For this recipe I followed my friend’s suggestion Nastaran and added grate ginger! It has a beautiful harmony with the flavor of beetroot and yogurt. I also added black onion seeds that combines well with the rest of the ingredients but it’s optional.

This Borani is a good option also as breakfast with cereal but without onion seeds. 🙂

Ingredients | 4-5 servings

• 8 tablespoons of yogurt (whole, no sugar)
• 1 medium beetroot.
• 2 g grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon of onion seeds
• to taste Salt, pepper

Preparation

– Cut in dice the beetroot, some prefers to grate them. It’s up to you.

– Mix all the ingredients in a bowl: yogurt, beetroot, salt, pepper, ginger and onion seeds. You’re done!

I took this photo the day after. It’s always so much work to do when you have guests at home and want to serve a Persian banquet. So Borani is one of those choices that you can prepare a day before so you may work on other dishes. Time also helps to have a more tasty and colorful Borani!

Notes:

• Some grate garlic instead of ginger. Do as you prefer. The main ingredients are yogrut and beetroot for the rest you are the boss! 🙂
• The proportions between yogurt and beetroot is subjective. For more creamy result add more yogurt.
• When you prepare beetroot Borani the day before, it probably thickens because beetroots and onion seeds absorb the humidity of yogurt. Add 1-2 tbsp of yogurt to adjust Borani’s creaminess.

Noosh e jan

The post Borani of beetroot appeared first on Foodcraftz.

If you have both main ingredients (lentils and squash) cooked, this dish will take no longer than 20-30 minutes.

Ingredients | 5 servings

• 400g/14.1oz squash
• 200g/10.5oz lentils
• 1 medium onion
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3 tbs clarified butter
• Lemon juice (to taste)
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Preparation

– Cooking lentils: add them in a pot with 4cm/1.5in water above the surface. (follow the package instructions for cooking time)

– Stir fry chopped onion in clarified butter, till they become golden.

– Add the squash and a bit of salt. To have a greater taste, stir for 10 minutes, then put the lid on and wait other 10 minutes so the squash is tender.

– Add: cumin, turmeric and stir. The squash should be soften by now. Smash the squash pieces by pressing the back of spoon or a meat masher. This will help the stew become creamy.

– Add the cooked lentils, pour 2 cups of boiling water.

– Add freshly grate nutmeg on top and let it simmer for ⏳ 20 minutes.

– Adjust the season with salt and a bit of lemon juice and it’s ready!

Notes:

• While cooking lentils, don’t add salt because it makes them harder to cook. Add salt when they are cooked.

• Make sure the squash has a good quality so it sweet taste has a greater impact on the the dish. Once I bought from the super market the squash and the stew was very tasteless.

Serve with extra virgin olive oil and bread.

Noosh e Jan and Enjoy ☺️

The post Squash and lentils dip appeared first on Foodcraftz.

Some people cook it in pyrex and in the oven. This way it’s easier to check the color and decide when it’s done. This recipe is with old fashion non stick pot.

Ingredients | 4 servings

• 2 Eggs
• 2 tbsp Yogurt
• 4-5 tbsp Oil of your choice/Clarified butter
• Salt
• 1/2 tsp Saffron
• 400g/14.2oz Rice (Basmati, Thai or Jasmin)

Nice to have:

• Non-stick pot

Preparation

Making saffron cream:

– In a big bowl (later some rice will goes in) add saffron and pour 2 tbsp of hot boiling water and wait for ⏳ 5 minutes.

– Add yogurt, eggs, a pinch of salt and 3 tbsp of oil/clarified butter. Mix till you have a yellow homogenous cream.

Preparation of rice

– Wash the rice till the color of the water, is no longer opaque.

– In a big pot boil water and add salt.

– Add the rice to the salty boiling water and wait till the rice grows in size and floats.

– Drain the rice, don’t rinse! (to maintain its taste and salt)

Preparation of final pot

– Mix 1/3 of rice with saffron cream.

– Pour in 3-4 tbsp of oil/Clarified butter to a non-stick pot on the stove, make sure it coats the bottom of the pot.

– Add the mix of rice and saffron and gently spread with a spatula to have an even surface.

– Add the rest of the white rice on top.

– Pour a bit of oil/butter on its surface.

– Cover the lid with a clean kitchen cloth.

➡️ in persian it called “Damkoni” دمکنی. It helps to absorbs the humidity, preventing water to return on the rice and helps the tahchin becomes crunchy.

– Cook on low heat for ⏳ 1 hour at least.

To serve:

➡️ Grip both pot and serving plate together and overturn. The Tahchin detaches from pot to the plate and it’s ready to serve.

Notes:

• Use thick bottom non-stick pot, it distributes the heat evenly, and prevent the rice to burn quickly.
• Greek style yogurt is perfect for Tahchin. It’s fatty and slightly sour.
• Long-grain rice is usually used to make Tahchin: Jasmin, Thai, Basmati, etc.

Noosh e Jan ☺️ (buon appetit!)

The post Simple Tahchin 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.

This recipe is the most common type of Eshkeneh in Iran but other versions, like the Booshehri (south Iran) with garlic and coriander, the version with the quince or with yogurt and even with mung beans which is from Khorasan etc. are worth to try.

Ingredients | 2 servings

• 1 big Onion (chopped)
• 2 Potatoes (diced)
• 2 Eggs
• 1tsp Turmeric
• 1 tbsp Flour
• 1 tsp Fenugreek leaf (or 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds)
• 2 tsp Salt
• Ghee/clarified butter
• Black pepper
• 5 cups of water (more or less)

Preparation

– On a gentle fire, stir fry for ⏳ 10 – 15 minutes chopped onions until golden.

– Add turmeric, flour, fenugreek, salt, and black pepper. Stir for some more seconds

– Add potatoes and hot water that completely covers 1 cm above the ingredients. Simmer for ⏳ 20 minutes.

– Add eggs and gently mix the soup while they are spreading. Cook for another ⏳ 2-3 mins and the Eshkeneh is ready.

Notes

• Instead of flour, you can use corn starch/potato starch for a gluten-free version
• Eshkene is a quick dish if the potato’s cut are small.
• The more the base of onion cooks it taste becomes better
• Fenugreek leaves can be found in Iranian supermarkets or online. In case you don’t have the fenugreek leaf, use the seeds in a smaller portion because they are bitter
• Usually it’s one egg per diner

Eshkeneh is served with bread.

Noosh e jan (buon appetite)

The post Eshkeneh, quick Persian soup with onion base appeared first on Foodcraftz.

The key ingredient is black Kale or Cavolo Nero. In their absence also the Curly kale is good. This is a long cooking process. The more Ribollita cooks the more delicious it becomes. So it is even better the next day 🙂

Ingredients | 5-6 servings

• 600g/21oz chopped Kale
• 700g/24oz Cooked Cannellini/Navy beans (or white beans)
• 200g/7oz Savoy Cabbage
• 1 cup Tomato passata
• 2 Onions
• 2 Carrots
• 3 Celery sticks
• 2 cloves of Garlic
• 300g/10.5oz Stale Tuscan bread (or any bread of your choice)
• Sage & Rosemary & Garlic for aromatic oil
• Extra virgin Olive Oil
• Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Preparation

– Cut the bread into small bits and put it aside.

– Prepare the Italian soffritto: sauté the chopped onion, celery & carrots.

– Add garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper and stir fry for 10 minutes.

– Add the chopped cabbage and kale, stir fry for another 10 minutes.

– Pour a cup of tomato passata and mix all ingredients together.

– Pour 1.5 liters of boiling water and put the lid on. Cook for ⏳ 1.5 hour.

Meanwhile, make the aromatic oil:

– In a small pot, put the aromatic herbs of your choice, mine was: sage & rosemary, thyme and garlics.

– Pour in extra virgin olive oil (1/2 a cup).

– On very low heat simmer for 5-10 minutes. The garlic shouldn’t burn it becomes slightly brown. Put it aside. While resting the oil absorbs more aroma.

Adding the beans

– Mix 1 cup of water with half of the cooked white beans, blend to have a dense cream. Add it to the Ribollita.

(Optional) some chefs blend the whole Ribollita. Without overdoing, leaving some chunks of veggies but overall having a slightly creamy texture.

– Turn off the heat.

– Add other half of white beans and the chunks of bread. Mix all ingredients together.

– Wait so the rebollita cools down (20 minutes).

– Turn on the heat.

– If the Ribollita is too dry add 1 cup of boiling water. Simmer for ⏳ 10 minutes. (this is the last time). We are re-boiling the soup.

– Turn off the heat and pour half of the aromatic oil (save the other half for serving) and let it sit for 30 mins.

– While Ribollita is resting, it will absorb the aroma of oil and its flavors mature becoming incredibly delicious. Ribollita is served warm not hot.

Serve with toasted bread, in Tuscany they rub garlic to it, and serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top. ☺️

Notes

• During the long hours of cooking the kale’s flavor will prevail and creates an incredible umami in the soup
• Ribollita is more delicious the day after.
• Make sure you’ve got a big pot to have space for all ingredients, i miscalculated and had to change my pot to a bigger one while I was cooking this Ribollita 🙂 .

Buon appetito ☺️

The post Ribollita – soup of Tuscany with kale appeared first on Foodcraftz.

There are so many flatbreads in the world without yeast to name some:

• Chapati, Paratha, Naan (India)
• Lavash (Iran, Armenia, and Turkey)
• Cong you bing (China)
• Tortillas (Mexico)

This recipe is inspired by Lavash (the Iranian version), the ingredients are: flour, water, salt, and yogurt.

Why making the dough with yogurt?

Yogurt is a complex ingredient. We have proteins, fat and loads of bacteria and probiotics which is the result of a natural fermentation of milk. A bread made with yogurt is higher in nutritions and easier to digest.

Ingredients | 6-10 breads

• 500g 00 /17.6 oz wheat flour (all purpose flour)
• 180g/6.3oz lukewarm water
• 70g/2.4oz whole greek yogurt
• 1tsp of salt

Preparation of dough

– In a big bowl mix the flour with salt. Pour water and yogurt. Knead to have a rough dough.

– Leave to rest for ⏳ 15 minutes at room temperature and knead again the dough gets smoother.

optional: let it rest for 2 hours.

Baking the flatbread

– Divide dough to form balls. Slightly press them to have a disk shape for an easier work with rolling pin later.

⏳ wait 10 mins so the dough relaxes.

– Place the pan/skillet on the stove, on medium heat. The pan should be very hot like a baking oven.

– Pop each rolled out dough on the hot pan.

(Optional) ➡️ There is a trick that many bakers use to maintain flat shape of the dough. It’s a clean pillow-like surface which the baker stretches the dough on top so it doesn’t shrink back. Then they stick the dough to the hot surface/walls of the oven (Tanoor).

lol this is how I made mine: with a bowl and a clean kitchen cloth 🙂

Bake (suggestive):

• the first side: 2 minutes
• the other side: 1 minute

After baking the first bread, you’ll see what is the best timing for you to change the sides.

➡️ Important: When upturning the dough, press, so the whole surface is in contact with pan and the bubbles does not lift dough off pan’s surface and burn.

The result is a smooth and crispy flatbread!

Notes:

• The number of bread depends on the size of the pan you bake the breads. If you have a small pan, you’ll have to make smaller balls. (and more work to do lol)
• ➡️ Important: make sure you use stone or cast-iron skillet; other materials like Teflon become carcinogen at high temperatures.

Enjoy ☺️

The post Flatbread with yogurt appeared first on Foodcraftz.

These rolls are loaded with spinach, which is a great source of Iron with benefits for blood, positive mood, immune system.

p.s. I bought the phyllo dough from the supermarket, It’s so hard to make that at home.

Ingredients | 3-4 servings

• 110g/3.8oz Feta cheese
• 350g/12.5oz frozen Spinach
• 3 medium boiled Potatoes
• 150g/5.2oz Phyllo dough
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 2 cloves of Garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Onion
• Clarified butter (optional for brushing the top of the dough)

Preparations

– Cut the fresh/frozen spinach into small pieces.

– Stir fry the chopped onion in a pan.

– Add the spinach, turmeric, cumin, salt and black pepper

⏳? Stir fry for 20 mins so the spinach will lose its water and the mix becomes dry.

The spinach mix should become very soft and dry, since the phyllo dough is very thin, it can be easily softened by the filling’s humidity.

? meanwhile boil the potatoes(if you don’t have them ready)

? In a big bowl mix:

– Boiled potatoes, feta cheese, grated garlic and spinach mix.

– Combine all ingredients together with the help of a masher.

♨️ Turn on the oven on 190C°/375F°.

Preparing the rolls

– Open 2 sheets of dough.

– Add the mix near one side.

– Rotate the dough around the filling.

– Close both sides like wrapping a gift ?

– Make other rolls until the mix is finished.

– Brush the top of each roll with ghee/clarified butter

?why clarified butter? because its smocking point is high, and it gives the surface a nice color and crunch.

⏳♨️ In the oven, let it cook for 25mins (last 4 mins on grill, to have a nice golden color on top)

? The spinach rolls will be ready to serve as soon as they cool down a bit! ?

Notes

• For a richer taste add a bit of smocked feta in the filling.
• Serve them with salad, pickles, or plain yogurt.
• They are great as starters or happy hours ?

Buon appetite! ?

The post Spinach rolls with feta and potatoes appeared first on Foodcraftz.

• Traditional/Formal style (this recipe): it’s more laborious because we drain the rice. This type of preparation is common for celebrations and formal occasions, or when there are guests at home.
• Kateh style: rice cookes in the pot in 1 hour. It’s easier to cook since we don’t drain anything. The rice will be slightly sticky.

Important: you’ll need a thick bottom nonstick pot to distributes the heat evenly. If the bottom is thin the rice will burn.

Ingredients | 4-5 servings

• 500g/17.6oz Basmati rice
• 2 tbsp Salt
• 2-3 tbsp Ghee/clarified butter
• 2 knobs of Butter

video recipe:

Preparation

– Wash rice until the color of water, is no longer opaque.

– In a big pot boil water and add salt. (just like pasta water).

– Add rice to the pot and wait till it grows in size and floats on water.

– Save 1 cup of rice’s starchy-water, and add a knob of butter to melt (set aside for later).

– Drain the rice, don’t rinse! (to maintain the taste and salt).

– In a nonstick pot, on low heat, add 2-3 tbsp of ghee or oil, followed by 2 knobs of butter. (a greasy bottom helps to have a thicker tahdig and avoids burnings).

– Sprinkle all the rice, and at the end create some holes in it, which helps the humidity to come out more easily.

– Pour in the mix of butter and starchy water (that we saved before).

– Cover the lid with a clean kitchen cloth (in persian it called “Damkoni” دمکنی). It absorbs the humidity, preventing water to return on rice and helps the tahdig becomes crunchy.

– Cook on low heat for at least⏳ 1 hour. If you like a thicker and darker tahdig cook for 2-3 hours.

When the basmati rice comes off the edges, and its color turns to a golden brown, that’s when the Tahdig is ready!

➡️ Grip both pot and serving plate together and overturn. The tahdig falls on the plate and it’s ready to be served.

Notes

• It’s important to save a bit of starchy water from rice to have a beautiful compact tahdig
• The tahdig takes around 1 hour to cook but its color will be pale. Longer cookings makes tahdig more colorful.
• Long-grain rice is usually used for tahdig like: Jasmin, Thai, Basmati, etc.
• It is more authentic, if you serve the rice with saffron.
• People serve tahdig with stews (ghormeh sabzi, khoresh gheimeh, baghali ghatogh, zereshkpolo etc.) but it tastes good even with a fried egg! 🙂

noosh-e-jan ☺️

The post Traditional Tahdig – Persian rice crust appeared first on Foodcraftz.

Iran is the land of Ash, according to Wikipedia, there are 50 varieties of Ash in Iran. Ash Reshteh is not an easy recipe, it’s so laborious. Every time I cook, it takes 3 hours. Because i make everything from scratch. If all the ingredients like Reshteh, Kashk (or yogurt’s cream) & legumes are ready, it takes much less but we can’t fast forward the cooking time of Ash because its flavors should be settled. (جا بیوفته)

Ingredients | 4-5 servings

• 130g/4.5oz mix of beans (pinto, white, red)
• 40g/2.1oz Chickpeas
• 80g/2.8oz Lentils
• 2 Onions
• 100g/3.5oz chopped Coriander
• 200g/7oz chopped Parsley
• 200g/7oz chopped Chives or Leek
• 250g/8oz chopped Spinach
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 2 tsp Cumin
• 3tbsp dried Mint
• 3 clove of Garlic
• 4-5 tbsp Kashk
• 300g/10.5oz fresh or 150g/5.3oz dried Reshteh (noodles)
• Pinch of Saffron (optional: for decoration)
• 3tbs Clarified Butter or oil

Reshteh: if Homemade 250g/9oz, if Packed/industrial 100g/3.5oz

Preparation of ingredients

Legumes:

– Better to soak them overnight (except lentils). In the day after you can cook them in 1 hour. If not, in a pressure cooker they will take 45 minutes to cook (with loads of water).

Reshteh (noodles) you can either:

1- Iranian supermarkets sells Reshteh or you can use pasta (spaghetti shape)

2- Make it yourself: Mix 3 times flour more than water, (like: 70g/2.5oz water, 200g/7oz flour) knead till you have a very dry dough. Let it rest for 1-2 hours then extend the dough to have a sheet of 3 mm of thickness and cut it in strips of 10-12 cm.

➡️ for more details check out reshteh recipe: reshteh

Kashk (the white sauce) you can either:

– If you find buy it from Iranian supermarkets or online shops.

– Homemade Kashk: On low heat, mix 500g/17.6 sour sheep yogurt (preferable) with 1tbsp of salt. Stir gently till it reduces in less than half. I use a blender to make it creamy. (and add some water if it needs) ✅

➡️ The homemade Kashk will not taste the same as the one in Iran, because in that case the yogurt goes through aging process and acquires a pungent taste which is the main characteristic of Kashk. We can’t do that at home because it needs some special conditions that if not respected pathogenic bacteria may grow and are very dangerous.

Final pot

– Chop 1 onion in a big pot (will be the pot of Ash) stir fry, when they become slightly golden add turmeric, cumin, and 1 chopped clove of garlic.

– Stir fry for some seconds.

– Add herbs, spinach and lentils.

– Pour 1.5L of boiling water.

⏳ Put the lid on and simmer for 1 hour.

– Add the cooked beans. Add half of the dried mint & 3-4 tbsp of Kashk and mix well.

⏳ Add Reshteh and simmer the Ash. If Reshteh is fresh 5-7 minutes, if not it +12 minutes.

Since the reshteh absorbs so much water, watch the density of the ash, If it gets too dense add a bit of boiling water.

(optional) Mix 1tbp of flour in a 1/3 glass of cold water. Pour it in and simmer for ⏳ 5 minutes.

– Turn off the heat. Adjust the seasoning, avoid adding too much salt because, we’ll serve Ash with extra Kashk on top which is already salty.

– Let Ash Reshteh rests for 20 minutes. It is essential to serve Ash Reshteh warm not very hot.

Meanwhile prepare the 5 toppings:

– Fried onion: slice onion very tiny, fry till they become golden brown.

– Fried garlic: chop the garlic into slices, fry till they gain golden color and becomes like small chips.

– Mint oil: heat half cup of extra virgin olive oil on medium heat, when it becomes slightly hot, turn off the heat, crush the dried mint between your fingers and sprinkle in pan and it’s done!

– Saffron water: pour in 1/4 cup of boiling water in glass and add a pinch of ground saffron. Leave it for ⏳5 minutes to release all its color to water.

– Kashk: If it’s very dense, dilute it with a bit of water when it becomes creamy it’s ready.

Decorate the serving bowl with the toppings: kashk, fried garlic and onion, saffron and mint oil

Final word: pat your shoulders and call yourself: “Ashpaz“, the one who can cook Ash, which is the word used for “Cook/Chef” in Persian. (it is not a recipe that everyone can do ☺️)

Good luck with cooking your Ash Reshteh 😆

The post Ash Reshteh – Persian dense soup with legumes, herbs, and noodles appeared first on Foodcraftz.