Shoorba-ye Yazdi (Lentil and Beet Soup with Tiny Dumplings)

What could be better on a cold winter day than a hot bowl of tasty, healthy, and sumptuous soup? This beautiful and nutritious soup is from the region of Yazd, Iran and is called شوربا - shoorba or Ash-e Shooli. "Shoor" means salty and "ba" generally refers to soups/stews. This shoorba is made by combining sauteed golden brown onions, brown lentils, small cubed beets, chopped young beet greens and fresh dill simmering gently over low heat until the lentils and beets are tender and soft. To make the shoorba tastier and to increase the thickness of the soup, small flour dumplings are added about thirty minutes before serving. This delightful recipe was given to me by my wonderful friend of many years, Sohaila khanoum, and I am very thankful and grateful to her for sharing her beloved mother's Yazdi shoorba recipe.

P.S. I would have written a post specifically for my 2nd blogging anniversary on December 4th had it not been a hectic month for me. However, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you, my wonderful and super kind readers and Facebook fans, for your support and sweet comments for the past two years. It always means a lot to me! Here's to hoping that I'll be able to keep my blog running steadily and continue to share as many Iranian recipes for as long as I can! I guess I make that my New Year's resolution! Once again thanks to all my readers!!

Shoorba-ye Yazdi/Ash-e Shooli (Lentil and Beet Soup with Tiny Dumplings)

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6

1 cup lentils, rinsed
3 medium-sized beets, cubed
A small bunch of beet greens, chopped 
1 bunch fresh dill, washed and chopped

1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 (14-ounce) can chicken broth  or vegetable broth *optional
2 tablespoons vinegar or pomegranate molasses
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste

Vegetable oil

Dumplings:

1/2 cup flour
Pinch of salt
Water (lukewarm) as needed

You may substitute dumplings with small pasta shapes.

Method:

1. Combine the flour and salt, add water little by little, one tablespoon at a time, and mix well. Add more flour and water as needed until a soft dough forms. Make small size balls out of the flour dough. Set aside.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a stockpot on medium heat. Saute onions until tender, add turmeric, stir.
3. Add 4-5 cups of water and a can of chicken broth, bring to a boil, add beets, add lentils, lower the heat, cover and cook for 50 minutes.
4. Add the vegetables and salt and pepper. Gently place the dumplings into the shoorba. Add more water if necessary. Cook for another 15 minutes.
5. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar during the last ten minutes of simmering.

Serve the shoorba hot with warm lavash or pita bread.

Enjoy! Wish you all a very happy, healthy, prosperous and glorious New Year!
Love, Peace and Blessings!

Yalda 2010! Celebrating the Longest Night of the Year (Winter Solstice)

The sight of you each morning is a New Year

any night of your departure is the eve of Yalda

~Saadi

شب یلدا Shab-e Yalda refers to the longest night of the year, which has been celebrated ever since the ancient times in Persian history. The word یلدا  "Yalda" means birth in Syriac and is marked as the birthday of Mithra, the ancient Persian god of light and cosmic order, also called the son of Ahura Mazda, dating back as early as 5000 B.C.    

The winter solstice occurs on Tuesday, December 21, 2010. On the eve of the longest night, Iranians celebrate the birth of the sun, Mithra or Mehr, by family and friends gathering together reading poetry, storytelling, feasting on pomegranate seeds, slices of sweet watermelons, fall fruit of persimmon, grapes, dried fruits of apricots and figs, ajil, and drinking tea into late hours of the night. Reading poetry from our renowned Persian poet Hafez has become an integral part of our Yalda tradition and is my favorite part of the Yalda celebrations.

On this Shab-e Yalda, I'll sit around the table with my family, celebrating the birth of the sun and the victory of light over darkness. May the spark of light illuminate us from within and bring joy to all of our hearts.

Winter Solstice, December 21, 2010, Danilo Pivato, APOD

Solstice Celebration, December 21, 2002, APOD

Happy Yalda! Yalda Mobarak!

Naan Berenji - Persian Rice Flour Cookies

نان برنجی Naan Berenji Kermanshahi is one of my favorite Persian sweets, traditionally prepared for Nowruz (Persian New Year). Naan berenji cookies are rich in flavor without being overly sweet. They are wonderful to eat all year-round and are especially delicious with a freshly brewed cup of hot tea or coffee, particularly on a cold day.

 I have wanted to write about naan berenji for a long time, but I must admit that, despite buying them from different bakeries and trying several recipes myself over the years, the results were always somewhat disappointing. None ever quite tasted like the authentic naan berenji from Kermanshah. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to recreate those cookies so that they smell and taste like the way they did the first time I tried them, during a family trip to Kermanshah many years ago. 

I remember that summer trip vividly. I recall the evening we approached the Bisotoon mountain area as the sun was setting, and my father was exhausted from driving for so many hours. We stopped at a قهوه خانه (ghaveh-khaneh), a small roadside coffee house and rest area in the middle of nowhere. My father asked about the nearest place where our family could sleep for the night, but the suggested hotels were too far to reach. The owner offered us the rooftop of the ghahveh-khaneh instead. And so that is where we spent the night. 

The memory of the six of us climbing an old, flimsy ladder one by one, lying down on a single blanket with no pillows or any sheets, staring up at the sky, the moon, and stars until I fell asleep, is still etched in my mind. And all the while,  بیستون Bisotoon, felt so close,  looming above us as if it might topple down at any moment!  

As a child, those family summer trips, endless, dusty zigzags across the country, felt exhausting, dreadful, and pointless. Looking back now, I am most grateful for having seen so many corners of my beautiful country.

In my recent attempt,  I tried Najmieh Batmangelij's naan berenji recipe, from her A Taste of Persia cookbook, a try, and I was very pleased with the results. The next day, when I went to count how many cookies the batch had made and to take a few photos, there were only a few left on the plate!

Naan Berenji - Persian Rice Flour Cookies

Ingredients

Makes about 25 cookies

-3 cups rice flour
-3 egg yolks
-1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-2 tablespoons fine sugar
-1 teaspoon ground cardamom
-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)

For Topping:

-2 tablespoons poppy seeds or crushed pistachios

For Syrup:

-1 1/2  cup white sugar
-1/2 cup of water
-1 tablespoon rose water

Method:

1. Combine the sugar and water in a small pot over medium heat, bring to a boil, and stir for about 5 minutes, or until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat and simmer for another 7-10 minutes or until the syrup thickens to one cup. Remove from heat, add the rosewater, and let cool. completely.
2. In a bowl, mix rice flour with the powdered cardamom. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with fine sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the butter and oil and beat well until fluffy.
4. Add the vanilla extract and the flour, then gradually add in one cup of the sugar syrup and beat well with an electric mixer/hand mixer.
5. Transfer the dough to a covered container and refrigerate for about 6 hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Take a tablespoon of the dough, flatten it into round shapes in the palm of your hand, and shape the surface with a cookie stamp or a teaspoon. Sprinkle with poppy seeds and arrange on the baking sheets. 
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer gently to cooling racks.

Once cooled, arrange on a serving platter and serve with tea or coffee.

Enjoy!

Torshi Anbeh - Pickled Mango

This is a quick, simple and sumptuous torshi (pickle) that is served as a side for any rice and stew dishes. Serving a variety of pickles and relishes with main courses is a major part of the Iranian cuisine. In our home torshi making was an annual summer ritual for my mother and our hayat (yard) would be filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, tomatoes, limes and unripe sour grapes to juice. Years later, when I met my husband, I was happy to find out that in their home his father was in charge of making torshi and that he had designated a special place in the basement of his home to place the large clay jars used to preserve the pickles!  I knew then that I'd met someone who also has the love of torshi in his genes! There's nothing like homemade pickles where you use fresh ingredients and favorite spices and adjust the seasonings to your liking. There are the common and popular pickles such as the eggplant pickle, mixed vegetable pickle and the garlic pickle, not to mention my favorite fruit pickle that I have written about in the past.

Today's recipe is ترشی انبه  torshi anbeh (pickled mango) which I've grown to adore mostly in recent years. Mangoes make great pickles. They are soft, smooth, juicy and quite tasty. I like to maintain the color and the texture of mango while it gently simmers in tamarind infused sauce, spices, dried red pepper and garlic cloves and vinegar, until all the complex and different flavors come together nicely. I didn't chop the garlic and the peppers into pieces and chose to leave them whole. We don't want them to overpower the taste and also this way they would be easier to take out when serving.

Torshi Anbeh - Pickled Mango

Ingredients:

4 firm ripe mangoes, peeled and cubed

4-5 whole garlic cloves, peeled

Juice of a lemon/lime

3 tablespoons tamarind sauce

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon golpar (angelica), crushed

1/2 teaspoon siah daneh (nigella seeds)

1/2 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds

1-2 dried red peppers

2 cups white vinegar

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Place the mangoes in a bowl, sprinkle with fresh lemon juice and set aside.
2. In a medium-sized heavy pot bring vinegar to a gentle boil over medium-low heat. Add the tomato paste and the tamarind sauce. Stir well.
3. Add the garlic, red pepper and the spices, simmer for 5 minutes over low heat for the flavors to come together. 
4. Add the mangoes to the pot, add salt and cook for 5-7 minutes over medium-low heat, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, turn off the heat.
5. When cool, place the torshi in a washed and clean glass jar. Make sure all ingredients are covered by vinegar. Add more vinegar if needed. Refrigerate or keep in a cool and dry place. This pickle is ready to serve the next day.

 This is a delicious side to serve with your favorite food.

Enjoy!