron, lemon, onion, yoghurt and spices. Crispy, juicy, and delicious when barbecued over charcoal!
- 3 kg whole chicken wings
- 300 g plain Greek yoghurt
- 3 onions (brown or white)
- 3 large lemons (juice and zest) (you'll need around 150ml of lemon juice)
- 60 ml olive oil
- 2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder (optional)
- 1/2 tsp saffron (ground to a powder in a mortar and pestle)
- 6 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 Prepare your marinade by roughly chopping your onions then blitzing them in a food processor until fine.
- 2
In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade, and pour over the chicken wings. Make sure to coat every wing in marinade and massage the flavour into the meat - use gloves! (see Note 1)
- 3
Cover, and refrigerate overnight.- 4
Remove from fridge for an hour before cooking (option to skewer at this point, if you like!)- 5
When ready to cook, heat up your charcoal barbecue and let the coals catch. I recommend using wood charcoal. You want the barbecue to be at a medium-high heat.
- 6
Place your chicken wings on a metal grill plate over the charcoals. After 2-3 minutes, turn, and baste with the some of the remaining marinade sitting at the bottom of your bowl.
- 7
Repeat this process of flipping the wings and basting in the marinade until they are fully cooked. Depending on the heat of your barbecue, this should take 15-20 minutes.- 8
Line a pot with a piece of Lebanese bread, or traditional Persian flatbread (naan-e lavash). Place any cooked wings on the bread while the rest of them are being cooked. Cover with bread to keep warm.
- 9
Serve with traditional Persian accompaniments like buttery saffron rice, grilled tomatoes, onions, and chillies, some Shirazi salad and sabzi khordan. Enjoy!
Note- Since this recipe has turmeric powder, your hands may be stained yellow if you don't use gloves! It will of course wash off, but can sometimes remain on your hands for a day or two.
persian, chicken, wings, joojeh, kabob, saffron, lemon, yoghurtThank you for supporting NurtureNosh - I hope you love this recipe!
- 2