Esfahani-Style Pancake Recipe, Long-Awaited Trip to Iran and My 10 Year Blogging Anniversary

After many years I went on a long-awaited vacation to Iran with my two daughters. It was an amazing trip with many incredible moments. Our trip was intended to visit our families, see the historic sites and spark the love of my home country and the rich Iranian culture in my daughters. We visited Esfahan, Shiraz and Tehran over a span of about three weeks and we had quite a packed itinerary exploring these three major cities. It was an experience beyond all expectations. We were warmly greeted by both sides of the family upon arrival and were graciously shown around the beautiful cities.

This blog was born in the early days of December ten years ago when I was trying to find a way to cope with the loss of my mother. It has since brought me much joy and fulfillment and I am glad that it has helped people cook Persian food. I have received many kind and heartfelt letters over the years that I am so grateful for and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

One of the highlights of our trip was getting to taste new food as well as the old favorites. A new delicious food that we had for the first time was my sister-in-law's pancakes that she made for breakfast on our very first morning in Esfahan. This ingenious پنکیک pancake is more scrambled eggs than the American pancake and contains more eggs than flour. It's also less time-consuming than making pancakes and tastes just as delicious. The entire batter is poured into the pan and cooks slowly on low heat instead of spooning the batter into the hot skillet and making several thin pancakes. Below is Shahnaz khanum's recipe that I tweaked a little.

Esfahani Pancakes - پنکیک اصفهانی 

Ingredients:
Serves 4

4 eggs
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder *optional
1/2 tablespoon sugar *optional
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter

For the topping:
Syrup, honey, grape molasses, fresh fruits, or extra butter

Method:

1. Mix together flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.
2. Add the milk gradually, stirring until well blended.
3. Beat eggs with a fork or whisk and add to the flour mixture. Combine thoroughly.
4. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the oil, pour in the batter, and lower the heat.
5. Cover and cook until the pancake is fluffy and golden brown on the bottom. 
6. Cut into four equal pieces.
7. Carefully flip each piece with a spatula, cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately. 

Enjoy!

Happy New Year! May 2019 be a happy, healthy and prosperous year for everyone!

Khagineh - Iranian Sweet Omelette from Sofreh At'ameh - A Qajar Dynasty Cookbook

I recently received a copy of سفره اطعمه Sofreh At'ameh, a delightful cookbook written in 1881 by Mirza Ali Akbar Khan Kashani, the royal head chef to the court of ناصرالدین شاه قاجار  Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (1831-1896), the fourth king of the Qajar dynasty. The French Dr. Joseph Desire Tholozan was the chief physician to the king for more than 30 years. He asked the آشپزباشی ashpazbashi (chef) of the royal court to put together a guide detailing the king's diet, eating habits, and his typical daily menu, to be able to serve him better. Sofreh At'ameh is filled with bits and pieces of information that give one a glimpse into the past. This book is a compilation of recipes, ingredients, and virtually everything that was served in the royal palace for breakfast, lunch and dinner including sharbat (sweet drinks), khoresh (stew), ash (soup), polow (rice), moraba (jam), and torshi (pickles).

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar

Joseph DésiréTholozan

There are many timeless recipes in this book that I think most Iranians know by heart as well as new recipes that are definitely worth trying. There are also a few dishes that I had forgotten about and reading this book helped refresh my memory. One of those recipes was خاگینه khagineh. I remember Maman serving a delicious fluffy sweet omelet that could also be eaten as a dessert. Back then I never thought to ask her how she made it and the recipe never made it into my handwritten recipe journal. Yet, when I saw it in the book I knew I had to make it. However, like many old cookbooks, most of the recipes in this book lack exact measurements. Therefore, the following is my adaptation of its khagineh recipe. 

Khagineh - Sweet Omelette
Adapted from Sofreh At'ameh 

Ingredients:
Serves 2

3 large eggs
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1-2 tablespoons butter
A little dash of salt *optional

Sugar Syrup

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch ground cardamom
Pinch ground saffron

Method

1. In a small pot, combine water and sugar, bring water to a boil, over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely. Add the cardamom and saffron. Stir well and let simmer uncovered on low heat for another 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl whisk the eggs until smooth.
3. Add in the flour and mix well.
4. In a nonstick skillet heat the butter over medium heat until it has melted. Pour in the egg mixture all at once. Cook over low heat for about 2 minutes or until eggs are almost set but not hard and gently flip the eggs using a thin spatula and cook for another two minutes. Slice the eggs and slowly pour the syrup over the eggs and cook for another minute or until the syrup is fully absorbed. You may use other sweeteners such as honey or grape molasses. 

Transfer onto a platter and serve warm or at room temperature. I added a tiny pinch of dried, crushed rose petals and a little powdered sugar, for dusting.

*Historical Cookbook recipes:

Borani Kangar-Yogurt and Cardoon Dip - A Qajar Era Recipe
Sholeh Maash - Green Mung Bean and Kohlrabi Soup - A Qajar Era Recipe
Ash-e Jo - Barley Soup with Spinach and Cilantro -A Safavid Era Recipe

Enjoy!

Kookoo Khorfeh - Purslane Kookoo

Every year from mid-spring to late summer I eagerly await the appearance of dark-green خرفه (purslane) sprouts in my backyard, vegetable garden, flower borders, and in between the cement cracks. The often under-appreciated and ignored purslane has always been a favorite of mine. You can throw a handful of fresh purslane in almost any dish and make it taste better with its slightly tart and peppery flavor. Purslane has high levels of omega-3 fatty acids as well as fiber, vitamin A, vitamin B, and many more nutritional values.

Purslane (portulaca oleracea) has been labeled as a garden weed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and I gave up looking for it in stores long ago. In Iran, and in many other countries, khorfeh (purslane) happens to be a popular summer green. I'm always looking for different ways to prepare purslane. However, with the little purslane that I end up gathering, I can't get too creative! I usually add them to salad shirazi, mast o khiar, sabzi khordan and fruit salads. Tokhm-e khorfeh, purslane's black seeds, are used in Iranian baking and sprinkled on naan berenji and shirini keshmeshi.

On a recent trip to the grocery store, I was surprised to find rows of purslane nicely stacked on the shelf. They were imported from Mexico! I bought a few bunches and then decided to make کوکوخرفه kookoo khorfeh - purslane kookoo with parsley, chives and caramelized onion.

Now that summer is almost behind us there are only a few purslane plants out there in the garden and I wanted to write this recipe before the season is officially over. I find it much easier to bake kookoo sabzi in the oven than on the stove-top and it doesn't require turning over the wedges/slices. For this recipe, however, I decided to cook it the traditional way on the stovetop like how my mother used to make almost all her foods. I feel that kookoo cooked on the stove comes out tastier! I understand that many of you like to add a little baking powder to kookoo dishes so feel free to add a teaspoon of baking powder to the mixture if you prefer.

Kookoo Khorfeh - Purslane Kookoo

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6

2 bunches of purslane (2 cups chopped) use the leaves and the thin part of the stems. Discard the thicker ends
1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley (1 cup chopped)
1 bunch fresh tareh (chives) or scallions (green parts only) (1 cup chopped)
6 large eggs, beaten
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon finely diced walnuts *optional
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon paprika 

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
A pinch of red pepper 
Vegetable oil/olive oil

Method:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and saute the onion slices until translucent, add the turmeric powder, stir. Lower the heat and continue cooking the onions, stirring occasionally until brown. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine the chopped purslane, parsley, chives, caramelized onion, walnuts, eggs, paprika, red pepper, and season with salt and black pepper.
3. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat, pour in the egg mixture, and spread evenly. Cover and cook for 30 minutes on low. Cut the kookoo in 8 equal wedges. Carefully turn over the slices halfway through cooking using a fork and a spatula. You can also slice the kookoo after it is fully cooked. 

Serve warm or at room temperature with mast o khiar, salad shirazi, torshi and warm bread.

Enjoy!

Yalda Night (Winter Solstice) 2015 and Shami Haveej - Carrot Shami Kabab with Sweet & Sour Tomato Sauce

شب چله/شب یلدا Shab-e Yalda/Shab-e Chelleh, the ancient Persian celebration of the longest night, dates back thousands of years ago to the birth of میترا Mithra the god of light who was born on the eve of yalda (winter solstice). After the longest night of the year, the days will gradually become longer symbolizing the victory of light over darkness. The word یلدا yalda means birth in سریانی Syriac language and for Iranians, the eve of yalda is a time for the joyful celebration filled with poetry, music, and delicious food.  For me, celebrating the Iranian festival of light is a meaningful جشن jashn (festivity) perhaps because it was always celebrated in our home growing up in Iran. The night of yalda is a time to reflect and appreciate how our ancestors kept this tradition alive for several millennia. Looking at our history, I can only imagine how many of those shab-e yalda gatherings took place amid uncertainties, unrest, battles and frightening dark times. However, they did not succumb to the madness of their times and held on to the belief that light will prevail over darkness. It inspires us to light the candles on this night, serve the traditional winter fruits, nuts and sweets, read poetry, share happy memories and pass on the tradition to future generations.

Almost all of the dried autumn leaves in my yard have been raked and the grill cleaned and put away for the season. I'm going to miss the whole experience of outdoor cooking -- the taste and the smell of food cooked on an open fire outside. Perhaps on one or two occasions I'll brave the cold and pull out the grill from under the plastic covers and make some koobideh. kotlet, shami and kabab deegi are stove-top alternatives to grilled kababs although they can be cooked any time of year regardless of the season.

 شامی هویج (Carrot shami) is a favorite in our home. This shami kabab is made with chickpea flour or you can use mashed cooked chickpeas as well. Chickpea flour adds a nutty flavor to these meat patties and the shredded carrots add a little sweetness. This recipe can also be made with زردک zardak (parsnip) instead of carrots. Carrot shami may be simmered in a sweet and sour tomato sauce dressing and it's best served with rice. You can also add a handful of finely chopped herbs to the meat mixture for extra flavor and aroma.

Shami Haveej- Carrot Shami

Ingredients:
Makes about 16 patties

1 1/2 pounds ground beef, lamb, or turkey
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
3 tablespoons chickpea flour
1 large yellow onion, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Pinch of cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
Oil for frying

Ingredients for the sauce:

1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Water


Method:

• In a large bowl combine meat, carrots, chickpea flour, onion, garlic, eggs, turmeric, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly until well blended. 
• In a non-stick skillet or a cast-iron skillet heat 3 tablespoons of oil over medium heat.
• Take a handful of the meat mixture, shape it into a small ball, flatten it as the size of your palm and make a hole in the center with your finger. You can also make oval-shaped patties. 
• Fry the patties until the meat is nicely browned on both sides.
• In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the onions, saute until soft and golden. 
• Add the tomato paste and saute for a couple of minutes. 
• Add 2 cups of water, pomegranate molasses, sugar, salt, and pepper to taste.  Stir well and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, layer the shami kababs in the skillet. Cover and simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes, 

Serve warm or at room temperature with sabzi khordan, torshi, mast o khiar, and polow.

P.S. I'd like to take a moment here to say it's my seven-year blog anniversary and I would like to express many thanks and my deepest gratitude to my faithful readers and welcome to the new readers!

A collage of  past Yalda nights

Happy Shab-e Yalda! Happy Winter Solstice!

Ode to Choghondar (Beets) + Recipes for Laboo and Kookoo Barg-e Choghondar (Beet Greens)

One wintry day long ago, during one of our trips to Tehran, I remember accompanying my mother as she went all over town running errands and shopping. It was getting late and we were hurrying to get home before dark when my mother stopped at a دکه ی لبو فروشی - dakeh-ye laboo forooshi (street vendor stand selling beets). Many large, glazed purple/red beets were stacked neatly with some floating in their juice on a large tray. How do they make such simple and inexpensive street food so delicious? There must be an ancient secret recipe among the beet vendors in Iran - one that I would really love to get my hands on. Biting into a perfectly sweet, tender, and warm laboo in the snow after a seemingly endless day was especially gratifying. لبو/ چغندرپخته Choghondar pokhteh/Laboo (cooked beets) happens to be one of Iran's popular street foods throughout the winter months. And this recipe brings the cherished memories of my youth back home in Iran.

چغندر - Choghondar (beet) is highly nutritious, low in calories, quite versatile and has a gorgeous color. Beets can be thinly sliced or grated raw into salads, steamed, boiled, or baked. Beets can also be used in both sweet and savory dishes. Those who love the earthy taste of beets can enjoy them throughout the year since they're always available in the market.

I have tried various ways of preparing beets. The simplest one is to roast them until tender and just serve them plain. Beets have a very high sugar content and there's really no need to add any sugar/sweeteners. However, I am on a quest to achieve the delicious and flavorful taste of the laboo I had in Iran.

I like to add honey for sweetness to the dish. You can use table sugar, brown sugar, or honey, whichever you prefer and you can adjust the sweetness to your liking. In addition, adding a good squeeze of lemon juice will enhance the color as well as the flavor of beets. For this recipe, I peeled and sliced them before cooking. You can cook beets whole instead of slicing them. Just remember that beets stain everything and you may want to wear gloves while peeling and slicing them.

Laboo - Beets

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6 

4 medium-sized beets, trimmed, peeled, sliced
2 teaspoons white sugar or brown sugar or honey (I used raw unfiltered honey), use more if you like.
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Water

Optional garnish: chopped pistachios, sliced almonds

Method:

1. Place the beets in a large heavy saucepan. Add enough water to cover the slices by 2 inches, bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for about 30 minutes.
2. Add the lemon juice and honey, cover, and simmer over low heat for another 10-15 minutes or until beets are tender and glazed. Make sure there is some liquid left in the bottom of the pan.

To serve place the beets in a deep serving platter, pour 2-3 tablespoons of the remaining liquid over them. Sprinkle with almonds and pistachios and serve immediately as a side dish or snack.

Beetroot greens (leaves and stems) also have nutritional value and can be substituted into most recipes that call for spinach. It can be added to ash reshteh, kookoo sabzi, or even ghormeh sabzi for a great flavor variation. After I cooked the beets I decided it was about time to make a dish just using its greens, the under-appreciated and often discarded barg-e choghondar, and that's how this beautiful and delicious کوکوبرگ چغندر kookoo barg-e choghondar was created.

Kookoo Barg-e Choghondar - Beet Greens Kookoo (leaves and stems)

Ingredients:

Serves 4-6

2 cups beet leaves, chopped (I gave them a quick rough chop)

2 cups beet stems, chopped

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

4 eggs

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

A pinch of cumin *optional

A pinch of cayenne pepper *optional 

Vegetable oil

Method:

1. In a medium frying pan heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil, add onions, and saute over medium-high heat until light golden brown. Add turmeric powder and garlic, saute for another 2-3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove fried garlic and onion from oil, set aside.
2. In a large bowl whisk the eggs until well mixed.
3. Add the green beet leaves, red stems, fried onion, garlic, flour, salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne. Mix thoroughly.
4. In a large skillet heat 3 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat, gently pour in the mixture. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 35-40 minutes. There's no need to turn them over. This way they'll maintain their gorgeous color and fresh rustic look.

Serve warm or room temperature with warm bread, salad, mast o khiar, and torshi.

As I am sure many of you may already know, since I have already shared the news on my Facebook and Instagram page, I was recently chosen by Yahoo Food as their blogger of the week. The following three recipes: Zucchini and Yogurt Salad, Fesenjoon, and Khoresh-e Karafs were featured during the week along with a Q&A. I am truly honored and delighted.

Enjoy!

Father's Day Tribute - !کیک عشق - My Version of Persian Love Cake

A few years ago when I was just starting to blog about the food of my heritage, I came across an image of "Persian Love Cake," a chiffon cake with a few pink rose petals scattered about. My first reaction was: no way, how come I've never heard of this before?! Where was I all that time growing up in Iran when everyone else was eating کیک عشق - cake-e eshgh? After my initial surprise, I realized there was no need to worry and that this was a newly created concoction of aromatic and flavorful classic Persian ingredients. I figured since the combination of saffron, rose water, cardamom, and lemon zest transform a simple cake into a magical Persian love cake, then we Iranians have been consuming a whole lot of love for the past several centuries! I may have been taken aback by discovering that there's a Persian love cake, however, I wouldn't be surprised if Persian food, in general, were to be called a love cuisine! Much love goes into mastering the art of simmering stews into glorious deliciousness using fresh seasonal ingredients, putting just the right amount of salt, pepper and a few spices and steaming the rice to a fluffy perfection with a golden crunchy tahdig - crust. I can easily call salad shirazi a love salad, fesenjoon a love khoresh, or zereshk polow a love polow and I think, we should call it a love menu!

In addition to my passion for Persian food, which is clearly evident in this very personal blog of mine, I have also developed a passion for Persian poetry over the years. Persian poetry is as fragrant as drops of rose water in the air, colorful as saffron threads and flavorful as cardamoms in their pods. That's what you get when an Iranian food blogger writes about Persian poetry! Among many of the poems that I grew up with, there are a few that have made an everlasting impression on me and are my favorites. I am a firm believer that love is the power that connects and holds all the particles together in this world even in the darkest and most challenging times.

روزی که می گرفتند پیمان ز نسل آدم       عشق از میان ذرات در جست وجوی ما بود

~ غمام همدانی   

On the day of making a covenant with Adam's generation, "Love" among all other particles was looking for us.

My next favorite poem is a line from a tale in the book: منطق الطیر - The Conference of the Birds by Attar.  It is about an old woman who wanted to buy یوسف - Joseph when he was being sold to the highest bidder at a market in Egypt, having only a handful of yarns to offer. The old woman knowing that she couldn't afford Joseph replied to the merchant's ridicule:

لیک اینم بس که چه دشمن چه دوست       گوید این زن از خریداران اوست

~ عطار

This is enough for me that everyone, friend or foe, will say this woman was among his bidders.

The next poem or rather a line of a poem is by Hatef Esfahani known for his ghazals (ode) and tarji- band (recurrent verse) style of poetry. However, I would like to take the liberty to say that for me this poem stands alone by itself as the best of the best to describe the mood and the feeling of someone's love and devotion and it has to be read several times over and over to feel the rhythm and the beat embedded in the words. Perhaps, one day I'll come back to this post and write a translation for it but so far I am at a loss for words to capture the essence of it. Therefore, I'll leave it without the English translation. My sincere apologies.

تو کمان کشیده و در کمین که زنی به  تیرم و من غمین      همه ی غمم بود از همین که خدا نکرده خطا کنی 

~هاتف اصفهانی

I haven't written about my father as much as I have written about my mother. One reason could be that I didn't spend much time with him growing up or rather he didn't have much time to spend with us since he was always working so hard and was away from home. I was also long gone by the time he retired. I don't think I ever got a chance to know him completely and it's interesting that all I've learned about Baba's family history, childhood and upbringing was through my mother! Baba was a fairly quiet man who had suffered from many physical ailments throughout his life.

I clearly remember my last long-distance phone conservation with Baba right before his passing. I had gotten the terrible news about my father's deteriorating condition. Devastated, I called home and asked to have a few words with him even though I was told he couldn't speak coherently. Still, I needed to hear Baba's voice. I asked my mother to place the phone next to his ear and I started to plead with him to say something, anything, that I just wanted to hear him. His last few words were: work on your heart and polish it into a jam-e jahan nama (a crystal globe that reflects the world). These were Baba's last words, a short message of a self-realized life lesson that spoke volumes and showed me the depth of his love for his child on his last breath and for that alone I am forever indebted to him.

For this recipe I had a couple of options, the first one was the chiffon cake with rosewater icing and candied rose petals. The second option was a simple almond cake. I chose the second version simply because it tastes more like the kind of sweets I grew up with, no-frills and downright delicious. I've tweaked the recipe a little bit. Please see my Pinterest link for more Persian Love Cake recipes.

Persian Love Cake - کیک عشق پارسی

Ingredients
Serves 8

2 1/2 cups almond flour

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup strained yogurt

1 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

Zest of 1 lemon/lime

1 tablespoons rosewater

A pinch of salt

Powdered sugar for sprinkling

2-3 tablespoons chopped pistachios

1 tablespoon sliced almonds
1 teaspoon dried rose petals (crushed) 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. In a large mixing bowl combine almond flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, butter, and a pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly by hand or pulse it a few times in a food processor to mix well.
3. Generously butter the bottom and sides of an 8- inch round cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
4. Beat the eggs lightly and add to the remaining almond and sugar mixture. Add yogurt, lemon zest, cardamom, and rosewater. Mix all ingredients together until well blended.  
5. Pour the creamy mixture into the pan and using a small spatula smooth out the surface. 
6. Set the cake on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the center is set.
7. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan.
8. Transfer the cake onto a serving platter, sprinkle with powdered sugar, chopped pistachios, sliced almonds, and rose petals on top or however you want to decorate. It's your love cake! 
9. Serve with ice cream or fresh-cut fruit and chai.

Enjoy! Happy Father's Day!

Persian Love Cake 

My Baba and I