1- Nun, Paneer, Chaii shirin نون پنیر چایی شیرین

Probably the most popular breakfast in Iran. Nothing is cooked. Just bring every element to the table:

• Nun (bread), Any type of bread is good! (sangak, barbari, ore french baguette!)
• Paneer (cheese), Lighvan type, if you don’t have the Greek Feta cheese is a valid substitute.
• Chai Shirin (sweet tea). The tea is always black. Freshly brewed and it is served bitter (!) Each person adds the preferred amount of sugar to the tea. A small sugar canister is always present at the table.

What else goes? The butter and walnuts aren’t mentioned, but they are most likely present at the breakfast table.

2- Omelette املت

Iran has its own omelette that brought from the French cuisine. It isn’t just with eggs, and it’s somehow similar to Shakshuka but with fewer spices. Even if it’s so easy to cook, people would love to have omelette at restaurants served as breakfast.

How to cook? In a hot pan mix: tomato paste, diced onion (optional), turmeric (optional), salt and pepper then add eggs and mix. Done. ✔️

3- Halim هلیم

Halim is one of the oldest and richest types of breakfasts in Iran. Families rarely make it at home, because it’s so time-consuming to cook, that’s why it’s brought from the specialized stores.

It’s made of cooked wheat or barley and meat which has been smashed. The texture is creamy and has a sort of elasticity. It’s served either sweet or salty. This depends on the topping.

• Salty version: cinnamon.
• Sweet version: sugar with cinnamon.

Check out the Persian Halim recipe with fibre recipe.

4- Kaleh Pache/kalepache کله پاچه

When things come to Kaleh Pacheh, Iranians are divided into two groups:

1. Those who hate Kaleh Pache.
2. Those who die for it. (we are grateful the first group exists)

It’s the breakfast of cold seasons. Kale Pache is rarely cooked at home. People buy it from specialized stores, and it is served in the early mornings. People have it either at at the restaurants or -most of them- have it as take away to eat in their comfortable homes. It is served with: sprinkle of cinnamon, fresh bread of sangak, drops of lemon or narenj (bitter orange) and raw onions.

5- Adasi عدسی

This is -perhaps- the only vegan breakfast of Iran, however some might add the meat broth to it for a richer flavor. Adas (عدس) means lentils and Adasi refers to lentil soup. It’s eaten with drops of lemon on top and a piece of bread. So easy to cook and it’s very nutritious. Adasi is bought from either restaurant or is homecooked.

Here is Adasi recipe

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Halim helps to resist the hunger for long hours. The traditional Halim is without grain peel but here we didn’t remove them so it’s quicker and healthier 🙂

The most important characteristic of Halim is its elasticity. It should shine and stretch! The cut of meat used in Halim helps to have such consistency. The best choices are sheep neck or ribs because they are tender and fatty. Some people like to use turkey too.

Ingredients | 4 servings

• 1 cups Shelled Wheat
• 1/2 cup pearled Barley (optional)
• 300g Sheep ribs or neck
• 1 Onion
• black pepper (to taste)
• half tsp Turmeric (optional)
• 1 tbsp Salt
• 1.5 L Water
• Cinnamon (for garnish)
• Sugar (for garnish)
• Butter (for garnish)

Preparation of meat

– In a pot place onion and meat.

– Brown the meat for 10 minutes on high heat. It helps to have more flavors in broth.

– Add a bit of turmeric stir a few seconds then pour half liter of boiling water.

– On low heat cook for ⏳ 3 hours.

The meat should become extremely tender that separates from the bones.

– Remove all the unwanted bonds, skins etc.

– Place the meat in a bowl and add a bit of broth and with a masher make a paste.

Cooking wheat (in parallel with meat):

– In a big pot, pour 1L of water add wheat and salt.

– Cook for ⏳ 2 hours.

– Add barley and cook for another ⏳ 1 hour. (optional)

– At the end we have a very starchy and thick mix in the pot.

– Ground the wheat base with food processor or a Minipimer, or by hand with a masher to have a creamy paste.

– Add the meat paste and broth to the wheat base and mix.

– Simmer for ⏳1 hour. Stir every 10 minutes to avoid it sticks to the bottom of the pot.

At the end Halim should be shiny and dense.

➡️ Check the seasoning before serving.

Notes

• Better to soak wheat a night before.
• The longer wheat cooks we get a better texture and richer flavors.
• Avoid buying sterilized wheat. They are tasteless and poor in minerals.
• Place a knob of butter while Halim is still hot and add sprinkle of cinnamon.
• It’s fun to eat Halim, starting with a salty version and whenever you feel like having “dessert” sprinkle sugar on top and enjoy!

The post Halim, Persian version of meat porridge appeared first on Foodcraftz.

Some add the meat broth for a richer taste. Since we are using ghee/clarified butter this is a vegetarian version but feel free to replace with oil of your choice to have a vegan Adasi.

Ingredients | 4 servings

• 250g / 2 cups lentils
• 1 L Water
• 1 tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 3 tbsp Clarified Butter
• 1 Onion (diced)
• Salt (to taste)
• Black Pepper (to taste)
• 1 tsp Corn or Potato Starch (optional)

Preparation

– In a big pot, on medium heat, sauté the diced onion.

– When they become golden, add the spices: turmeric & cumin & black pepper.

– Sauté spices for some seconds, to intensify their flavors.

– Add lentils followed by boiling water.

– On low heat, simmer for ⏳ 2 hours.

– 30 minutes before finishing: add salt.

➡️ Because salt increases the cooking time of the lentils and harden their texture. That’s why we add it toward the end of cooking time.

The final touch:

– Mix 1 tsp of corn or potato starch in half cup of cold water.

– Add the mix to Adasi. It will make the soup more shiny and creamy. Simmer for ⏳ 5 minutes and it’s ready.

Notes

• Adasi is served with golpar (Persian Hogweed), drops of lemon, fried onions or a knob of butter. (any of these alone is good enough 🙂 )
• Soak the lentils a night before, for a better and quicker result.
• It’s usually cooked with green lentils

Noosh e jan ☺️ (buon appetite in persian)

The post Adasi, vegetarian lentils soup appeared first on Foodcraftz.

What types of apple is the best?

Pink lady, Ambrosia, SweeTango, or any sweet and sour taste apple you find in the market can be great.

Ingredients | 5-6 servings

• 5 Apples
• 100g /3.5oz Flour All-purpose
• 50g /1.7oz Almond flakes
• 40g /1.4oz Coconut shredded
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• drops Vanilla extract
• 50g /1.7oz Butter and some knobs of butter
• 1 tbsp Coconut oil
• 1/4 cup Water

Preparation

– Preheat the oven at 170C°/330F°.

Preparing the apple base:

– Peel, deseed, and slice the apples.

– Add cinnamon and some drops of vanilla extract.

– Mix them and put them in the oven tray.

– On top goes 4-5 knobs of butter.

Making of the crumbles:

– In a bowl combine the flour, shredded coconuts, almonds, and a pinch of salt.

– Pour the melted butter and coconut oil, along with 1/4 cup of water.

– Add some drops of vanilla extract.

– Mix till you have a sticky mass.

– Place the moist crumble by hand on top of the apples.

– Put the baking tray on the lowest rack of the preheated oven.

– Cook for ⏳ 75 minutes.

For a more colorful crumble: put the oven on grill program for the last 5 mins, so the top will become brownish and more crunchy.

Serve it warm with coffee or tea ☕️

The post No sugar apple crumble recipe appeared first on Foodcraftz.

To have a beautiful shiny red color murabba, vvoid Iron or metal pot. I used a non-stick pot.

Ingredients

• 600g/21.1oz Quince (4-5 quince)
• 500g/17.6oz Brown sugar
• Water

Preparation

– Wash the quinces and cut them into small pieces

important: keep the seeds, they are an important source of natural gelatin for murabba

– In the pot: add quinces and sugar

– Pour water till it covers the quinces

Add the seeds. You can either:

1- Simmer the seeds, in a cup of water (while cooking murabba) for 30mins. To extract natural gelatin inside the seeds then pour it into murabba.

or

2- Put them inside a net & place it in the pot (like I did)

– On low heat simmer the quince murabba for 3-4 hours

colors of quince murabba from the start to the end

The color will be your indicator. The result should be a dark red, dense and shiny murabba.

Notes

• If you have a copper pot the color of the jam will be even more red and beautiful just avoid the iron pots. In this recipe, I used non-stick pot which gives a nice color to murabba too.
• Quince murabba is great with bread and butter. But it’s best with french toast 🙂
• From wikipedia: Murabba refers to a sweet fruit preserve which is popular in many regions of South Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. It is generally prepared with fruits, sugar, and spices

Noosh-e-jan ☺️

The post Quince Murabba – Persian recipe appeared first on Foodcraftz.

If you replace the fruits with lemon juice this recipe will have no fructose.

Ingredients

• 200g/7oz Almonds
• 200g/7oz Flax seeds
• 1 tbsp Soy or Sunflower Lecithin
• 1/2 tbs pure Stevia
• 5-7 Strawberries
• 1 Kiwifruit
• 1/2 tbs Vanilla
• pinch of Salt

Preparation

– Ground the flax seeds and almonds .

– Add the lecithin with a pinch of salt.

– Blend the fruits and mix with stevia and vanilla.

➡️ In case you are using none pure stevia, add 2-3 tablespoon instead

– Mix all ingredients together

– Put it in the fridge and it will be ready in 3-4 hours but it will be perfect the next day.

Notes

• Also monk fruit is a valid substitute for stevia.

in the photo, I’m serving the paste with low-carb bread.

enjoy! ☺️

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