Adasi (Lentil Soup)

If you’re wondering what else you can do with lentils, this post is for you. This is a simple dish to make and very yummy.

Ingredients (4-6 servings):
2.5-3 cups lentils
1 large onion - finely chopped
salt/pepper
turmeric
lemon juice (optional) — just a small amount
Golpar (ground angelica) — desired amount sprinkled on top
oil
4-5 cups water –may need to add more water
Directions:
Wash and soak the lentils for a few hours prior to cooking.
Fry the onions in oil in a large pot until they become golden in color (set burner to medium heat). Rinse the lentils and then add them to the pot and stir in with the onions. Add some turmeric, salt, and pepper. Add enough water to cover the lentils completely.
Place the lid on the pot and all the lentils to completely cook. If desired add some lemon juice.
Once the Adasi is ready to be served you can spring some Golpar on top.

KHORESHT MAST ESFAHANI

     "Beef Yogurt"

• 1/4 lb (113g) Beef Neck
• 5 Tbsp Plain Yogurt
• 1/4 Tsp Saffron
• 1 Small Onion
• Turmeric
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 1/2 Cup Sugar

PREPARATIONS:

1- Soak the zafran (saffron) in boiling water for 30 minutes.
2- Boil 3-4 Cups of water.

DIRECTIONS:

1- Place the beef in a pot. Cut the onion in half and put it in the pot.
2- Add turmeric and pour in boiling water until it covers the beef, cover the pot with a lid.
3- Simmer the pot over low heat for 45 minutes (until beef is fully cooked).
4- Shred and mash the beef with a hand blender.
5- Beat the egg yolk in a pot.
6- Add the sugar (1/2 cup) to the pot and stir.
7- Add 5 tbsp of plain yogurt (Add more yogurt if the mixture is still thick) and blend thoroughly until well mixed.
8- Heat the pot over low heat and keep stirring.
9- Continue stirring until the mixture becomes creamy.
10- Add the mashed beef to the pot and continue stirring until well mixed.
11- Add the saffron to the pot and continue stirring until well blended.
12- Leave the mixture at room temperature until it cools down then place it in the refrigerator.
13- Serve cold. Decorate with pistachios and dried barberries.

Shir Berenj - Persian Rice Pudding

Serves 6-8

• 1 cup rice (ideally the best rice you have, i.e. Basmati)
• 3 cups whole milk (skim or lowfat will do in a bind)
• 3 cardamom pods (don't sub ground cardamom, as it will darken the pudding's color)
• 1 tablespoon slivered pistachios (for garnish - optional)
• 1/2 - 1 cup sugar (optional - we prefer it without - your call.)

1. Wash the rice (rinsing it a few times until the water runs clear) and drain.
2. Transfer rice to a pot along with 1 cup of milk, 1 cup water, salt and cardamom pods. Bring to a gentle boil, then lower the heat and cook, covered, for approximately 10-15 minutes (or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice grains are tender.)
3. Add the remaining 2 cups of milk to the cooked rice. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer (stirring gently and frequently) for approximately 20 minutes until the mixture has thickened.
4. Remove from heat. Pick out the cardamom pods and discard. Pour shir berenj in a big serving bowl or in individual bowls and allow to cool. Garnish to your taste as desired. Once cool, chill in refrigerator.

Tahchin Morgh (CHICKEN)

• 1.5 Cups Rice
• 1 Small Onion
• 1/2 lb (226g) Boneless Chicken
• 1 Tsp Zafran (saffran)
• Salt, Ground Chili Pepper
• 1/4 Cup Oil
• 4 Egg Yolks
• 10 oz (283g) Plain Yogurt
• 3 Tbsp Dried Barberries (Zereshk)

PREPARATIONS:

1- Soak the rice with 2 tsp salt for an hour in a pot.
2- Slice the onion.
3- Soak the zafran for 20 minutes.
4- beat the egg until fluffy.

DIRECTIONS:

1- Put the onions into a pot.
2- Lay the chicken pieces on top of the onions.
3- Add some salt and fill the pot with boiling water until it covers the chickens.
4- Put the lid on the pot and let it simmer for 20 Minutes.
5- Take the cooked chicken pieces out of the pot (keep the water in the pot, you will need it in step 19) and slice them in smaller pieces.
5- Bring the soaked rice pot to the boiling and continue simmering until the rice becomes tender.
6- Drain the rice in a colander.
7- Pour 10 oz of plain yogurt in a bowl.
8- Add half of the beaten egg yolks, ground chili pepper and 1 tbsp of the soaked zafran(saffron) to the bowl and mix them together.
9- Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix up with the egg yolk mixture.
10- Take another pot and add 2 tbsp vegetable oil.
11- Add the rest of the beaten egg yolks to this pot.
12- Add 2 tbsp of the egg yolk mixture (step 8) to the pot.
13- Add 2 tbsp of the drained rice to the pot.
14- Stir until well mixed.
15- Flat the mixture, take the chicken pieces out of the bowl and put them in the pot on top of the mixture.
16- Add 3 tbsp dried barberries (Zereshk).
17- Add the rest of the rice to the pot.
18- Flat and spread the rice across the pot but don't mix with the mixture.
19- Now take the egg yolks mixture bowl (step 8) add 1/4 vegetable oil, and 2 tbsp of the zafran (saffron), and pour the boiled water (left from the onion and chicken's pot) into the bowl until it covers the mixture and mix thoroughly.
20- Back to the rice pot, again put pressure on the rice and press down using a large spoon (as shown in the video 3:13) and pour the rest of the egg yolk mixture on top of the rice.
21- Cover the pot with the lid and let it simmer for 120 minutes over low heat.

Kotlet

Ingredients: (6 servings)
lean ground lamb or beef, 500 grams
small potatoes, 500 grams
medium eggs, 3-4
medium onions, 2-3
chopped parsley, 2 spoons
bread crumbs, one cup
cooking oil
Salt
Black pepper

Directions:
Boil potatoes for 15-20 minutes over high heat until they soften,
then peel and mash them. Peel and grate onions. Add to potatoes
with eggs, salt, black pepper, parsley, and meat. Mix well until
the mix is quite even.

Remove balls from the mix about 4-5 cm in diameter. Spread bread
crumbs on a flat surface. Roll each ball in bread crumbs until
it is fully covered. Shape the ball into an ellipse with a
thickness of 1 cm.

Heat up cooking oil in a frying pan. Fry each kotlet over medium
heat on both sides until golden. Serve with parsley, sliced
tomatoes, and flat bread.

source: anvari

kookoo sabzi recipe

Ingredients: (4 servings)

vegetables (parsley, dill, coriander, lettuce, spring onion ends), 1 kg
eggs, 4 large
barberry (optional), one spoon
crushed walnut (optional), one spoon
baking soda, one teaspoon
wheat flour, one spoon
cooking oil
salt
black pepper

Directions:

Wash vegetables and rinse thoroughly. Chop finely and fry in oil for
about 5 minutes. Let cool completely.
Beat eggs well, then add baking soda, salt, black pepper, flour,
barberry and walnuts. Add vegetables and mix well.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan until it is hot. Pour in the mix,
flatten the surface with the back of a spoon, and place the lid on.
Reduce heat and fry for about 10 minutes, until kookoo is cooked
under. Cut radially into 4 equal pieces, turn over, and fry for
another 10 minutes.


source: anvari

Ghotaab Recipe

Ingredients

medium eggs, two yogurt, 100 grams cooking oil, 100 grams flour, 150 grams baking powder, one teaspoon almonds, 250 grams (0.55 lbs) fine sugar, 150 grams cardamom powder, one spoonful

Method

Separate egg-yolks and mix well with baking powder, cooking oil and yogurt. Add flour gradually while stirring the mix. Pour the dough in a plastic bag and leave for 1-2 hours. Peel and ground almonds. Mix well with sugar and cardamom powder. Spread some flour on a table-top. Make orange-sized balls from the dough. Flatten the ball on the table-top to a thickness of 0.5 cm using a roller. Cut circles into the dough with a cup. Place some of the almond-sugar mix at the center of each circle. Bring the edges of the circle together and press to close completely. Fry in pre-heated oil until colour changes. Drain the excess oil, then roll in fine sugar. source: persianrecipes.

Khoresht Fesenjaan

Ingredients: (6 servings)

Chicken pieces, 1-1.5 kgs
Ground walnuts, 500 grams
3-4 onions
Pomegranate juice, 3-4 glasses (or 4-5 spoons of pomegranate paste)
Sugar, 2-3 spoons
1/2 cup of cooking oil
Salt

Directions:

Peel onions and slice thinly. Fry in oil until slightly golden. Wash chicken
pieces and fry in onions until color changes. Add 3 glasses of hot water
and bring to boil. Turn heat down and let boil slowly for about 30 minutes
adding more hot water if needed.

Add salt, ground walnuts and pomegranate juice or paste (if using
pomegranate paste, add 2 more glasses of hot water and bring to
slow boil). If pomegranate juice or paste is sour, add some sugar
to the khoresht.

Care should be taken to cook the khoresht long enough so that the oil in
walnuts comes out and the mix becomes quite thick. Khoresht fesenjan should
be served with white rice.


source: .anvari

Ab-Goosht

Ingredients

2 lamb shanks
4 lamb necks
2 medium onions
1/2 cup chickpeas, soaked over night
1/2 cup white beans, soaked over night
1 tsp turmeric
2 Persian limes
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tomatoes
3 potatoes
2 tsp cinnamon
salt & pepper

Wash and pat dry meat. Season with salt and pepper.

 Rough chop onions and place in a heavy pot.Add meat on top.

 

Make a hole in the Persian Limes and add to the pot along with the beans. Add turmeric, cinnamon, and 9 cups of water. Cover and cook on medium for 2 hours. If you forgot to soak your beans overnight see this tutorial on How to Quick Soak Beans.
During this time period make sure to check the pot and remove any foam that might surface. I was fortunate there was no foam on mine.

Add tomato paste and mix well. Then add fresh tomatoes.
Add potatoes and adjust seasoning.  You will need a good amount of salt due to the beans and potatoes.  Cover and cook everything for another hour.

Once done, place a colander over a bowl. Remove meat and place in colander.  Separate meat from the bones and discard bones. Some like to remove the morrow from the bones and add it to the soup or meat. Up to you if you want to do that or not!
 Empty the content of the pot in the colander.

 Return the broth to the pot and adjust seasoning if needed.  With the meat masher mash meat, beans, potatoes, and tomatoes.

 This is how your end product should look like once the solids have been mashed. Taste for seasoning and add more if needed.
The mashed meat and soup are served separately.
The soup is eaten first. To kick up the soup a notch many put a few pieces of Persian bread in it. It’s simply divine!
The mashed meat is enjoyed with Sabzi, Persian herbs, fresh lime, and bread.
I have to confess that the Sous Chef didn’t particularly care for this dish. I secretly rejoiced because this meant that I was going to have the leftovers all to myself! I enjoyed every bite of it!!!

  source: mypersiankitchen

Khoresht Gheymeh (Split Yellow Peas)

(Stew Recipe)

• 1 Cup Split Yellow Peas
• 2 dried limes
• 1 Lb (453g) Ground Beef
• Vegetable Oil
• Cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp Rose Water
• 2 Onions
• Salt, Turmeric, Ground Chili Pepper
• Persian spice mix (Advieh)
  
• 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1 Small Potato
• 1/4 Zafran (saffron)

PREPARATIONS:

1- Grate the Onion.
2- Soak Zafran (Saffron) In boiling water for 30 minutes.
3- Soak the dried limes in boiling water for 20 minutes.
4- Dice an Onion.
5- Slice the potato.

DIRECTIONS:

1- Fry the split yellow peas in vegetable oil in a pot, stir well and let it fry for few minutes.
2- Pour boiling water into the pot until it covers the split yellow peas, then cover the pot with the lid and let it simmer for 10 minutes over medium heat.
3- Pour the grated onions in a large bowl and add the ground beef to it, then add some salt, black pepper and Persian Spice mix (advieh) (as you prefer), and mix the mixture thoroughly.
4- Shape the ground beef mixture into small meatballs.
5- In a small pot, dip fry the diced onions in vegetable oil until translucent, then add turmeric, ground chili pepper, Persian Spice mix (advieh) and Tomato paste to it and stir.
6- Add the meatballs to the fried onion's pot to fry along.
7- Add the Split yellow peas to the pot, stir and pour boiling water until it covers the mixture.
8- Add the Cinnamon to the mixture.
9- Make holes in the dried limes and add it to the pot.
10- Add the Zafran (saffron) and the rose water to the pot, stir and cover the pot with the lid and continue simmering for 15 minutes.
11- Add the fried potato (Chips) when serve in plate.

source: aashpazi

Adas Polo (Polow) Recipe

Ingredients

lentils, 400 grams long-grain or basmati rice, 500 grams (1.1 lbs) ground beef or lamb, 400 grams dates (pitted), 100 grams raisins, 120 grams saffron, 1/2 teaspoon onions, 2 large cooking oil salt black pepper

Method

Soak rice in water for 3-4 hours, then cook in salted water for 10-15 minutes using a non-stick pot until it just softens. Drain water and empty the pot. Bring 2-3 cups of water to boil. Wash lentil and add to water with a bit of salt. Cook over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes until tender. Peel and thinly slice onions. Fry in oil until slightly golden. Add ground beef or lamb, salt and black pepper, and fry over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add one cup of hot water and cook until water has been mostly absorbed. Wash raisins and dates. Pour 1/2 cup of water and some oil in the non-stick pot. Pour in half of the rice. Follow with meat, lentil, raisins, dates and raisins. Then add in remainder of rice. Cook over low heat for about 20 minutes. Dissolve saffron in 1/3 cup of hot water and pour over the rice. Mix well before serving. source:persianrecipes

Aash-e Aaloo Recipe

Ingredients basmati or long-grain rice, 100 grams (0.22 lbs) herbs (parsley, mint, coriander, spring-onion ends), 500 grams (1.1 lbs) ground lamb or beef, 250 grams (0.55 lbs) pitted prunes, 300 grams onions, 4 large cooking oil salt black pepper Method Soak prunes in warm water for two hours. Peel and slice two onions and fry in oil until slightly golden. Make ground meat into 2 cm balls and fry with onions until colour changes. Add 3-4 glasses of water, and bring to a boil. Finely chop herbs. Wash rice once with warm water. Add herbs, rice, prunes (including the water it was soaked in), salt and black pepper to meat balls. Mix well and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes.

source: persianrecipes

ghormeh sabzi recipe

Khoresht Ghormeh Sabzii (Herbs Stew - Herbs & Vegetable Stew)
(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
Fresh spinach (esfenAg) 1 bunch or 1 medium size package.
Fresh dill (sheveed) 1/2 bunch.
Fresh parsely (ja`faree) 1 bunch.
Fresh cilantro or 1 bunch.
coriantro (geshneez)
Fresh Leak (tareh farangee) 1 bunch (use only the green stems).
Fresh chives (tareh) 1 bunch, or substitute stems of one
bunch of scallions (piAzcheh).
Fresh fenugreek
(shanbelileh) 1 bunch, or substitute 1 table spoon
of dried shanbelileh.
1 pound stew meat (beef, lamb, veal, etc.), cubed.
4 dried lemons (limoo amAnee) or,
1 table spoon dried lemon powder (gard-e leemo amAnee).
1 medium onion, finely diced.
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (zard choobeh).
3 tablespoons cooking oil.
1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional).
1 cup of pre-soaked dried beans, or substitute 1 can.
A touch each of salt, pepper and crushed red peppers (if you like it spicy).
Directions:

Wash the meat and let it drain.

Cut off the heads of the leaks and scallions and put the stems along with the rest of vegetables in a kitchen stringer, thoroughly wash and drain them.

Using a cutting board, while repeatedly bunching up all vegetables together, finely chop the vegetables. The smaller the pieces the better. If you have a food processor, you could use it in place of the manual labor :-)

Place the chopped vegetables in a pot, with heat setting on high and frequently stir the vegetables until all their excess water has evaporated.

Add two table spoons of cooking oil and continually stir fry the vegetables until they turn a browinsh color. This process should take about 15 minutes. Take the pot off and put it aside. During the stir fry process, you may add a bit more oil if needed. When finished, the vegetables resemble dried ones with no water remaining in the pot.

In another pot, add about one table spoon of cooking oil and the chopped onions and stir fry until they turn a golden brown color. Add the meat, stir fry for a few minutes, add salt, pepper and turmeric and let the meat fry with the onions for a few minutes. If you are using dried beans, at this point drain them and add them to the mixture. Turn the heat setting to medium.

Next poke a hole in each of the dried lemons and add them to the mixture (or add the powdered kind). Add about two cups (16 oz) of water, place the lid on the pot and let it boil for another 15 minutes.

Add the fried vegetables into the mixture, turn the heat setting to medium-low and let it cook. The cooking time required from this point on is about an hour. Half way through this period, if you are using canned beans, add them into the mixture. Once the meat is separated when poked by a fork, the stew is ready. This stew is served over white rice.

If you like the sour taste, you may add a table spoon of lemon juice towards the end of cooking.

Hints:

When stir frying, its imperative to constantly stir the vegetables. Otherwise, they quickly form a crust and burn. You can easily undercook the vegetables but you can hardly ever over cook them. If they look watery stir fry them a bit longer.
Almost all of the vegetables listed above are easily found at produce section of grocery stores. The only exception to this is shanbelileh (fenugreek). You can purchase dried ones from middle eastern stores.
Tareh (called chives and sometimes garlic chives) is somewhat hard to find. In place of chives, use the stems of scallions (also called green onions).
There are two kinds of parsely in the market. One is labeled as parsely and the other is called Italian parsely which has larger size leaves. You may use either one.
This stew can be made with two kinds of dried/canned beans. Either use kidney beans (loobiA ghermez) or black-eyed beans (loobiA cheshm bolboli). The canned beans soften quickly, so add them almost at the end and do not use the liquid inside the can.
If your stew ends up having a bitter taste, you more than likely burned the vegetables. If it smells like hannA (henna), you added too much spinach. You can't recover from these two mishaps. If the vegetables swim to one side and the meat goes the opposite way, you've undercooked it. Put in back on medium heat and let some of the excess water evaporate.

Source: anvari.org