This was my very first attempt at making Haleem Bademjoon (a delicious eggplant Persian recipe) I used ground beef for my recipe, but many people use lamb or beef that they cook and then mash up. I will try that at another time, but this time I tried to go the easier route and use ground beef to simplify the cooking.
Haleem bademjoon
Ingredients:
2 large eggplants
approximately 1 lb ground beef
1 cup kashk — found typically in a Persian (Iranian) Grocery store, or some Middle Eastern store)
2 medium onions
2 tablespoons dry mint
oil
salt/pepper
turmeric
250 grams lentils
Directions:
Chop the onions up and fry in oil in a pot. Once the onions start turning a golden brown color take out about half and place aside for later use. Add the ground beef and lentils to the remaining onions in the pot and stir. Add turmeric, salt, and pepper and continue stirring. Add 1-2 cups of water and cover with a lid and allow the meat to cook for 40 to 50 minutes on medium heat. If it starts to dry up you can add a little more water.
Haleem Bademjoon
Peel the eggplants and chop them up length wise. Add salt to the eggplants and in a frying pan heat up oil on medium-high heat. Fry the eggplants on both sides until golden. Once all the eggplants pieces are fried you want to throw them in a food processor or mash them up some other way. Then add the mashed mixture to the meat mixture and stir in and mash everything together. Add a cup of water if there is not enough water and the mixture seems too dry. You want to cook over a medium-low heat for at least an hour and stir occasionally until no water is left. Halfway through I took half of the mixture and poured it into my blender to puree and get a smoother mixture. You may want to leave the lid off the pot to make sure the water evaporates. Keep in mind that after you allow the Haleem Bademjoon to cool down it will thicken as well. Once the Haleem Bademjoon is cooked remove the mix from the heat and add the kashk. Mix the contents well and then pour into a serving dish.
Fry the onions you put aside a bit more until a darker golden brown (piaz dagh–fried onion). Fry the dry mint in oil as well. Sprinkle the fried onions and fried mint over the Haleem Bademjoon in the serving dish and you are done! Serve with bread
Note: Be careful with the amount of water you use, especially if you are going to puree the mixture it may take a lot longer for all the water to evaporate. I ran into this problem and had to let it cook for a long time just to get most of the water to evaporate.
Here is one way of making Kotlet…believe it or not there are a few types and different ways to make Kotlet.
Kotlet
Ingredients:
.5 lb ground beef– I used ground beef with only 10% fat
1 small onion
1 large potato
turmeric
salt/pepper
baking powder (optional)
bread crumbs
1 egg (optional)
Directions:
You can use a blender/food processor to chop up the onion and potato, or you can use a grater. Some people like to boil the potato then mash it up, and others use the grater or food processor. I have made Kotlet using both techniques. Here I used my blender and chopped up the onion and potato (I also hit the puree button to make sure it was mixed well). Afterward, you can pour the contents in the blender (or food processor) in a bowl with the ground beef and mash them together. Add turmeric, salt, pepper, and if you like baking powder, the egg, and bread crumbs. You can also choose to not put bread crumbs in the mix, but rather rounded balls of the mixture in the bread crumbs before flattening and frying.
Adding the baking powder and egg will keep the mixture together and allow it to puff up. I did add them, but noticed that my mixture wasn’t sticky enough, so I added my bread crumbs to the mixture. Usually when you boil the potato that is when you want to add the egg to the mixture.
After all the ingredients are mixed and mashed up you will take portions and form round balls out of them and flatten them out in your hand then place the patties (Kotlet) you have formed into a frying pan that has oil you have already heated. Fry each side until golden brown.
A very yummy Persian potato salad! This dish is a good appetizer for a party, can be eaten as a snack with crackers, or can even be put into bread for a sandwich. The ingredients listed below make enough to last one person a couple of days, or even feed a group at a gathering. You can always increase the amount of ingredients used to make more, or decrease to make less.
Salade Olovieh
Ingredients:
2 skinless/boneless chicken breasts
1 small onion
turmeric
salt/ pepper
Mayo
4 - 5 medium to large potatoes- boiled
3 - 4 hard boiled eggs
green peas
pickles - chopped up
shredded carrots (optional)
Directions:
In a pot with water add the chicken breasts, slicked onion, salt, pepper, and turmeric to the chicken and cover the pot to allow it to cook for approximately 30 minutes on medium heat. Once cooked set it aside to cool. Once the chicken has cooled down you will shred it up and add to a large mixing bowl (you can use a knife to cut and shred the chicken up).
After the potatoes are boiled in a pot with water they will be ready for you to mash up. You can use a grater or just a masher to mash them up. Once the hard boiled eggs are ready you can also use the grater to shred it. Add these to the large mixing bowl as well. Then add the green peas, chopped pickles, and if desired shredded carrots. I typically don’t add shredded carrots to my Salade Olovieh. Also, I usually use dill pickles, unless I happen to have Persian pickles (from the Persian grocery store) which are much tastier!
Mix all the above ingredients together, add salt and pepper. Finally, add a desired amount of Mayonnaise and mix well. Some people like lots of mayo, while others like less … completely up to you. I add enough to get everything to stick together. Then when I pour the contents into a dish, I will cover a thin layer of mayo on top of the Olovieh.
I used ground beef for my recipe, but many people use lamb or beef that they cook and then mash up. I will try that at another time, but this time I tried to go the easier route and use ground beef to simplify the cooking.
