Dopiazeh Aloo

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:

1. 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.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes.
3. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan. Add the onions and fry over medium-high heat until soft. Add turmeric powder, stir. 
4. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes. 
5. 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!

Vegetarian Ghormeh Sabzi

Over the years I have received many requests for vegetarian recipes from my readers. I was somewhat hesitant to write vegetarian recipes because I believe that Iranian cuisine is vegetarian-friendly and has many vegetarian dishes. If you search my recipe index you'll see that there are many vegetarian options on my blog, such as bean-based dishes like Ash Reshteh, and the Seven-Bean Soup. There are also vegetable-based recipes such as Koo Koo Sabzi and Koo Koo Sibzamini. As for those polow and khoresh (rice and stew) recipes with meat, you can remove the meat, or with a little tweaking, you can easily adjust the recipes to your liking and enjoy many of the traditional Iranian meals while sticking to your vegetarian diet. Growing up in Iran, I only knew of a couple vegetarians around us. However, with the growing number of vegetarians/vegans and those cutting back on red meat (lamb, beef) for health reasons, some traditional recipes can be modified by substituting ingredients. 

I'm a firm believer in maintaining and preserving the integrity of traditional Iranian food and I am always reluctant to make any drastic changes to our traditional beloved recipes. I am so grateful to those culinary magicians of the past that created many timeless recipes to be enjoyed for generations to come. I wonder, if the inventors of ghormeh sabzi or fesenjoon, had any idea that their creations would surpass time and all borders and would be enjoyed by many for years to come.

For today's recipe, I decided to do my vegetarian version of this most beloved khoresh. There are a few simple options for customizing vegetarian ghormeh sabzi. The first option is to just omit the meat! The second option is to increase the amount of beans (red kidney beans or pinto beans) by 1/2 cup or more if you like. The third option is to replace the meat with tofu, tempeh, or seitan. However, my choice for a قورمه سبزی گیاهی ghormeh sabzi giahi (meat-free ghormeh sabzi) is using baby bella mushrooms for their brown color and meaty texture and flavor.

Vegetarian Ghormeh Sabzi

Ingredients:
Serving 4-6

1 cup dried red kidney beans or pinto beans, soaked overnight
10 oz baby bella mushrooms or large portabella, trimmed and cut into chunks or sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cups chopped fresh parsley
3 cups chopped leeks, or scallions or chives (tareh)
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup chopped fresh fenugreek or a tablespoon dried fenugreek
4-5 limoo amani (dried limes)
1 teaspoon turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of a lime
Vegetable oil/olive oil

Method:

1. In a large pot, add beans, cover with water by a couple of inches, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce the heat, cover, leaving the top a little ajar. Cook until beans are tender. 
2. Heat 1/3 cup vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chopped herbs for about 10-15 minutes or until their color changes. Stir frequently. Set aside.
3.  In a large stockpot, saute the chopped onions in 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil until golden brown. Add turmeric powder. Stir well.
4. Add the sauteed herbs, cooked beans, dried limes, salt, and pepper to the pot. Add water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat. Cover and cook on a low setting for 45 minutes.
5. In the meantime in a large pot heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until they have released most of their liquid. Remove the mushrooms from the pan, place them in a bowl and sprinkle with lime juice.
6. Add the mushrooms and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes on low heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add a little more water if needed.

Serve up the khoresh in a large bowl with rice, mast o khiar, and salad shirazi.

Enjoy!

Ash-e Jo - Barley Soup with Spinach and Cilantro: A Safavid Era Recipe

I was gifted an Iranian cookbook titled آشپزی دوره صفوی - Ashpazi Doreh-ye Safavi (Cooking during the Safavid Dynasty). This cookbook is a compilation of two separate books (Karnameh and Madat-al- Hayat) about cooking and recipes from the era of Shah Ismail I ( 1501-1524) and Shah Abbas I (1588-1629). According to the author, Iraj Afshar, many of the recipes in this book were dishes served at the Safavid royal court. The working-class people could barely afford most of these extravagant, elaborate, and time-consuming meals. I suspect that this book would appeal to those interested in the history of Iranian cuisine. While many of the recipes are not easy to read or easy to make, the instructions are vague, the servings are large and the correct measurement of ingredients is left to your imagination, it's wonderful to have a glimpse into the type of food people used to eat long ago.

On a personal note, I am very passionate about recreating old and forgotten recipes and have a deep desire to bring them back to life, I decided to try out one of the recipes and among the many recipes listed in the book, I came across a simple vegetarian barley soup with spinach and cilantro. I would think a warm bowl of barley soup would have appealed to the Safavid royal court as well as the working class people especially in the cold days of winter. I have written two other barley recipes in the past, Soup-e Jo and Ash-e Jo and this آش جو ash-e jo recipe would be a great addition to my barley recipes. I used this brief and loose ash recipe with vague directions and converted it into a usable recipe and I'm delighted to share it with you all. I tried to stay true to the original recipe and keep it as authentic as possible while coming up with my own measurements and proportions. Adding lime juice, butter/olive oil to the ash is simply a personal preference and you may skip it if you like.

Ash-e Jo - Barley Soup with Spinach and Cilantro
Ingredients:
Serves 4-6

1 cup barley
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup chopped spinach
A handful of almonds
Salt and pepper
Water
Freshly squeezed lime juice *optional
Butter/olive oil *optional

Method:

1. Place the raw almonds in a small bowl, cover with boiling water, let sit for a few minutes, remove the skins and let the almonds dry completely. You can use a food processor or a mortar and pestle to grind the almonds. Set aside.
2. Rinse barley under cool running water, drain, and place in a saucepan. Cover the barley with a couple of inches of water, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat, add 1/2 teaspoon salt. cover partially and simmer for 45 minutes or until tender.
3. Add the chopped cilantro, spinach, and ground almonds. Add more water if needed. Simmer on low heat for another 10-15 minutes.
4. Add 1-2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, stir well, taste, and adjust the seasoning.

Serve the ash in individual soup bowls and drizzle each serving with a generous squeeze of lime juice.

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!

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!

Ash-e Haft Daneh - Persian Seven Bean Hearty Soup - Mehregan Festival Recipe

Mehregan/Mehr is an ancient Iranian festival celebrating the start of the beautiful fall season. With its vibrant foliage, crisp days, and harvesting of crops, مهرگان (Mehregan) is traditionally celebrated a few days after the first day of fall (Autumnal Equinox) on the 10th day of  (Mehr) (the seventh month of the Iranian calendar). In the past, festivities would last for several days. Opinions about the exact date of Mehregan may differ since the historical records show that the date has been changed a few times throughout history. The wordمهر "Mehr" in Mehregan means 'sun, kindness, love and friendship' in Persian. جشن مهرگان Jashn-e Mehregan is attributed to Mithra/Mehr, the goddess of the sun and brightness and also the angelic divinity of friendship, justice and oath dating back to the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism. One of the most valuable lessons of prophet Zartosht (Zoroaster), that is still cherished today, is his teachings of good thoughts, good words and good deeds.

Mithra Slaying the bull, Metropolitan Museum of Art

It's also believed that Mehregan marks the triumph of Kaveh Ahangar, the blacksmith who fought the tyrant king Zahak and defeated him, saving the people from his brutal reign which resulted in the crowning of Fereydun as king in the epic Shahnameh (Book of Kings), written by the great Persian poet Ferdowsi. Therefore, Mehregan is also considered a day when good destroys evil, a common thread in many old Iranian fables.

 Freydun defeats Zahak

Growing up, my family celebrated Nowruz (Persian New Year) and Yalda (the longest night) every year more grand than the year before. However, I don't have any recollection of any Mehregan celebrations. I can't think of a particular reason why we didn't celebrate Mehregan at home other than perhaps the timing of it being inconvenient for my parents. The first day of fall is the first day of school in Iran. My guess is that for my parents having to deal with a bunch of kids and getting each of us ready for school must have been overwhelming enough around that time of year! And so when the dust was settled Mehregan had come and went. Now, more than ever, I'm passionate about paying a long overdue ode to this centuries-old Iranian festival for the purpose of introducing it to my children as well as others and preserving it for future generations. Plus, we can always use a little more mehr, light and good cheer in our lives. This festival also serves as a necessary reminder that similar to how the struggles and efforts of Kaveh Ahangar came to fruition beautifully, we too can overcome our personal challenges and obstacles.

Food is an integral part of most celebrations and Mehregan is no exception. On this date, fresh fruits such as grapes, pomegranate, apples, quince, figs and persimmon were served along with an assortment of nuts, dried fruits, sweets and rosewater. In my research for a Mehregan main dish I came across the  آش هفت غله - Ash-e Haft Daneh (seven bean soup) in a few written records of a typical mehregan feast. And in my quest for preserving traditions I decided to recreate this recipe which was perhaps once served on our ancestral sofreh (spread).

I chose to call it a seven bean soup but this is more than just a soup and it's more than just beans.
آش هفت دانه - Ash-e haft daneh is a combination of beans, seeds, whole wheat and some vegetables. The main ingredients in the original recipe were listed as wheat, barley, rice, chickpeas, lentils, mung beans and millet. There are many different variations of this traditional ash (stew/soup). You can make this soup with lamb shank or lamb/beef stock and add vegetables such as parsley, cilantro, chives/leeks, spinach and dill. However, since this is a hearty and flavor-packed soup I didn't think adding any kind of meat was necessary. Also, it is not loaded with vegetables like ash-e reshteh and it does not have noodles either. I replaced millet and mung beans with two other kinds of beans and used tomatoes for added flavor.

Ash-e Haft Daneh

Ingredients:
Serves 8

1/2 cup chickpeas
1/2 cup pinto beans
1/2 cup white beans
1/2 cup lentils
1/2 cup pearl barley
1/2 cup bulgur
1/3 cup rice
2 large tomatoes, grated
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 bunch chives or scallions/leeks, chopped
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
Juice of a lemon
Water

For Topping:

Piaz Dagh:
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon dried mint
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Oil

Liquid kashk (whey) or yogurt

Method:

1. Place the chickpeas, pinto beans, white beans and barley in a large bowl, rinse, add a quart of water, soak for six hours.
2. Drain and place in a large pot.
3. Rinse the rice, lentils and bulgur and add to the pot.
4. Add water to cover by at least two inches, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat, cook for one hour over medium-low heat.
5. Add the grated tomatoes with their juices to the pot. 
6. Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions, saute for 20 minutes until golden, add the garlic and turmeric and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add the dried mint, saute for an additional minute or two. 
7. Add parsley, chives and 1/2 of the sauteed onions to the pot. Add salt and pepper. Cover and cook for another 45-50 minutes on low heat or until the beans are all very tender. Add lemon juice toward the end of cooking. Add more water if needed and adjust the seasoning.

Ladle ash into a serving bowl and top with kashk and fried onion. Serve hot with warm bread and yogurt.

A group of Iranian food bloggers have prepared delicious recipes to celebrate the ancient Persian Festival of Mehregan. Please check out the following links:

Mehregan 2014 Round Up:

Ahu Eats: Badoom Sookhte Torsh
All Kinds of Yum: Jeweled Carrot Salad
Bottom of the Pot: Broccoli Koo Koo
Cafe Leilee: Northern Iranian Pomegranate Garlic and Chicken Stew
Coco in the Kitchen: Zeytoon Parvardeh
Della Cucina Povera: Ghormeh Sabzi
Family Spice: Khoreshteh Kadoo | Butternut Squash Stew
Fig & Quince: Festive Persian Noodle Rice & Roasted Chicken Stuffed with Yummies 
for Mehregan
Honest and Tasty: Loobia Polo | Beef and Green Bean Rice
Lab Noon: Adas Polo Risotto
Lucid Food: Sambuseh
Marjan Kamali: Persian Ice Cream with Rosewater and Saffron
My Caldron: Anaar-Daneh Mosamma | Pomegranate Stew
My Persian Kitchen: Keshmesh Polow | Persian Raisin Rice
Noghlemey: Parsi Dal Rice Pie
Parisa's Kitchen: Morasa Polow | Jeweled Rice
Sabzi: Ash-e Mast, Yogurt Soup with Meatballs
The saffron Tales: Khoresht-e Gheimeh
Simi's Kitchen: Lita Turshisi | Torshi-e Liteh | Tangy aubergine pickle
Spice Spoon: Khoresht-e-bademjaan
The Unmanly Chef: Baghali Polow ba Mahicheh 
ZoZoBaking: Masghati

روز مهر  و ماه مهر و جشن فرخ مهرگان 

مهر بفزا ای نگارماه چهر مهربان 

مهربانی کن به جشن مهرگان و روز مهر

مهربانی کن به روز مهر و جشن مهرگان  

  

مسعود سعد سلمان ~

Happy Mehr & Happy Mehregan!

Estamboli Polow - Persian Tomato Rice with Potatoes

This recipe is perfect all year round since most pantries are always stocked with fresh tomatoes and canned tomato products. However, I waited for the weather to warm up and for the peak tomato season to arrive to hopefully cook with vine-ripened tomatoes and not the dull and tasteless tomatoes that are picked green. This recipe is loosely based on my grandmother's recipe who was known for her delicious cooking. For a more tart استامبولی پلو - estamboli polow recipe, I searched the vegetable markets for a good torsh (tangy) tomato but to no avail. Among all the different varieties of tomatoes that were available, I settled on the beefsteak tomatoes due to their great flavor. I prefer outdoor cooking in the hot summer months and try to minimize my standing in the kitchen as much as I can but this tomato rice is a perfect summer dish that goes well with grilled chicken, fish, or vegetables.

There are many recipes for estamboli polow from plain tomato rice to a platter of rice complete with meat and green beans, depending on what part of the country you are from and how this was prepared in your home. For us, growing up in Khuzestan, estamboli meant کته تماته/گوجه فرنگی - kateh-ye tamate which is slow-cooked rice in tomato puree with the addition of small cubed potatoes using the long and narrow type of potato called estamboli in Iran. For a simpler estamboli you can even make it without adding the cubed potatoes. If you prefer a less acidic dish you can skip the tomato paste. Ultimately, it depends on your taste, diet, and food restrictions.

Estamboli Polow

Ingredients:
Serves 4

2 cups long-grain rice, rinsed well, and drained
7 ripe medium tomatoes, blanched and peeled
6 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small onion, diced
1-2 tablespoons organic tomato paste (for added color and a bit of an extra sour flavor) *optional
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
A good pinch of crushed red pepper
Salt
Vegetable oil or butter
Water

Method:

1. In a pot of boiling water blanch, the tomatoes for 5 minutes or until the skin comes off. Let cool, remove the skin, core the tomatoes, and puree using a food processor. Yields about four cups.
2. In a medium bowl wash the rice thoroughly until completely clean, drain completely. 
3. In a mixing bowl combine the well-drained rice with the tomato puree, mix well and let it soak for 20-30 minutes before cooking the rice. Do not drain.
4. In a large pan, heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat, add the onions, cook until golden. 
5. Add the potatoes, cook for about 5-7 minutes or until golden on all sides. add turmeric and a pinch of salt. Stir well.
6. Push the potatoes to the side and add the tomato paste in the center of the pan and cook for about 5 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring frequently using a wooden spoon until it changes color. 
7. Remove the pan away from the heat source, add the rice and tomato mixture to the pot, add 1/4 cup of water, 1 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of red pepper, stir well.
8. Return the pan to heat and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, add 1-2 tablespoons of butter or oil. Stir. Reduce the heat, cover the lid with a paper towel or a clean dishcloth, close the lid tightly and cook on low heat for 40 minutes. Overcooking and adding too much water make the rice too mushy.

Serve with plain yogurt or  mast o khiar, sabzi khordan with a bunch of fresh mints, and salad shirazi.

Enjoy!

Torshi Liteh - Persian Pickled Eggplant and Vegetables with Sibzamini Torshi (Sunchokes)

ترشی - Torshi (pickle) is a very common side dish in Persian cuisine served alongside rice and khoresh, kebobs and other traditional dishes. I have posted several of my favorite pickle recipes so far, such as pickled eggplant and pickled vegetables, among others.  لیته - Liteh is a combination of pickled eggplant with a few other vegetables and herbs. For this recipe, I'm thrilled to have finally found  سیب زمینی ترشی - sibzamini torshi (pickling potato), also known as یارالماسی - yaralmasy in Iran. Sibzamini torshi, which is called sunchokes/Jerusalem chokes, is a member of the sunflower family and is not related to artichokes nor is it from Jerusalem. For further information, please check out the following link on sunchokes.

A few years ago, I asked my younger brother, who lives in Iran, to send me a picture of the sibzamini torshi that's cultivated in Iran. I didn't want to forget what they looked like. It wasn't until recently that, after leaving my dentist's office, I walked into the Whole Foods market across the street, and there among the neat and organized fresh vegetables was a small box of sunchokes. They looked a lot like ginger roots and they came in different shapes and sizes. I was so excited to have finally found what I was looking for and I figured they would make a nice addition to torshi liteh by adding

a nutty flavor and a bit of a crunch.

 If you are unable to find sunchokes in any vegetable markets, just leave them out since liteh is traditionally made without them. For this recipe, you can use grilled eggplant instead of having it simmered in vinegar. If you use grilled eggplant, remove the skin, slice it, and combine it with all the other ingredients. For the herbs, you can use fresh herbs if you prefer. I used dried herbs since I didn't have enough time after washing to lay them out to dry completely.

Torshi Liteh

Ingredients:

5 medium eggplants, stemmed, sliced lengthwise (I didn't remove the skin, you can if you prefer)
4-5 sunchokes, peeled, cubed
2 large carrots, peeled, cubed
2 celery stalks, diced small
1 small head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 medium green bell pepper, cleaned, cubed
5-7 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons dried tarragon
2 tablespoons dried mint
2 tablespoons dried savory
2 tablespoons dried dill
2 tablespoons dried basil

1 tablespoon crushed golpar (angelica)
1 tablespoon siah daneh (nigella seeds)
1 tablespoon crushed tokhm-e geshniz (coriander seeds)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 small whole dried red pepper, crushed (or more to taste)
Salt
White vinegar

Method:

1. Pour 1 cup of vinegar and a cup of water into a non-reactive saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat, add the turmeric, eggplant, and 1 teaspoon of salt, then reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
2. Remove the eggplant and place it in a colander to drain.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggplant, sunchokes, carrots, celery, cauliflower, bell pepper, garlic, herb mix, spices, and 3 teaspoons salt. Mix well.
4. Pack the torshi into the clean and dried jars, pressing down, and pour the vinegar over them up to about 1 inch from the top. Close the jars tightly and pickle for 10-12 days.

Enjoy!

Persian Saffron Butternut Squash Dessert and My 5 Year Blogging Anniversary

Five years ago, on a typical cold day in December, I created my little blog. The whole idea of a Persian food blog- its name and format swept over me like a Fall breeze and snowballed into a heightened sense of urgency and passion and that's when "Turmeric and Saffron" were born. I began my new blog with borani esfenaj, a favorite of mine, followed by other amazing Persian recipes such as ash reshteh, loobia polow, and ghormeh sabzi, in that month alone. All I wanted to do was write my mother's recipes and about my memories of growing up in Iran. Now, five years later, my blog has an archive of more than one hundred and seventy Persian recipes that are not only my mother's but from all over the country. I am utterly surprised and deeply grateful that I have continued blogging this far. I am grateful that through blogging I found solace and was able to hone my cooking skills in the kitchen and through this experience I have developed my own culinary style. I came to appreciate Persian cuisine more than I ever have and I have become a firm believer that authentic Persian cuisine must be preserved and remain as intact as possible. Now, I am an enthusiastic cook who has discovered the joy of photography as well. Throughout this process, I have also had the great pleasure of getting to know many wonderful and supportive blog readers and fellow bloggers.

I write so much about my mother and so to balance the attention I give to the memories of my parents on this blog I am going to share one of my favorite photos of Baba. The image below is of his bicycle license that was issued in the city of Abadan, Iran more than seventy years ago. I remember him saying that one of the tests required him to ride his bike over a large figure 8 that was drawn on the ground without getting out of line!

To celebrate my fifth year of blogging I chose to make دسر کدو حلوایی - butternut squash dessert, which is great to make while they are still in season. For this dessert, you'll need to buy butternut squash with a long neck. I have grown to know this recipe as a dessert from Hamedan which is where my mother was from. However, she lived most of her adult life in Khuzestan and I am not certain which culinary experience was more dominant in her cooking or if both had influenced her equally. While I too have moved away from my birthplace, my roots remain where I was born. I traveled, moved to a different continent, went about my life, and started my own family but my roots remain intact and have reached the water level in the dried lands of Khuzestan where it was planted.

For an added flavor and a southern touch you may make this dessert with شیره خرما - date syrup or for a Hamedani-style pumpkin dessert you may use شیره انگور - grape syrup as a sweetener instead of using the regular sugar.

Saffron Butternut Squash Dessert

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6

1 large butternut squash with long-neck, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick (will yield approximately 15 slices)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar (adjust to your liking)
1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron dissolved in 2-3 tablespoons of hot water

Garnish:

1 tablespoon pistachios, slivered or chopped
2 tablespoons walnut halves or crushed

Method:

1. In a large frying pan, heat butter, and oil, over medium heat. Add the butternut squash slices to the pan. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until just tender.
2. In a small pot, over medium heat combine sugar and a cup of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for another 5 minutes. 
3. Arrange the butternut squash slices in a large pan, pour the syrup and saffron evenly over them. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, leave the lid ajar and cook 20-30 minutes or until the butternut squash is tender and all syrup is absorbed.

Serve on the platter and garnish with walnuts and pistachios.

Enjoy!