Jan 24
I recently bought some tiny shrimp and wanted to make Shrimp Rice (AKA Meigoo Polo). I took a combination of what Persian recipes there are for Meigoo Polo and made some adjustments. Many people make the dish with Kateh (a specific style rice where you don’t drain out the water…). I am sure in the future I will try variations of this dish, but for the time being here is what I cooked up 
Meigoo Polo
Ingredients (4 - 6 servings):
Approximately .5 lbs small shrimp
4 cups rice
2 1/2 tablespoons butter — you may melt more butter later to add to the dish, or add more at this time if you don’t want the rice to be dry
1/2 tablespoon flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
3/4 to 1 cup heated water
1/2 teaspoon curry
garlic powder (optional)
salt/pepper
parsley (optional)
eggs (optional)
Directions:
Rinse the rice a few times until the water is clear. Then soak the rice in water (add salt to the water as well).
In a pot boil the shrimp for approximately 10 minutes. Once the shrimp is cooked drain out the water and set aside until the sauce is ready. In a sauce pan heat the butter and then add the flour and stir until an even mixture is formed (mixture is smooth). Mix the tomato paste with the heated water and then add the mixture to the sauce pan and mix well with the flour and butter mixture (again make sure mixture is smooth). Add curry, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. If you want add a bit of chopped fresh parsley, or dry parsley flakes to the sauce. Once all the ingredients are mixed into the sauce add the shrimp to the sauce and set on medium low heat.
Once the sauce is prepared and cooking, heat up water in a large pot to prepare the rice. When the water comes to a boil add in the rice you were soaking. Once the rice is ready pour the contents in a strainer to drain out the water. Add 1 tablespoon water to the pot and then add some oil and place it back on the stove top (still close to high heat). When the oil is heated pour in the rice and cover for it to steam (dam bekeshe). After about 5 minutes turn down the temperature of the stove top (close to low). Wait another 5 minutes then lift the lid off of the pot and pour in the shrimp sauce mixture and mix in with the rice a bit then place the lid back on the pot and allow to cook on low heat for an additional 30 minutes.
You can choose to add the shrimp sauce mixture at the beginning when you add the rice into the pot and allow it to prepare all at once. I wanted to make sure I get Tah-dig (crispy rice crust), so I chose to let the rice crust set first then add the sauce. Either way its your choice 
If you want to add something more to the dish you can boil 3 to 4 eggs (hard boiled eggs) and then cut them up and add to the rice when you serve it.
Tagged with: curry • Eggs • Flour • Rice • Shrimp • Tomato Paste
Dec 14
I decided to make a creamy bean soup! This specific soup is mainly made with white beans (navy beans to be more precise). I used some saved chicken stock that had some tomato paste in it, which gave my soup a bit of a orange/red tint.
Bean Soup
Ingredients (4 -6 people):
approximately 4 cups chicken stock, water, or combination of the two –you may need to add more water
2 cups navy beans — soak in cold water for a few hours
3/4 cup kidney beans — soak in cold water for a few hours
4 tablespoons chopped onions
salt/pepper
parsley (desired amount)–dry or fresh
2-3 tablespoons white flour
1/2 cup whipping cream (optional) — adds to the creaminess of the soup
1 tablespoon oil
Directions:
Boil the navy beans (after soaking in water for a few hours) in a pot. Once the beans have cooked and are tender drain out the water. Pour half of the beans in a blender and puree. In a large pot add one tablespoon oil and saute the onions a bit. Add the beans (pureed navy beans, not pureed navy beans, and the kidney beans). Note: the kidney beans were not cooked like the navy beans were, but if you like you may boil the kidney beans for a bit until they are tender as well. Mix all the ingredients and add the chicken stock and/or water.
Add the flour and whipped cream and stir the soup. Add parsley, salt, and pepper and any other spices for taste. Obviously there are many other things you can add to the soup or different beans you can use as well. If you want a bit of a tomato flavor, or even a bit of color added to the soup you can add some tomato paste.
Allow the soup to cook until it is thickened (approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour on medium stove top heat).
Tagged with: Flour • Kidney Beans • Navy Beans • Parsley
Nov 27
Ready for a tasty sweet?! Well this is a good one to have! Ranginak is a Persian sweet that you must definitely try.
Ranginak
Ingredients:
500 grams Flour
250 - 300 grams oil — I used liquid oil, but if you use shortening or ghee it will be better
125 grams powder sugar
500 grams dates (khorma) –its best if the dates are soft
125 grams crushed walnuts
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon crushed pistachio
Directions:
In a pot heat up the oil (medium heat) and then add the flour and continuously stir until it is completely fried and becomes a golden color (it may take awhile before it reaches the golden color). Once the flour is done take it off the heat and set it aside until it cools down a bit.
While the flour is cooling down mix together the powder sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom. Then add this mix to the flour and mix all the ingredients together. Then take out the seeds from all the dates.
Now in a dish pour in half the flour mixture and flatten with a spoon. Then place all the dates on top of this layer of flour and sprinkle the crushed walnuts on top of the dates. Add the rest of the flour mixture on top of everything and flatten with a spoon. Sprinkle the crushed pistachios and some powder sugar on top of the Ranginak.
Note: I would recommend using shortening or ghee to make sure the Ranginak doesn’t give out too much oil.
With a knife you want to cut out squares for serving purposes.
Tagged with: Cardamom • Cinnamon • Date (Khorma) • Flour • Pistachios • Saffron • Walnut
