I received several Persian cookbooks when I got married 1,000 years ago. The book I still refer to is "New Food of Life" by Najmieh Batmanglij. The photos are beautiful and historical/cultural information is on point. Making Persian food is not for the light hearted or impatient. It takes a lot of practice and eating A LOT of mistakes (ask my husband) but once you get the hang of it ohhhhhhhhhh soooooo worth it!!!!!!!
Check out The New Persian Kitchen by Louisa Shafia. Maybe your local library has a copy? The quintessential Persian foods are the rice dishes - made with tahdig if you can pull it off. My favorites are shirin polo, zereshk polo, and baghali polo. I usually have them with one of her kebabs, one of her dips or spreads, and pita. Tahdig takes practice, and her instructions are really wonderful.
Lubia polo
1 1/2 lbs. green beans cut into small pieces
1/2-1 lb. stew meat cut into very small pieces
1/2-1 can tomato paste
1 tbs. advieh (Persian allspice)
Salt/pepper to taste
Basmati rice
Saffron
2 tbs. olive oil
In Dutch oven heat oil, add cut green beans. Sauté till beans bright green, about 10 minutes. Add stew meat and cook until meat is brown. Add tomato paste by the spoon, next advieh (to taste) and water. Only add enough water so that ingredients mix together in a sauce not soupy. Next add salt and paper to taste. Stir and cover. Keep checking and don't let it dry out. Add water a little at a time so that it has a sauce consistency. This should cook for approx hour and a half, until meat and green beans are tender. When beans and meat are tender, turn off stove. Next make basmati rice. Have butter, cinamon, rice, and bean/meat mixture ready. In another pot melt butter, add 1 layer of rice, sprinkle cinamon lightly over rice, spread a layer of meat/green bean mixture, and dot with butter, top with another layer of rice, sprinkle cinamon, and bean/meat mixture, dot with butter. You should have 3 or 4l layers. Top the pot with a towel and put the lid on. The heat should be on low to medium. If it's too low, the bottom will not turn into tadig, if too high it will burn. This part usually takes about 20-30 minutes. Stay close by. Tap the side of the pot with a wet finger, if it sizzles, it's ready. Scoop out rice gently to mix layers be careful to not break the tadig. Now place a dish over pot and flip it over. The tadig will fall onto plate in one piece. Eat with shirazi salad and torshi. Nushe jan!
elina, do you know that there is a Search box at the top right of every page? You may want to use 'Persian' or 'Irani' etc. as search terms and see what recipes come up on 52.
14 Comments
Voted the Best Reply!
1 1/2 lbs. green beans cut into small pieces
1/2-1 lb. stew meat cut into very small pieces
1/2-1 can tomato paste
1 tbs. advieh (Persian allspice)
Salt/pepper to taste
Basmati rice
Saffron
2 tbs. olive oil
In Dutch oven heat oil, add cut green beans. Sauté till beans bright green, about 10 minutes. Add stew meat and cook until meat is brown. Add tomato paste by the spoon, next advieh (to taste) and water. Only add enough water so that ingredients mix together in a sauce not soupy. Next add salt and paper to taste. Stir and cover. Keep checking and don't let it dry out. Add water a little at a time so that it has a sauce consistency. This should cook for approx hour and a half, until meat and green beans are tender. When beans and meat are tender, turn off stove. Next make basmati rice. Have butter, cinamon, rice, and bean/meat mixture ready. In another pot melt butter, add 1 layer of rice, sprinkle cinamon lightly over rice, spread a layer of meat/green bean mixture, and dot with butter, top with another layer of rice, sprinkle cinamon, and bean/meat mixture, dot with butter. You should have 3 or 4l layers. Top the pot with a towel and put the lid on. The heat should be on low to medium. If it's too low, the bottom will not turn into tadig, if too high it will burn. This part usually takes about 20-30 minutes. Stay close by. Tap the side of the pot with a wet finger, if it sizzles, it's ready. Scoop out rice gently to mix layers be careful to not break the tadig. Now place a dish over pot and flip it over. The tadig will fall onto plate in one piece. Eat with shirazi salad and torshi. Nushe jan!