Mahi - Fish (Fried, Smoked or Baked) Persian New Year's Day Lunch/Dinner

A traditional Nowruz lunch or dinner always includes a platter of sabzi polow (mixed herb rice) with mahi (fish). The fish is usually served either doodi (smoked/salted) or sorkh kardeh (pan-fried). There are many wonderful fish varieties in Iran, from darya-ye Khazar (Caspian Sea) in the north and khalij-e Fars (Persian Gulf) regions in the south and each region has its own selection of favorite fish. In the past, any delicate seafood products from the Caspian Sea or the Persian Gulf regions would not have reached a far away distance without spoilage. Unlike nowadays, when most food ingredients are available all year round, back then having fresh seafood for those who didn't live near these areas was a luxury. Therefore, salting/smoking and drying fish and shrimp were the traditional ways of food preservation long before the technology and the invention of the yakhchal (refrigerator). Although, Iranians had mastered their own method of preserving ice in mud brick domes called, yachchal (ice-pit) dating back to 400 BC. Mahi sefid (whitefish) from the Caspian Sea region is among the preferred type of fish for the Nowruz feast. The popularity of mahi-sefid grew in other parts of the country since it became available with the improved means of transportation and refrigeration.Whitefish has many bones in it so you just need to be very careful eating it! However, its pin bones are easy to remove. For this recipe I have chosen three different types of fish with three different preparation methods.

The most important Nowruz tradition in our home growing up, other than the gathering around the haft-seen table in our new clothes at the time of sal-e tahvil (spring equinox), was the Nowruz lunch! My father who never liked fish of any kind would bring a large mahi doodi (smoked whitefish) and also some sort of fresh local mahi jonoob (fish from the south). He liked his Nowruz whitefish pan-fried brown and crispy and it was always served with sabzi polow and kookoo sabzi. Here's another recipe for kookoo sabzi with walnuts and also my first recipe for sabzi polow mahi.

1- Mahi Sorkh kardeh - Fried Fish

Ingredients:
Serves 4

4 pieces (2lb) flounder fillets, or any fish of your choice, scales/skin removed
1/3 cup flour, all purpose
1-2 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves, crushed
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon red pepper powder *optional
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder *optional
A pinch of turmeric powder *optional
1-2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup olive oil
2 limes or a large narenj (Seville orange)

Method:

1. Rinse fish under cold water and pat dry.
2. Season the fillets with salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried fenugreek leaves.
3. In a large frying pan, melt the butter and add the oil on medium-high heat. 
4. In a bowl combine the flour with a small amount of turmeric. Coat flounder fillets in the flour mixture, gently shake off any excess flour before placing the fillets onto the hot pan one at a time. Lightly brown fish on both sides for a few minutes.
5. Remove from heat and place on a platter. Squeeze fresh lime juice or juice of a Seville orange over the fish.

Serve with sabzi polow (mixed herb rice), salad, and torshi.

***

If you find smoked fish to be too salty you may rinse it under cool running water for a few minutes and pat dry. I like to wrap smoked fish in aluminum foil with some fresh, dried herbs and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

2- Mahi Doodi - Smoked Whitefish

Ingredients:

2 pounds smoked whitefish
1 tablespoon flour,
1 tablespoon dried dill weed
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves
A few sprigs of fresh parsley, dill and chives, finely chopped
1-2 limes
Olive oil

Method:

1. Squeeze the limes all over the fish, inside and out.
2. In a small bowl combine flour, dried herbs and rub the mixture inside the fish.
3. Place fresh herbs inside the fish and sprinkle a tablespoon of olive oil over the inside cavity of the smoked fish.
4. Wrap the fish in foil and place in the 350 degrees Fahrenheit pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes.

Serve with sabzi polow (mixed herb rice), salad and torshi.

***

This salmon recipe is from my late mother who never quite liked the taste of salmon and its pink color. To her, salmon always looked raw. That's why she preferred it to be pan-fried first and then baked in the oven to ensure that it is fully cooked!

3- Salmon - Pan Fried and Oven baked

Ingredients:
Serves 4

2 pounds salmon fillet, rinse under cool water, pat dry and cut into small pieces
1-2 tablespoons dried dill weed
1-2 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves
1/4 teaspoon red pepper powder *optional
Salt and black pepper to taste
1-2 garlic cloves. finely minced
Olive oil
2 limes or a large narenj (Seville orange)

Method:

1. Season the salmon with the dry ingredients.
2. In a heavy skillet heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high heat.
3. Lightly fry salmon fillets on both sides for a few minutes.
4. Transfer the fish into an oven proof dish, you may want to layer the bottom of the pan with thin slices of lime and place the salmon fillets on top.
5. Add the minced garlic, drizzle a small amount of olive oil on the fish and place into the 350 degrees Fahrenheit pre-heated oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the salmon is cooked through.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and squeeze fresh lime or Seville juice over the fish.

Serve with sabzi polow (mixed herb rice), salad and torshi.

Enjoy! Nowruz Mobarak!

Reshteh Polow - Rice and Noodles: For Nowruz (Persian New Year)

There's still a few weeks left until the official start of  Spring/Spring equinox and Nowruz (Persian New Year). Iranians and many of the neighboring countries celebrate this ancient tradition and each year welcome the nature's rebirth and rejuvenation by starting the traditional khaneh tekani (spring cleaning). Khaneh tekani literally means to "shake the house" by cleaning every nook and cranny and getting the house in order from top to bottom! For instance, one can give the most overused room in the house where everybody hangs out a fresh coat of paint, clean the rugs, upholsteries and draperies and have the house all clean and organized in time for Persian New Year. Out with the old and in with the new!

Food is also an important part of the Nowruz celebrations and the traditional menu may vary by regions and household to household. Reshteh polow is a delicious rice dish that can be enjoyed throughout the year, however it is known as a New Year specialty. Reshteh (noodles) also means string and eating reshteh polow, preferably on the eve of Eid-e Nowruz, helps sar-reshteh kar dastet biad which means to grab hold of your your life and destiny and to attain success in life. 

Reshteh Polow - Rice and Noodles

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups rice, rinsed
3-4 ounces of reshteh (toasted noodles), cut into small sized pieces. Reshteh may be found in Persian/Iranian grocery stores.
Butter or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon saffron powder dissolved in 3 tablespoons of hot water
Salt
Water
1 large yellow onion

Garnish:

Fried onion
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup black raisins
1/2 cup dates

Method:

1. Wash the rice with cool water a few times. Soak in 4 cups of water, add 2-3 tablespoons of salt and set aside for a couple of hours.
2. In a large non-stick pot bring 5 cups of water to a rapid boil on high heat. 
3. Drain the soaked rice and gently pour into the pot. Bring the water back to a boil on high heat, add the toasted noodles and boil them together for about 7-10 minutes. Test to see if the rice is ready. Rice should be firm in the center and soft on the outside. The noodles should also be somewhat soft yet a little firm. Then drain the rice and noodles in a fine mesh colander and rinse with cool water.
4. Wash the pot and return to heat, add 2-3 tablespoons oil or butter and 1-2 tablespoons of liquid saffron. With a large spatula place the rice into the pot, building it into a pyramid shape. In order to release the steam make 2-3 holes in the rice with the bottom of the spatula. 
5. Leave the uncovered pot on medium-high heat for about 7-10 minutes or until the steam starts to come out, gently pour a cup of water over the rice, cover, steam the rice on low heat for another 45-50 minutes.
6. Lightly brown thinly sliced onion in 2-3 tablespoons of hot oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add raisins, dates and saute lightly for 5 minutes. Set aside
7. With a large scoop take some rice out of the pot and mix in with the dissolved saffron, set aside. 

Serve reshteh polow on a platter, arrange the saffron rice on top and garnish with fried onions, raisins and dates. Reshteh polow is usually served with tender lamb shanks but if you prefer you can serve it with little meatballs or chicken.

Enjoy!

Khoresh-e Bamieh-o-Bademjan - Eggplant and Okra Stew

This stew is a perfect combination of fresh okra and tender eggplants simmering in a luscious tomato sauce along with browned lamb cubes. Even if you're not too crazy about okra this delicious khoresh would most likely change your mind. There's something magical about the combination of eggplant, okra, tomatoes and lime juice. This eggplant and okra stew could also be made with ghooreh (unripe grapes) if available where you live. The use of freshly squeezed lime juice, abghooreh (verjuice) or limoo amani (dried lemon) is key in Iranian cooking. The acidity of these ingredients definitely enhances the flavor of most dishes.

Eggplant is widely used in Persian cuisine, for instance some popular dishes include  khoresh bademjan, borani bademjan,  and kashke-bademjan . Whereas okra on the other hand, is mostly sauteed and cooked in khoresh bamieh, a popular southern dish. In our home my mother always made khoresh bamieh with tamarind sauce and the taste was so incredibly amazing that I haven't tried to change my mother's recipe and use any other sauce instead. However, since I'm adding eggplant to this dish I'll use a couple tablespoons of tomato paste and a large tomato as a base with the addition of lime juice.

While preparing the ingredients remember not to cut into the okra and to gently trim the top, but leave the top cap and the bottom intact since this would prevent the stew from becoming slimy. Also, add the lime juice to the stew before adding the okra.

Khoresh-e Bamieh-o-Bademjan - Eggplant and Okra Stew

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6

1 1/2 pound meat (lamb or beef), washed, trimmed and cubed
8 small size eggplants, peeled, leave whole or cut in half
1 pound okra, wash and trim the top
1-2 large tomatoes, skin removed and finely diced
2 large onions, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon turmeric
A pinch of red pepper *optional
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil
Water

Method:

1. Place peeled eggplants in a colander, sprinkle with salt and let them drain for a couple of hours before cooking.
2. Heat 1/2 a cup of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and fry the eggplants until golden brown. Remove and place fried eggplants on a paper towel.
3. In the same skillet fry okra in 2-3 tablespoons of oil on medium heat until lightly brown. Set aside.
4. In a large stew pot saute the chopped onions on medium-high heat until golden brown. Add a teaspoon of turmeric powder. Stir well, add the minced garlic and saute for another few minutes.
5. Add the meat, salt, pepper and brown the meat on all sides.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and add enough water to cover the meat by a couple of inches. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and cook for an hour on medium-low heat or until the meat is tender.
7. Add the lime juice to the stew, stir and gently place the fried eggplants and okra in the pot. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and lime juice. Add a little more water if necessary. Cover and simmer for another 30-40 minutes on low heat.

To serve, gently spoon the stew in a large serving bowl. Serve hot with rice, salad shirazi and mast o khiar.

Enjoy!

Baghlava - Persian Baklava

I do miss the days that my father would come home from work carrying a ja'beh shirini (box of sweets) freshly baked from our local bakery store. He'd almost always walk in through the doors with either some seasonal miveh (fruits), naan (bread), or shirini (sweets). And those delicious sweets would be just as enjoyable for my father as it was for the kids. How could the taste of baghlava make such an everlasting impression upon my mind? Was it that it was brought home by my father usually for Nowruz (Persian New Year) and I would get to eat it while sitting next to him, hearing him make his usual "mmm" sound with every bite? Was it that most desserts tasted delicious as a kid, let alone the most traditional desserts that were made to perfection? Or is it the nostalgic memories of childhood that turn the flavors and aromas into a wonderful experience?  Baghlava (baklava) was a favorite in our home back then and happens to be a favorite among my own family now. Who doesn't love the decadent taste of baghlava, followed by sips of hot tea or coffee?

You can use a combination of any finely ground nuts for the filling, make stacks of several layers of dough and fillings to bite into, or make it as syrupy as you like. However, Persian baghlava is neither chunky or too gooey and is usually made with pistachios and skinless almonds along with ground cardamom and the sugar rose water, saffron syrup. The best baghlava in Iran is from the city of Yazd.

Baghlava - Baklava

Ingredients:

1/2 pound skinless almonds, lightly toasted, finely ground (I used slivered almonds)
1/2 pound shelled pistachios, finely ground
1 package of phyllo (thawed overnight if frozen), I used 20 pieces of  9" x 14" phyllo pastry sheets
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup of unsalted butter, melted

Syrup:

1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons honey *optional (I used orange blossom honey)
1 cup of water
1/2 cup rose water
1/8 teaspoon powdered saffron

Method:

1. In a medium sized bowl combine the chopped almonds, pistachios, two tablespoons sugar and the ground cardamom. Mix well and set aside.
2. Combine sugar and water in a small pot and bring to a boil on medium heat for about 15 minutes until sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Add the saffron to the syrup, lower the heat, simmer for an additional 5-7 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, add the rose water and allow to cool.
5. Lightly butter the inside of the baking pan.
6. Place the first phyllo dough sheet down and lightly brush the melted butter across covering the entire surface.
7. Add four more pieces of phyllo dough and lightly brushing each with melted butter.
8. Add a layer of ground almond/pistachios.
9. Add five more pieces of phyllo dough sheets lightly brush each sheet of phyllo dough with melted butter. 
10. Add another layer of the chopped nuts covering all areas.
11. Place five more pieces of phyllo dough, lightly brushing each with butter.
12. Cover the phyllo dough sheets with another layer of the crushed nuts.
13. Place the last five layers of the phyllo dough sheets and brush the surface with butter.
14. With a sharp knife cut across diagonally to make diamond shapes.
15. Place the baking pan on the center rack of the 350 degrees Fahrenheit pre-heated oven for 30 minutes or until the top is golden.
16. Take the tray out of the oven and turn the oven off.
17. Pour half of the cool syrup all over the baghlava and place it back in the oven for 5-7 minutes.
18. Remove the pan from the oven and pour the remaining syrup over the baghlava and let cool for at least a couple of hours before serving. (It tastes much better the next day so you may want to make it ahead of time).
19. To sum it all up, this recipe has 4 layers of 5 phyllo dough sheets and 3 layers of ground almonds and pistachios. It keeps well for a few days but more than that I couldn't tell you!

Garnish with chopped pistachios, almonds or crushed rose petals and serve with hot tea or coffee.

Enjoy!

Sohan Asali - Persian Honey and Saffron Almond Candy

This past weekend marked my third year anniversary blogging about Persian cuisine, which is the kind of food I grew up with and to this day love to make all the time and gladly share it with you. When I ventured into the world of food blogging I never thought that one day I would be celebrating my blog's 3rd anniversary! The title of my blog, "Turmeric and Saffron" best describes my late mother's kitchen, with her spice jars and herb bottles everywhere on the counter and shelves, except for her small container of deep red saffron threads from Mashhad tucked away in a cupboard. Among the blend of intoxicating aromas in our ashpaz-khaneh (kitchen) there were various yellow turmeric-stained wooden spatulas, mismatched kitchen rags, her favorite plasco plastic containers and an array of over-sized pots and pans. Then there she was, in the middle of the kitchen meticulously preparing food for her family while beautifully humming a tune by one of her favorite singers such as Delkash, Elaheh and Marzieh.

Almost every meal that we ate at home was cooked by my mother from start to finish, since she would not allow any helpers to cook for us. She was very picky when it would come to cooking and eating. Of course baking was an exception to this rule. My mother would use zardchoobeh (turmeric) extensively to enhance the flavor and improve the aroma of meat dishes, stews and any recipe that involved using lamb or chicken. When making the traditional abgousht/abgoosht (lamb stew) she would add a full teaspoon of turmeric to the boiling water before adding the lamb shanks and the other ingredients, a cooking technique that I only saw in her kitchen. Zaferan (saffron) on the other hand was used in most rice dishes and some sweets such as shole-zard to give a bold flavor, gorgeous natural orange-reddish color and a delicious aroma. She would usually pour a stekan (small tea cup) of saffron-water mixture over the parboiled rice in the pot before placing the towel covered lid back on the pot to steam. My mother had a vast knowledge of herbal medicine, plants, food ingredients as well as how to make healthy food choices. It is not only writing down my mother's recipes and my memories of growing up in Iran that bring me joy and keep me connected to my roots but more importantly it's the simple sharing of my mother's recipes that I find even more fulfilling.

For this sweet occasion I am making this wonderful candy that is nice to serve with a hot fresh brewed cup of tea. For best results I recommend using butter instead of vegetable oil. Even though flavored honey is not used in making this candy I like to use the orange blossom honey for an added flavor. I would also like to lightly toast the slivered almonds to improve the aroma and the taste. While cooking, the content becomes very hot so it would be wonderful if someone could give you a hand at the end when you are dropping the spoonful of the hot mixture onto the parchment paper since it dries quickly and you still need to sprinkle the ground pistachios on top. Otherwise, you've got to be very quick.

Sohan Asali - Persian Honey and Saffron Almond Candy

Ingredients:
Makes about 25 pieces

2 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted
1/3 cup pistachios, slivered or crushed for garnish
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2 tablespoons rose water
1/2 teaspoon saffron powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons of hot water

Method:

1. Cover a large baking tray with parchment paper and leave the crushed pistachios nearby.
2. In a medium sized heavy pot combine sugar, honey, butter and rose water on medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved about 15-20 minutes. Swirl the pot around a few times.
3. Lower the heat and add the saffron, gently stir once or twice with a wooden spoon.
4. Add in the almonds into the sugar mixture, stir well and cook for another 10-15 minutes on low heat.
5. When the almonds are well coated with this caramel color syrup, lower the heat to the lowest setting and start spooning out the mixture on the parchment paper. As quickly as you can sprinkle the pistachios and allow them to cool completely.
6. Remove the almond brittles from the tray, store in an airtight container and serve them the next day.

Serve with a hot cup of tea.

Enjoy!