A while back I received a comment on my blog from a reader asking about an Iranian potato recipe. She wrote that she had just come back from a trip to Iran and she enjoyed a wonderful potato dish in Shiraz. After cooking and eating Persian food for twenty years she had not come across this dish before and she knew that it wasn't a potato kookoo or cutlet. This potato dish was served at breakfast and lunch and a server told her that it was a local dish. After reading this comment I asked one of my Shirazi friends about the recipe and without any hesitation she said it's dopiazeh aloo! Dopiazeh is a traditional dish from Shiraz and it can be made with cubed or ground lamb/beef, chicken, shrimp, potatoes and a copious amount of sliced onions. Aloo in Farsi/Persian means plum and it's also a term used in Shiraz to mean potatoes. Here's the link for my ground beef Dopiazeh (two onions).
Dopiazeh Aloo - Shirazi Style - دوپیازه آلو شیرازی
Ingredients:
Serves 2
1 pound small potatoes, boiled, peeled and cubed
2 large onions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional)
A pinch of dried fenugreek leaves
A pinch of red pepper
Salt and black pepper to taste
Vegetable oil or olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (optional)
Method:
- Place potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water by a couple of inches. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and cook uncovered on low for 15-20 minutes or until tender and not falling apart. Set aside to cool.
- Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes.
- Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan. Add the onions and fry over medium-high heat until soft. Add turmeric powder, stir.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the cubed potatoes, salt, pepper, a pinch of fenugreek, red pepper, stir gently until well blended, cover and cook for 7-10 minutes until flavors come together. Add a little fresh lime juice and serve.
Serve with warm bread, pickles, salad shirazi and mast o khiar.
Enjoy!