خورشت پرتقال
This stew is a great representation of a dish in a culture that loves its fruits with their tart and sweet flavors! The chicken is cooked slowly with Persian spices (advieh), layered with carrots and saffron, and finished off with fresh orange segments before serving.
Continue reading “Khoresht-e Porteghal – Chicken and saffron stew with carrots and oranges”خورشت ماست
This one is a must-try!
I have had several appetizing and delicious Indian chicken dishes that either marinate or cook the chicken in a yogurt sauce. But until recently I hadn’t tried this traditional chicken dish with Persian techniques, ingredients, and spices.
Continue reading “Khoresht-e Maast – Chicken in yogurt sauce with barberries”Khoresht-e zereshk
خورشت زرشک
What are these bright red, tart, sharp, tangy, mouth puckering berries? Well – they’re Iran’s very own barberries!
When I try to describe these berries to my students, I am always asked what familiar fruit are they most like? “Are they like raisins, or goji berries, or cherries? Oh, I know, are they like cranberries?!”
Continue reading “Barberry and saffron lamb stew”Khoresht-e Gheymeh ba Beh
خورشت قیمه با به
Quince is an ancient fruit that finds its origin in the Mediterranean and Middle East region, which offers the perfect climate for the tree to flourish. Quince is quite tart, dense and aromatic, and is typically not eaten raw; it is rather cooked in stews or baked in desserts or jams.
The fruit is typically harvested in mid to late autumn before the first frost. Iranians particularly love this fruit because of its delicate rose scent as well as its tart flavor. As with most things tart in the Persian cuisine, quince are celebrated and brought into balance with the addition of some sweetener.
For some, pumpkins mark the arrival of the fall season, while for me it has always been the first sighting of quince and pomegranate.
Celebration!
Continue reading “Lamb stew in tomato saffron sauce with caramelized quince”خورشت بادمجان با مرغ
Eggplant, otherwise known as the potato of Iran, is used in a variety of stews, Kuku (egg-based dishes), and layered rice dishes.
This stew is a well known, popular and respected dish that finds itself served frequently and proudly on a Persian table. The very special and unique ingredient in this dish is “Ghooreh”, which showcases Iranians’ love of all things sour. Ghooreh is the Farsi name for unripe sour grapes. Once harvested, they are then juiced, frozen or dried into a powder. These elements are used anywhere acidity is called for.
Pride!
Continue reading “Khoresht-e Bademjan ba Morgh – Eggplant stew with chicken”کله گنجشکی
This dish takes me way back to my childhood growing up in Tehran. I remember loving this dish for its flavor and simplicity, which clearly appealed to my teenage palate. A simple meatball dish with fried potatoes over steamed rice – how can you go wrong with that?
Continue reading “Kal-leh Gonjishkie – Petite meatballs in tangy tomato sauce with roasted potatoes”Khoresht-e Gheymeh
خورشت قیمه
Khoresht-e Gheymeh is a well-recognized and popular dish to Iranians: a comforting meat-and-potato stew that has all the familiar flavors of Persian cuisine.
The stew is flavored with the Persian spice mixture called Advieh, containing warming spices such as cinnamon and cardamom, earthy cumin and coriander, and a gentle kiss of ground rose petals. But what truly puts a Persian stamp on this dish is the use of Persian dried limes, Limoo Omani.
Persian dried limes have a strong sour, citrus flavor and a deep, earthy fermented profile. This unique profile is the result of the preservation process, in which the limes are left out in the sun for a long period to dry out. The end result is simply just short of magic, with complex and rich multi-dimensional notes of sour and bitter accompanied by an intoxicating aroma.
I love nothing more than to give a bag of dried Persian limes to someone who has never experienced them, and then sit back and watch the look on their faces as they experience the unique scent. Limoo Omani is another treasured gift of Iran to the culinary world!
Colorful spices and dried limes: that is how Iranians do meat and potato stew! I usually serve this stew with a side of salad Shirazi or cucumber and mint yogurt.
Continue reading “Beef and yellow split pea stew with roasted potatoes”Khoresht-e Karafs
خورشت کرفس
Celery, oh celery! Let’s face it, celery probably isn’t the kind of vegetable that makes you jump up and down with excitement. So bear with me as I try to convince you that this dish is not your average celery stick dipped in ranch sauce, like an edible spoon. Celery has a unique flavor that seems like it’s always best paired with something else: ranch dressing, nut butter, hummus, or various dips. To make matters worse, celery seems to be an obligatory ingredient in those ever-so-popular smoothies, perhaps to compensate for the sugar content in your “healthy” smoothie!
Not only did I not like celery growing up, I never really enjoyed it much as an adult – until I went to cooking school! There we learned how to treat this vegetable properly and make it shine on its own or be a complementary ingredient in a dish. Add it to salads for a beautiful crunch, or cook it and transform it into a cream soup.
This Persian stew is a very popular dish and remarkably flavorful with very few ingredients. Celery is sauteed on its own to enhance its flavor, then combined with herbs, beef and broth to bring magic to this dish!
Continue reading “Celery and beef stew with fresh herbs”خورشت آلبالو
I can’t help but smile when I think of sour cherries! They are a highly prized fruit that has found its way into many parts of Persian cuisine, both as a savory and as a sweet ingredient. This dish is another Caspian Sea regional specialty that integrates sour cherries into a stew in the company of small chicken meatballs, all in a gloriously beautiful and tasty saffron broth.
Continue reading “Khoresht-e Albaloo – Sour cherry and chicken meatballs in saffron broth”Caspian Sea tangy lemony herb sauce with carrots and fried eggs.
ساک
This is a perfect example of a simple and humble Caspian Sea dish in which large amounts of parsley, cilantro, mint, spinach and green onions are finely chopped and cooked down while brilliant and colorful slices of carrot gently soften in this tangy herb sauce. This dish is typically served with fried eggs or pieces of white fish on top and steamed basmati rice.
Continue reading “Saak”