Oct 02
Khorak is a Persian Recipe / dish that is basically a combination of various vegetables with a meat (or just all vegetables). There are various forms of Khorak. This specific recipe deals with tuna fish.
Khorake Tone Mahi
Ingredients:
2 small cans tuna fish
2-3 small onions — chopped up and sauteed in oil until tender
2 medium potatoes –chopped up into squares and fried in oil
2 cups chopped mushrooms
lemon juice (desired amount)
salt/pepper (desired amount)
oil (unless the tuna fish is in oil instead of water)
Directions:
First saute the onions and fry the potatoes separately and place them aside.
In a frying pan pour a bit of oil, unless the tuna cans you have already have oil. I used tuna that was in water, so I poured a bit of oil into my frying pan and set the temperature to medium. I opened the tuna cans and drained the water out completely. Place the tuna into the pan and stir. After about 5 - 10 minutes add the onions and then the mushrooms. Note: you can also choose to begin by sauteing the onions in the pan and then adding the tuna, followed by the mushrooms.
Add salt, pepper, and lemon juice then cover the pan for an additional 15 minutes. Afterward, you can serve and top with the potatoes you fried earlier.
Tagged with: Mushrooms • Potatoes • Tuna
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 19
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.
Tagged with: Carrot • Chicken • Eggs • Green Peas • Mayo • Pickles • Potatoes
