Marinated chicken with charred limes

1 chicken (or 2 poussin), each cut into 10 pieces, skin on
a large pinch of saffron strands
1 tbsp boiling water
100 g butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Marinade
Large pinch of saffron strands
1 tbsp boiling water
250 ml lime juice (or sour orange or lemon)
1 onion, coarsely grated

Cucumber and yoghurt sauce
200 ml (generous ¾ cup) yoghurt
a handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
½ cucumber, peeled, halved lengthways, deseeded, grated and drained
a pinch of sugar

Put the chicken in a refrigerator-friendly receptacle. Season generously with salt and pepper. Using a pestle and mortar, grind the saffron for the marinade with a pinch of salt and mix with the boiling water. Add to the citrus juice and pour the lot over the chicken or poussins, along with the onion. Refrigerate and marinate overnight.

The next day, either get your barbecue ready or heat your oven to its highest temperature. Grind and soak the saffron in the boiling water, as before, and put it in a saucepan with the butter and garlic. Melt together.

Drain and pat dry the chicken pieces then either arrange over your barbecue or a baking tray. Baste with the butter and cook for 10 minutes. Baste again, cook for a further 10 minutes, then repeat. By this time the chicken should be cooked through and nicely browned and blistered. Reheat any remaining butter.

Put the limes on the barbecue or on a griddle pan for a couple of minutes.

Mix the yoghurt with the mint and grated cucumber, and season with salt and a pinch of sugar.

To serve, warm through the flatbreads. Serve the chicken torn from the bone and piled into flatbreads with the yoghurt, any leftover basting butter, parsley, pickled onions and squeezes of the charred limes.

Note:
Persians normally use a concentrated bottled juice for this which is seriously sherbety and a bit of an acquired taste. Use this or a regular bottled sort – or if you can find a use for zest of around 12–15 large limes.