Nov 25

I found this recipe and thought I would try it. Its a bit different than Havij Polo (Carrot Rice), and can be made to be sweet, sour, or a combination of the two.

Ingredients (4 - 6 servings):

Khoreshte Havij

Khoreshte Havij

Chicken or Beef — I used 2 chicken breasts
1 small onion — finely chopped up
5-6 carrots –grate half the carrots and chop the rest into circles (not too thick)
10-15 Aloo khoshk (prunes) — you can use more or less depending on what you prefer
1 teaspoon saffron –you may prefer to use liquid saffron in this amount (considering saffron isnt cheap :) )
Sugar 1 to 3 tablespoons
oil
salt - desired amount
turmeric
Lemon juice (optional) –to add a bit of a sour flavor

Directions:
Add oil to a pot and heat on medium stove top heat. Cut your chicken (or meat) into smaller pieces and fry the chicken with the chopped onions and add turmeric and salt to the chicken. Add 2 cups of water and place lid on pot and allow the chicken to cook.

In a pan heat up some oil and fry the carrots a bit. After you have fried them add them to the pot with the chicken. Wash the prunes and add to the pot as well. Finally, add the sugar and lemon juice and place the lid on the pot and allow everything to cook until the Khoresht-e Havij (carrot stew) is thickened and gives back oil.

Serve with rice.

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Oct 14

Another one of my favorite Persian recipes! Tah-chin-e Morgh (Tah-chin with chicken). You can make this Tah-chin by cooking it on stove top or in the oven, but here I share the oven version. Also, at times I like to add some zereshk (barberries) to the Tah-chin, but this time I made it simple :D

Tahchin e Morgh

Tahchin e Morgh

Ingredients:
1 medium onion - chopped up
3 cups rice — rinse and then soak in water for at least 1-2 hours…add salt to the water
skinless/boneless chicken breast cut up
oil
turmeric
1 cup water
salt/pepper
1 cup yogurt
4 eggs
1 tablespoon liquid saffron

Directions:
In a frying pan (that has a lid), saute the onion in oil until tender. Then add the chicken pieces and stir around. Add salt, pepper, and turmeric. Add the 1 cup water and place the lid on the pan, leave the stove on a medium-low heat. Allow the chicken to cook for 30-40 minutes. After the chicken is cooked, place the chicken pieces in a dish to cool. Then use a strainer to separate the onions from the chicken stock. Keep the chicken stock for later.

Personal Size Tahchin

Personal Size Tahchin

In a bowl of some sort mix together your yogurt, 3 eggs, salt, pepper, and some of the saffron. Once you do this, take a few tablespoons of the mix and put it in another small bowl, add the left over egg, a tablespoon of oil, a tablespoon of the chicken stock, and a little more saffron to it and stir. Place the second bowl in the fridge. Once your chicken is cool, place all the chicken pieces in the first bowl and coat it. Place the bowl in the refrigerator as well and allow the chicken to be marinaded for awhile. I only do this for an hour or so, but some people even make the chicken the night before and allow it to sit in the mix overnight.

Tahchin e Morgh

Tahchin e Morgh

When you are ready to make the rice you will place a pot on the stove and fill it half way with water. Once the water is brought to a boil add the rice (after pouring out the water covering the rice). When the rice is boiled and ready, drain the water (use a strainer).

Set the oven to a temperature of 350 °F. In an oven safe round dish (needs to be deep as well) pour some oil and coat the sides. Take 2 spatulas full (2 kafgir) of the rice and mix it with the small bowl of yogurt mix you previously had in the fridge. Now pour that rice into the oven dish and flatten it with the spatula. take out all your chicken pieces from the yogurt mix (previously placed in fridge) and place them on top of the rice/yogurt layer. Pour the remaining rice (white rice in strainer) over everything else in the oven dish and flatten with the spatula. Take the chicken broth left and add the remaining saffron to it (if you wish) and pour it over everything. Cover with foil and place in the oven for approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Tah-chin is almost ready. This last note is very important for making a good looking Tah-chin.

Note: When you want to flip it over place the serving dish on top and then slowly flip over. Wait a few minutes for the dish to cool before doing this. Also, if you find that the crust is stuck you may have to use a knife around the sides to make sure it comes loose.

Appetizer Idea:
You can use a regular or jumbo cupcake pan to create smaller personal sized Tah-chin servings. To bake set oven temperature to 350 °F and let bake for 40 - 50 minutes. If you want the crust to be darker let it bake for 50 - 60 minutes.

Enjoy your Tah-chin!

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Oct 04

This is a lot like the Persian recipe for Halva, except the one main difference is this is made with rice flour while Halva is made with wheat flour (typically white flour). I used a smaller amount for my ingredients because I wanted to make less.

Tar Halva

Tar Halva

Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
3/4 cup oil
1/4 cup rose water
1 teaspoon liquid saffron (or you can use a bit of ground up dry saffron)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

Directions:
In a small pot bring the water to a boil and add the sugar, rose water, and saffron. Stir until sugar is dissolved and leave on a low heat. In another larger pot on medium temperature heat up the oil and then add the rice flour and continuously stir. Once the flour has started to change color and gets to a darker color you will place it off the stove burner and carefully pour in the liquid. Be careful it will steam up and is hot! Then you will quickly begin stirring the contents together until they begin to solidify and kind of stick together. Tar Halva doesn’t stick together like Halva does because of the different texture. Also, Tar Halva seems to be oily. Pour the contents into a plate and press down and then give it a design.

Note: One other main difference is that you will fry the rice flour for Tar Halva a bit less than you do the flour used for Halva.

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