Sizdah Bedar - Persian Tradition of Getting Rid of 13 (Bad Luck) and Menu Ideas

The ancient annual tradition ofسیزده بدر Sizdah Bedar (getting rid of 13) is celebrated on the thirteenth day of فروردین Farvardin, the first month of the Persian calendar, which is also 13 days after Nowruz (Persian New Year). This ritual has been observed since the ancient times where family, friends and neighbors gather together and go out to parks, picnic areas and open fields to spend a fun and happy day playing games, dancing, listening to music, chattering away, and eating delicious food. Games such as تخته نرد takhteh-nard (backgammon) and شطرنج shatranj (chess) are popular. Also, taking a ball along for playing soccer, volleyball or dodge ball is a good idea. On this day it is customary to take your sabzeh (green sprouts) which symbolically embodies the ailments and misfortunes from your home and throw it out, preferably in a nearby running stream. By disposing of your sabzeh you will rid your home of all the unlucky and inauspicious thoughts, feelings and happenings that have been looming in your home and your life. Spending a great day with people you care about the most outdoors, leaving bad luck behind and then coming back home mentally and emotionally refreshed and content is just the perfect thing to do after all the Nowruz activities.

For me, an ideal sizdah bedar is finding yek vajab khak (a small patch of earth) with a little shade under an old tree, and hearing my family's laughter with music playing in the background, with a bowl of ash reshteh, a scoop of yogurt, a piece of bread and a cup of chai. My memories of many sizdah bedars that I spent with my family in Iran, then here in the U.S as a homesick student and later on with my own two kids and husband include many happy, interesting and exciting moments. I'll never forget one of the early memories of sitting crossed leg at the sofreh (tablecloth) in a place called Tembi Gorgi near the town of Masjed Soleiman, eating lunch while keeping an eye on a couple of snakes wrapped around the tree branches not too far from where we were sitting. Another memory is a very short sizdah bedar outing in a garden in Isfahan where we ended up in the middle of a huge colony of ants. We could barely sit down and spread out so we all went back home after a few hopeless tries.

It seems that there are many cultures that believe 13 is an unlucky number. Whether 13 is unlucky or not I am not sure. In my neighborhood there is no house number 13 and I live in a small town in the suburb of New York. There is no 13th street in New York City and I haven't seen any high rise building with a thirteenth floor either. But I am all for going out of the house on sizdah bedar and coming in with a positive and new mindset that all bad things are behind us and to look forward to better things coming our way.

Sizdah Bedar Menu Ideas & Picnic Recipes:

Here's my menu ideas based on the recipes that I've posted so far. If you have any suggestions please let me know. First on my list is ajil (mixed nuts), then it's ash reshteh (bean and noodle soup) with lots of herbs and kashk (whey).

Ajil-Mixed Nuts

 Ash Reshteh

Kabab Recipes:

Joojeh Kabab

Chicken Koobideh

Koobideh

It's much easier to carry and serve one-dish meals rather than our common polow and khoresh. Rice with dill and lima beans was a must have for sizdah bedar in our home. It can be served with chicken or lamb.

Rice One-Dish Meal:

Shevid Baghali Polow - Dill Lima Bean Rice

Loobia Polow - Rice with Green Beans 

Tah Chin - Upside Down Layered Saffron Rice & Chicken

 Adas Polow - Rice with Lentils

Sandwich Recipes:

Kotlet - Meat Patties

Saffron Chicken Stove-Top

Salad Olivieh  

Side Dish Recipes:

Kookoo SibZamini - Potato Patties

Kashk-e Bademjan

 Mirza Ghasemi 

Zeytoon Parvardeh

Sabzi Khordan

Mast o Khiar

Salad Shirazi

Drinks:

Sekanjabin

Sharbat-e Limoo

Doogh

Chai

Shirini:

Cake Yazdi

Tehran, Iran Panoramio Photo

Sizdah Bedar, Tehran, Iran, Source: Mehr News

 

Sizdah Bedar, Tehran, Iran,  Source: Mehr News 

Sizdah Bedar, Gorgan, Iran, Source: Mehr News

 

Sizdah Bedar, Tehran, Iran, Source: Mehr News

Sizdah Bedar, Tehran, Iran, Source: Mehr News

Sizdah Bedar, Gorgan, Iran, Source: Mehr News

Enjoy! Happy Sizdah Bedar!

Ajil - Persian Mixed Nuts

چهارشنبه سوری  Chahar Shanbeh Suri is an ancient Persian tradition that celebrates the eve of the last Wednesday before Nowruz (Persian New Year). The festival usually starts as the sun sets by jumping over small bonfires in open fields and streets, singing, dancing, eating and spending time with friends and family. During the hours leading to the festivities, people gather dried tree branches, twigs and leaves for the bonfire. During the chahar shanbeh suri festival, while people of all ages jump over the fire they will be singing:

زردی من از تو 

سرخی تو از من 

Zardie man az to

Sorkhie to az man

Translation: May my sickly yellowish hue be yours and your reddish shine be mine. Wishing for all the troubles, sadness, gloom and unhappiness to go away and to make room for better and brighter moments in life!

آجیل - Ajil (mixed nuts) are perfect for parties and celebrations. Any combination of almonds, pistachios, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, roasted chickpeas, raisins, dried figs, dried white mulberries will be fine. Serving seasoned and toasted seeds such as watermelon and pumpkin seeds are also very common during the celebrations. However, some of the ingredients may vary from one home to another depending on personal taste, preferences and also the availability.

In our home, our ajil also included cashew nuts which I loved as a kid; I would sit there picking out cashews before the guests arrived and away from my mother's sight! Dried sour cherries were also a very popular snack as a kid and I would take them to school with me everyday and share them with my classmates. But since then chickpeas remain my favorite, next to almonds! However, as you might know, Persian pistachios are among the best pistachios in the world! Aside from being a part of the ajil assortment, pistachios and almonds are also used in Persian cooking. Ajil is a nutritious and healthy snack to take to school, work and long road trips.

Ajil - Mixed Nuts

1 cup almonds

1 cup cashews 

1 cup chickpeas 

1/2 cup hazelnuts

1 1/2 cups pistachios

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup dried white mulberries

A handful of dried apricots

A handful of dried figs

Mix all ingredients in a large container, gently toss to combine and serve in a large serving bowl. 

Chehel Sotoon's Mural of Chahar Shanbeh Suri, Wikipedia

 Chahar Shanbeh Suri,  Flickr Photo

Enjoy! Happy Chahar Shanbeh Suri!

Preparing For Nowruz 1390 - Persian New Year 2011!

Here are some suggestions and links to help you prepare for the coming Persian New Year (Spring Equinox)! The following links are a compilation of Nowruz customs, rituals, food, desserts and anything Persian New Year-related that has been posted so far on my blog that might give you more information and insights into this ancient, joyful and extremely popular celebration! I hope that you'll find it useful!

On Sunday, March 20, 2011, Nowruz starts at 7:21 P.M. here in New York. To find out about the time of sal-e tahvil (start of  Nowruz) in your area please see this timetable, hopefully, your town is listed!

 Spring Cleaning and Fruits

The first thing to do is to get started on a good and thorough khaneh tekani (spring cleaning) a few weeks before the New Year. The above link is my recent post about spring cleaning and serving fruits.

Haft Seen 

Many things on the haft seen table may be bought up to the last minute but if you are planning to grow your own sabzeh and make your own samanoo you'll need to start soon in order to have everything ready by sal-e tahvil. Otherwise, these days everything that one might need is readily available in Persian supermarkets.

Sabzeh - Growing Seeds
 I usually start my sabzeh two weeks before Nowruz. It may not get to be that tall on the haft seen table but since I like to keep it till the 13th of Farvardin, I don't want it to rot too quickly. If you would like to have a full-grown and long sabzeh you may want to start now!

 Samanoo

If you are making samanoo (wheat pudding), start  the seed germination now!

Main Dishes

Kookoo Sabzi

Kookoo Sabzi with Walnuts and Barberries

 Sabzi Polow

 Sabzi Polow & Mahi

In our home, there were two ways to make fish for Nowruz. One was frying the fish in a skillet and the other was to serve smoked fish. Our smoked fish back home in Iran was different than the ones I get here. Ours was tastier and somewhat salty. I like to season the fish with the mixture I make with the following ingredients: salt, pepper, mashed fresh garlic, olive oil, and the juice of fresh lemon.  I would spread a thin layer of the sauce on the inside of the fish before placing it in the 300 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 20-30 minutes.

Side Dishes

Mast-o-Khiar 

 Mast Esfenaj

 Salad Shirazi

 Sabzi Khordan

Drinks

Chai - Tea 

 Sweets

Persian Raisin Cookies

 Coconut Macaroons

 Naan Berenji

 Yazdi Cupcakes

 Toot

Masghati 

Rosewater is used in many of our sweet recipes for flavoring and aroma.  I like it so much that I cannot write a dessert recipe without mentioning the use of rose water. For those of you who don't like the aroma, you can use vanilla extract or perhaps orange blossom extract instead.

Enjoy! Peace and Blessings!!