Khoresh Kadoo Halvaie - Persian Beef and Pumpkin Stew

One of the beauties of fall is the abundance of many varieties of winter squashes that come in different shapes, sizes, and colors. I typically use butternut squash for its flavor and color in my cooking however this time I chose to use کدو حلوایی - kadoo halvaie, the vibrant orange small sugar pumpkin that is both beautiful and delicious. It is the same kind of pumpkin my mother used to roast in the oven back in Iran and now when I cook it still has the overwhelmingly familiar taste of home. Orange is a joyous color and pumpkins are nature's gift; a free dose of color therapy on these gray, short and gloomy autumn days. I'm thankful to my lovely neighbors for leaving out all these gorgeous pumpkins on their front porches early on in the fall season until they eventually become food for the squirrels. There are a ton of sweet pumpkin dessert recipes out there. However, pumpkins are also delicious in savory dishes as well. خورش کدو حلوایی - Khoresh-e kadoo is a ملس - malas (sweet and sour) fall-flavored dish that will warm your heart.

I'm often asked if there are any Persian vegetarian or vegan recipes. Most people may not think of Persian cuisine as vegetarian/vegan-friendly and only think of کباب - Kabobs when they think of Iranian food. Or there may not be many obvious vegetarian dishes on restaurant menus. However, many types of fresh vegetables are served raw or cooked as a side dish. Just to give you a sample check out this link to my vegetarian recipes. As for vegan recipes, I'd like to point out that you can easily omit the meat in many stew recipes that call for stewing lamb/beef, except for the traditional آبگوشت abgoosht/dizi varieties, and still have a delicious and fulfilling meal.

I added a handful of آلو بخارا - aloo bokhara (dried yellow plums) to the stew toward the end of cooking. They may be found in most Persian/Middle Eastern grocery stores. If not, you can substitute them with prunes instead. Typically, potatoes and carrots are not a part of the authentic version of this khoresh but they make the stew more rich and flavorful without changing the overall taste. I also like to add a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon. جوزهندی - Nutmeg is not a commonly used spice in Iranian cooking but in our home, it was one of the spices that my mother cherished and she always kept some in her little glass spice jars.

Khoresh Kadoo Halvaie

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6

1 1/2 pounds boneless beef or lamb stew meat, cut into small bite-sized pieces
1 1/2 pounds peeled, seeded, and cubed pumpkin or butternut squash
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 large tomato, peeled, chopped
1 medium carrot, sliced *optional
1 large potato, peeled, cubed *optional
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (8 ounces) can tomato sauce, organic
1 cup aloo bokhara (dried plums), pitted
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
Juice of 1 lemon (use more if you prefer)
1 tablespoon table sugar or brown sugar (use less if you prefer)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Vegetable oil

Method:

1. In a large skillet heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil, add pumpkin and saute lightly for about 7 minutes.
2. Stir in cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and a dash of salt. Cook for another 5 minutes. Set aside. 
3. In a large pan heat 3 tablespoons of oil, add sliced onions, and saute over medium-high heat until golden. Add minced garlic and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the turmeric powder, stir and mix well.
4. Add beef and cook until brown on all sides, stirring occasionally.
5. Add chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add water to cover all ingredients by about an inch, mix well. Bring to a boil on high heat, lower the heat, cover and cook over medium heat for about 45 minutes or until tender.
6. Add the sauteed pumpkins, potato, and carrots to the stew. Add a little bit of water if necessary. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes over low heat. Add in the plums, lemon juice, and sugar. Stir well, taste and adjust the seasoning, simmer for another 10-15 minutes. 

Serve hot with rice, mast o khiar, and sabzi khordan.

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!

Moraba-ye Kadoo Halvaie - Persian Pumpkin Jam

I have always wanted to make مربای کدو حلوایی - pumpkin jam but for one reason or another, I never got around to it. One reason was knowing that my modified version of this recipe wouldn't turn out as good as my grandmother's. I always knew that I had big shoes to fill when it came to cooking. My paternal grandmother who we called Khanoum Ahvazi (lady from Ahvaz) was known for her delicious jams, pickles, and khiar shoor (pickled cucumbers). All her food looked and tasted amazing. Khanoum's pumpkin jam was different from any other ordinary jam; the pumpkin pieces were somewhat transparent, crisp, and slightly crunchy on the outside but soft and perfectly sweet on the inside.

What made the pumpkin pieces glass-like and crunchy was the use of آب آهک calcium oxide. I have been told that it's safe to use in food preparation if the directions are followed carefully. I imagine that my grandmother used her mother's recipe and that's how they all made this delicious pumpkin jam. However, since I am an advocate for non-chemical cooking I didn't want to use calcium oxide or any other kind of chemical in my cooking. Therefore, this recipe is not the exact same as my grandmother's. Not only did I not use the required calcium oxide solution, which was one of the key ingredients in this recipe, I essentially made this jam-based solely on the memory that I had of its taste, texture, color and nostalgic feelings for this childhood favorite. After making four different batches to get the pumpkin jam just right, I can finally say that I am pleased with the results and that this is also a healthier version.

Moraba-ye Kadoo Halvaie - Pumpkin Jam

Ingredients:
Yields: approximately 5 cups

2 1/2 pounds pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and cubed
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons lime juice
3-4 cardamom pods
2 tablespoons rosewater

Method:

1. In a small, heavy-bottomed pan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved in water, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes or until the syrup slightly thickens. Set aside.
2. Put the pumpkin cubes into a large pot, pour the syrup over it and add the lime juice and cardamom.
3. Bring to a boil for 5-7 minutes on medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, placing the lid slightly open (ajar). Cook for an hour or until they are very soft, gently stirring occasionally.
4.  Add the rosewater in the last 10-15 minutes. You may want to remove the cardamom pods from the jam after cooking.
5. Scoop the jam into clean and dry jars and store the jam in a cool dark place or refrigerate.

Enjoy!