Dec 01
This is a simple and tasty Persian dish that can be eaten alone or with bread. I will say that some people chop the eggplants up a bit different, and some even mash the eggplants up a bit, but I like to cut the eggplants into circles. If you are using very tiny eggplants (ghalami) then you may prefer to cut the eggplants up into strips instead of round circles.
Kash e Bademjan
Ingredients (2-4 people):
1-2 large eggplants
approximately 1 cup Kashk (thick whey) –can be bought in Iranian grocery store, or international store
1 medium onion
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato Paste
2 tablespoon fulls Dried Mint
oil
salt/pepper
Directions:
Peel the eggplants and cut them up into circles (with a thickness of approximately .5 cm each). Rinse the cut pieces and add some salt to the eggplants. Heat oil on the stove (medium-high heat) in a frying pan and fry the eggplants until golden (both sides need to be fried). If you can’t fry all the pieces in the frying pan at once (which may be the case) just set the fried eggplants aside on a plate until they are all done.
Mix the tomato paste with 1/2 cup hot water. Add pepper and salt (as desired) to the tomato paste and water. In the same frying pan, or in a different one, add all the eggplants and pour the liquid mixture over all the eggplants and cover the pan. Allow the eggplants to cook for 10-15 minutes on medium heat.
Peel the onion and finely chop the onion up into pieces. Fry the onion in oil until golden then set aside. Then fry the dried mint in oil as well. After you place the eggplants in a serving dish pour the Kaskh over the eggplants and sprinkle the onions and dried mint over them. Its ready to be served.
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Tagged with: Eggplants • Kashk • Mint • Tomato Paste
Nov 22
Lavashak-e Aloo Torsh
Lavashak is a FAVORITE Persian treat! It comes in a few different flavors based on the fruit used to make Lavashak. This specific Lavashak is made with Plum’s. My mother-in-law deserves all the credit for making this 
Ingredients:
Plums (Aloo) –as many as you want; depends on how much Lavashak you want to make
some oil –only used to grease the dish you plan on pouring the Lavashak liquid into to dry
Directions:
Wash the plums, then pour all the plums into a pot. Do not add any water (the fruit will give out water itself). Place the stove top heat to medium-low (don’t want it to burn) and place the lid on the pot so it can cook a bit.
Lavashake Aloo
Once the plums are tender and have given out a lot of juice place a strainer over another pot and dump the contents into the strainer. You will separate the seeds and the fruit skin (the fruit skin will come off easily if its ready) and all the rest of the contents will go into the new pot.
Place the new pot on medium-low heat on the stove top again until the water from the fruit is less. Stir the contents occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Once the contents are thickened, grease a dish that is flat and pour a very thin layer of the liquid Lavashak into the dish.
You want to place the dish in direct sunlight (in Iran rooftops are usually used). Be careful that dust, and other things don’t get stuck to the Lavashak (as much as possible). You will let it dry anywhere from 2 - 4 days (you can test it by using a knife to see if it will separate from the dish easily, if it does then it is ready and if not let it dry more). Note: If you want it to dry up sooner you can use a microwave to dry out the water sooner.
Once its dry and separates from the dish you have Lavashak! In this case Lavashak-e Aloo Torsh.
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Nov 03
Chutney (Chatni)
Chatni (Chutney) is a condiment that can be consumed with practically any meal. This specific recipe is for a spicy Chutney that mainly has Cilantro and green Chili Peppers. Though Chutney has an Indian origin I have eaten this specific Chutney (Chatni) with many Afghan dishes, and find that it goes well with Persian dishes too.
Ingredients:
1 or 2 bunches Cilantro
4 or more green Chili Peppers — (the more you use the spicier it gets)
Garlic –crushed
Salt
Lemon Juice or Vinegar
Directions:
The amount of the ingredients really depends on how spicy or mild you want to make the Chutney (i.e., add more Cilantro to make it mild). You can use a blender to puree the ingredients, or just finely chop up the Cilantro, green Chili Peppers, and Garlic. Mix all the ingredients and refrigerate until you are ready to serve it.
Tagged with: Cilantro • Garlic • Green Chili Pepper
