Feb 10

Khoresht-e Bademjan (Eggplant Stew)

By Persian Recipes Khoresht (Stew) No Comments »

Its been a long time since I have had this Khoresht, and I felt it was time to make it and share the recipe! If you love eggplants and you love khoresht…then you should definitely try Khoresht-e Bademjan!
Khoresht-e Bademjan on top of plain rice and voila you will have a perfect meal :D

Khoresht e Bademjan

Khoresht e Bademjan


Ingredients (approximately 6 people):
1 lb (approximately 500 grams) stew meat — lamb or beef
6 small and narrow eggplants or 2 medium/large eggplants
3 - 4 tablespoons chopped onions
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
oil
salt and pepper
turmeric

Directions:
Cut the meat up into pieces (if its not already) and wash the meat. In a large pot heat up a small amount of oil to saute the onions in. Once the onions begin turning a golden color add the meat to it and stir around for a bit. Add salt, pepper, and turmeric to the meat and stir. Add 3 - 4 cups of water to the pot, tomato paste, and lemon juice then allow the contents to cook (place the lid on the pot and set burner to medium heat).

While the stew is cooking you can prepare the eggplants. If you are using narrow and small eggplants peel the skin and then put a slice through the eggplant (lengthwise), rinse the eggplants, and add salt to each. If you are using larger eggplants peel the skin and chop the eggplant (lengthwise) into a few pieces, rinse, add salt to each piece. Heat up some oil in a frying pan and fry the eggplants until a golden brown color. Note: eggplants do absorb a lot of oil, so if you prefer to bake them that may be a good option and a bit healthier.

When the Khoresht has thickened and most of the water is gone (should only have about 1 cup of water remaining) you will place the eggplants on top of the khoresht. Allow the Khoresht-e Bademjan to cook an additional 15 - 20 minutes for the eggplants to cook with the stew a bit.

Serve with plain rice and any other side dishes (salad, mast, etc.)…and as always enjoy :)

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Feb 09

Gheymeh Polo

By Persian Recipes Polo (Rice) No Comments »

I typically make Khoresht-e Gheymeh with stew meat, but when I decided to make Gheymeh Polo I actually used ground beef instead of stew meat. You can use stew meat or ground beef for the khoresht; its tasty either way!

Gheymeh Polo

Gheymeh Polo

Ingredients (4 -6 people):
1 lb ground beef
1 small or medium onion - finely chopped
1 cup yellow split peas (lapeh)
turmeric
1 teaspoon ground limoo amani (dry lemon powder)
salt and pepper
lemon juice
3 1/2 cups rice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
oil
saffron (optional)

Directions:
Rinse the rice a few times and then soak it in water for a few hours (add some salt to the rice as well).

Heat up the oil in a pot and then add the onions. Once the onions begin turning a golden color add the ground beef and stir. After the meat begins cooking add salt, pepper, and turmeric to the meat. Add the yellow split peas to the pot and fry them a bit with the meat. Note: You can fry the yellow split peas for a bit in a different frying pan. Add the tomato paste to the khoresht and stir with the rest of the contents. Add 2 - 3 cups of water to the pot. Add the limoo amani, lemon juice, and saffron (if you want) to the khoresht and cover the pot with the lid and allow the Khoresht-e Gheymeh to cook.

When the Gheymeh is ready, in a separate pot boil water. When the water is boiled add the rice to the pot and allow it to come to a boil again. When the rice comes to a boil (approximately 3-5 minutes) and before it overflows pour the rice into a strainer and allow the water to drain out. Add 1/4 of a cup water into the pot and place back on the stove top (still on high heat). Add some oil and allow the oil to heat up as well. Pour 1/3 of the rice back into the pot and then pour half the gheymeh on the rice, then pout another 1/3 of the rice into the pot and add the rest of the gheymeh onto the rice. Finally, pour the remaining rice over the rest of the contents in the pot. Place a towel over the lid of the pot and place the lid on top of the pot. Once steam begins escaping the from the pot turn the stove top heat down to a low temperature and allow the rice to cook for at least 40 minutes. When you are ready to serve the rice you will want to mix the contents together (use a large spoon or spatula to slowly mix the rice and khoresht) and then pour onto a serving platter or individual plates.

When it comes to serving the Gheymeh Polo you can choose to heat some butter and pour it over the rice. You can also choose to have Gheymeh polo with yogurt. If you like you can make some fries to serve with the rice, or even buy shoe string chips ;)

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Jan 24

Meigoo Polo (Shrimp Rice)

By Persian Recipes Polo (Rice) No Comments »

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 :D

Meigoo Polo

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.

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