October 26, 2009

Dopiazeh


DoPiazeh (Two Onions) Iranian-Style

I learned to cook this recipe several years ago from one of the mothers at my daughter's Persian school. We were there to pick up our children and our conversation turned to what we were going to make for dinner that night. I said something like "I don't have much time and I don't know what to make." That's when she introduced me to this simple and delicious Shirazi food and gave me the recipe. Luckily, I had all the necessary ingredients for making the dish at home. Ever since that day I added دوپیازه dopiazeh to my list of monthly menus. "Piaz" is a Persian word for onion and "do" means two. The name of this dish means two onions which refers to the fact that this recipe calls for two large onions added at two different times during the cooking process.



Dopiazeh (Dopiaza) - دوپیازه

Ingredients:
Serves 4

1 pound ground beef, lamb or turkey
2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 medium-sized potatoes, washed, peeled and cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil
Water

Method:
  1. In non-stick skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of oil on medium heat, add the chopped onions, saute until golden brown. Take half of the the fried onions and set aside.
  2. Add turmeric, stir, add the garlic and fry for two minutes.
  3. Add the ground beef, cook until brown. Add the tomato paste and cook for another 5 minutes, add salt, pepper and a pinch of red pepper. Add 1/2 cup of water. Stir.
  4. Add the cubed potatoes and the remaining fried onions to the beef and potato mixture. Stir well, cover and cook on low heat for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Serve warm with rice or warm bread and salad shirazi.

Enjoy!

15 comments:

  1. This looks lovely. Thank you for your kind comments on my blog. Look forward to seeing more recipes on your blog.

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  2. oh wow this looks yummy great food here

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  3. Thank you Chow and Chatter for visiting my blog. I am going to visit your blog soon.

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  4. Hi Azita, my first time here;-) I came by from Manina's blog... just by your name. I had an Iranian friend in school and I loved her name:-)

    Do Piaza is such a popular dish in India.. with chicken, meat. We love it, but did not know about the origin of the word.. we call onions piaz/peyaj and do=two in Hindi.

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  5. Dear Soma, thank you for stopping by and commenting about this dish. Isn't it interesting how we share the same food with the same name and meaning. I'm going to try dopiazeh with chicken this time.

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  6. Hi,
    This is originally a Kermani dish and it is called: Chogook-Berizoo
    (Chogook means Gonjesht)

    Best
    Massoud

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  7. Great site, so glad I stumbled upon it. My grandmother makes this exact dish but she calls it "khorak" which always sounded generic to me. I'm going to ask her about "Dopiazeh". This is one of my favorites.

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  8. This is an absolute smart and polish website .
    Congrats for all these amazing receipies , well explained , easy to follow and original ingredients.
    I'm persian , my husband is from Afghanistan , as we share almost the same language , religion and traditions , our meals sometimes are alike and other times different , I cook meals from both side of the frontiers . I was looking for a Haleem receipe when I found this website .
    You are doing a great job , and make me proud ( men I feel older saying that lol) but its true so keep up the great job !
    Tashakor aziz , khoda hafez

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    1. Salam, thank you very much for your kind comments.I really appreciate it. Mamnoonam!

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  9. Just discovered your blog and I am sooo making this for dinner tonight!

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  10. I am Shirazi and the way we make it doesn't have meat. It's just onions, turmeric and potatoes. Your version is healthier though. Thank you for your blog!

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  11. ya saadgi. ( oh simplicity!) the North Indian version of this dish has garam masala ( Indian advieh ) ginger garlic paste, yoghurt, coriander, cumin, turmeric chilli powder etc etc etc ... but uses the same onions-before-and-after technique, albeit in a curry sauce. The simplicity of this dish with only turmeric chilli and pepper is its strength, will try it out thank you

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  12. Oh and Do piaza or “;two-onion”I think refers to the way onions are used twice to give two textures to the dish - the initial fry up and the later simmering

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