Sep 30
This is a aash (soup) one of my friends recently made for a gathering. It is from the Kurdish regions of Iran, and is basically a local Kurdish soup called Dokhawa.
Aash Dokhawa
The ingredients below are enough for a large pot.
Ingredients:
1 package parsley
2 packages cilantro
1 package dill (shevid), or half a cup dried dill (shevid khoshk)
.5 litre (16 oz) plain yogurt
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup Barley (jo) –this should most likely be a pearl barley or other quick-cooking barley. I couldn’t find the exact meaning of balghooreh jo, but I assume its a more processed form of Barley (i.e, pearl Barley)
1 egg yolk
6-7 cups water
salt
Directions:
First whip the yogurt with the egg yolk so that chunks will not be formed when you mix it with the water. Add the egg yolk and yogurt you have whipped to the water and then add all three contents (egg yolk/yogurt/water mixture) to the pot you plan on using. Wash your greens (mentioned above) and chop them up only a little bit, do not chop them up too much cause they need to be fairly large. Add the greens, some salt, the rice, and the barley to the pot. Then allow the contents in the pot to come to a boil. After it boils bring the temperature down to a medium / medium-low and allow the contents to cook for 30-40 minutes.
Tagged with: Barley • Cilantro • Dill • Eggs • Parsley • Rice • Yogurt
Sep 28
Just to be clear this Persian Recipe is what is referred to as Estamboli Polo in Tehran (and any other region in Iran that follows the same naming). Reason I mention this is that my Shirazi friends/family refer to this by another name …I forget the name…but either way they call Loobiya Polo by this name. The Shirazi Loobiya Polo is something completely different! I will make that dish someday soon and post that up as well.
There are different ways to make Estamboli Polo. Some people like to use potatoes (I am one of those people). Also, I don’t think you really need to make it with meat, but most recipes use stew meat (gheymeh style) and others use ground beef. I will explain the version with stew meat here and at a later time will make the version with ground beef. Finally, this dish is more of a damee style (where you allow the water to evaporate instead of draining the water after the rice boils). Obviously the more water the pot has, the softer the rice becomes and the more it sticks together.
Estamboli Polo
Ingredients:
.5 lbs cut up stew meat - cut up into tiny pieces as is done for Khoroshte Gheymeh
2 small/medium (or 1 large) potato — cut up into little pieces (squares)
5 (or more) tomatoes –cut up into little pieces
4 cups rice –presoak the rice after rinsing in warm water, add some salt to the water as well.
oil and/or butter
1 teaspoon tomato paste
turmeric
salt/pepper
4 teaspoons chopped up onion (or more if you prefer)
Directions:
Saute the onions in a pot and once tender add the stew meat. Add turmeric, salt, and pepper. After about 5 minutes of stirring the stew meat go ahead and add a cup or a cup and a half of water. At this point go ahead and add the tomato paste as well and allow the gheymeh (stew) to cook until the water is mostly evaporated (the stew will be thickened). You can leave it on a medium temperature and occasionally stir it until it is prepared. Note: if you are using more stew meat then you will need to add more onions, water, and even tomato paste.
Once the gheymeh (stew) is close to completion go ahead and fry the potatoes in oil and then place aside. In the large pot you plan on making the Estamboli Polo pour in your rice, and add enough water to where there is at least an inch of water over the rice. Add a cup of water to your tomatoes and pour them on top of the rice. At this point there may be 2 inches of water over the rice. Add about 4 tablespoons of oil and a little more salt (if you didn’t add much salt to your rice). If you did not presoak your rice prior to this, it is a good idea to leave the contents of the pot as is for at least 1 hour to allow the rice to soak. If not you can probably just leave it for about 15 minutes.
Turn the pot onto a medium temperature and allow the rice to cook, and the water to evaporate. If you do not have enough water in your pot and the rice is not fully cooked, you may need to add a little bit more until the rice is completely soft. Your gheymeh (stew) should be prepared already. Once the water evaporate I added some butter and stirred it in, then poured in my potatoes and the stew and stirred it around a bit. I put a towel over the lid and covered the pot and allowed it to steam (dam bekesheh). After about 15 minutes (steam should be leaving the pot from the sides), I put the temperature on low. You want to allow the pot to stay on the stove top for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.
Tagged with: Beef • Potatoes • Rice • Tomato Paste • Tomatoes
Sep 26
This is specifically the khoresht (stew), and not Loobia Polo (Green Bean Rice)…though very similar. I will be making the loobia polo version someday soon as well.
Khoreshte Loobia Sabz
Ingredients:
Green beans- fresh or frozen …I used half a bag of frozen cut green beans
Stew meat - I used approximately .5lbs chopped up into little bits (gheymehee style)
1 small onion - chopped up
2 teaspoons full Tomato paste — you can use more if needed/preferred
Lemon juice
salt/pepper
turmeric
Poodreh limoo amani (dried lime powder) (optional)
Directions:
In a pot, saute the onions until tender then add the cut up stew meat and stir. Add turmeric, salt, and pepper and stir. If using frozen green beans, or beans not fried previously, you can add them at this time especially if you want them to fry a bit before adding the water. If you have already fried fresh green beans (or frozen) then you can add it after you add the water. Then after 5 minutes you can add a cup or two water, tomato paste, and the Limoo amani (dried lime powder) and/or lemon juice. Cover and allow it to cook on a medium to medium-low heat. Once most of the water has evaporated the stew should be ready, depending on the heat this cant take at least a 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Note: If you are only using lemon juice you will need to add more, but if you use a combination of dried lime powder and lemon juice…use less lemon juice. Also, you can add some saffron to the stew, but with the cost of saffron these days it may be better not to (way too expensive!).
Tagged with: Beef • Green Beans • Lemon Juice • Limoo Amani • Tomato Paste
