Central Iranian seven-spice chicken kebab

I saw the recipe for Kermani seven spice blend in Najmieh Batmanglij's new book, "Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes and Kitchen Secrets." The book is a complete reference for the regional Irainain cuisines and ingredients. Kerman, the biggest province of Iran, is located on the Southern edge of the Great Salt Desert (i.e. Dasht-e-Kavir) which lies in the middle of the Iranian plateau. Since I had brought the famous Kermani cumin and safflowers from my last visit to Iran, I found it very relevant to make that seasoning blend. I then marinated some chicken thighs in yogurt and the seven spice seasoning, the phenomenal result is reported here.

Ingredients:

2.2 Pounds (~1 kg) boneless skinless chicken thighs

Kerman seven spice seasoning (recipe follows)

3 TBSP vegetable oil

5.29 Ounces (~150 gr) fat-free yogurt
To garnish:

2 TBSP sumac

1 TBSP Urfa pepper

Kerman seven spice seasoning:*

1 TBSP safflower buds

1 TSB dried fenugreek leaves

1 TBSP granulated onion

1 TBSP nigella seeds

1½ TBSP sesame seeds

1½ TBSP cumin seeds

1 TBSP coriander seeds

* The seasoning blend recipe is from the book: Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes and Kitchen Secrets by Najmieh Batmanglij. The chicken kebab recipe is developed by blog's author  

To make the seven-spice seasoning, grind all the ingredients into a coarse powder.

To make chicken kebabs, mix the seven spice mix, chicken, oil, and yogurt and marinate overnight.

Similar to the very first photo on top of the page, you can thread the meat onto skewers and grill over gas or charcoal. Alternatively, you can grill the meat in a hot pan, as illustrated above. To do so, the pan should be large and preheated on medium-high heat. The chicken pieces should be tempered to the room temperature before cooking (remove from the fridge and let stand in the room temperature for at least 15 minutes). Chicken should be cooked 2~3 minutes per side. Once done, sprinkle with sumac and Urfa and serve.