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Photo from cover of "Silk Road Cooking" by Najmieh Batmanglij Do you have a question about cooking? September 2002 Latest Previous * Zereshk polo: Easiest Persian mixed rice September 30, 2002 * Noon barbari in China Jila wrote: Simin Khanum's reply: I suggest that either buy noon e barbari or forget about it. Even the stores who make it professionally, never is as good as it was in Iran. I think they might enjoy it more if you take them to a place that they have tanoor and make lavash. -- Simin Khanum Jila wrote back: Simin Khanum's reply: I called a bakery to ask for the recipe, he said all Persian bread need Tanoor, in the oven it will come dry, I am supposed to call later tonight and ask him anyway. I hope it works. by the way, is there any Arabic bread there? Like pita bread, that is the closest to persian bread. September 6, 2002 * Zereshk polo: Easiest Persian mixed rice In reply to "* Zerishkpolo?" You are lucky to ask the recipe for one of the easiest Persian mixed rice. The
direction may look long, since I wanted to make it clear. I assume that you know
how to make rice.This is how I make the Zereshk plo. -- Simin Khanum September 6, 2002 * Zereshk polo: Real easy In reply to "* Zerishkpolo?" Zereshk polo is a real easy polo to make if you spend some time taking care of your zereshk and preparing it. Most of the zereshk that I have bought or received from Iran have a lot of sand, dirt and dust. Here is what I do to get the zereshk ready and to make a pot of rice serving 4 people. Keep your zereshk in the freezer till ready to use. This helps to keep the bright red color, otherwise it will turn dark. 2 days before you plan to cook zereshk polo, take out one cup of zereshk and pick through it for little stones and clean it well. Wash the zereshk in a double colander and change the water 4 or 5 times till here is no dirt, sand and the water runs clean. Shake the colander well and let the zereshk to dry out for 2 days before you use it. We do not want wet soggy zereshk!! Cook chicken pieces anyway you like. Make your rice and while it is is steaming, prepare the zereshk. Here is the recipe for the zereshk that you add to the rice before it is brought to the table. * One cup of cleaned, washed and dried Zereshk. Place the butter in a non stick frying pan over low heat. Add zereshk, toss and add sugar and saffron water to the pot and mix well. Cook for one or 2 minutes till sugar melts and coats the zereshk and there is little water left in the pot. Add slivered almonds, mix and turn off the heat. Place half of your ready rice (damkeshideh) on a nice platter, spread half of the zereshk mixture over it, layer it with the rest of the rice and finish it off by spreading the remaining zereshk mixture on top of the rice. Arrange your chicken pieces around a platter and serve. Noshe jAn P.S. Some people add fried onion and Advieh to the mixture, but I like the taste of zereshk just by itself. September 4, 2002 * Zerishkpolo? I am looking for a recipe for zerishkpolo. Do you know where I can get it? August 15, 2002 * Mom's recipe In response to "Kalleh Joosh" Dear Katy, 1- Ground beef ... 1 lb Mix meat with grated onion, add salt, pepper, and make small meat balls. Fry meat balls in a pan, add a little oil(I don't) if the meat is very lean.Add mint on the meat balls and saut?bsp;very little.Add water, fried onion, turmeric, salt& pepper. Bring to a boil. When the water becomes thicker about half the original amount,add kashk boil for couple of minutes and add the crushed walnut. Put in a deep dish add some walnut on the top and serve. Noosh e Jaan, -- Simin Khanum August 15, 2002 * Texturized vegetable protein I have made vegetarian kotlet & other made up recipes for vegetarian burgers, Shaami,... I substitute meat with something called "texturized vegetable protein" which I get it from Fresh Fields supermarket. It looks like large and larger versions of bread crumbs. The larger size is often mistaken with meat in the khoresh and is hard to tell or taste the difference. I use the smaller size for kotlet. -- Simin Khanum August 10, 2002 * Related to Cafe Naderi We were deep in the mountains, hours from New York city, surrounded by maple forests and dairy farms, at a restaurant called Main Street, Bovina. Bovina - even the name means cowtown. It's an unlikely place to go looking for a world class restaurant. The food was country-fresh and truly creative, with some flavors that were very familiar but totally unexpected in this environment. Like the dessert of saffron, yogurt, and rosewater sherbets in a sauce of kharbozeh. The chef is Serge Madikians, whose family ran Cafe Naderi. He's been cooking for
only five years, he says. My American dinner companion, a partner in a very high
end restaurant in the city, I noted that he also had a very rich past. "Don't you think the Catskills look a little bit like Mazandaran?" Serge asked. August 10, 2002 * Worked well In response to "Vegetarian koofteh" You can substitute soy ( the stuff that is used for veggie burgers) for meat in koofte. I have not used it for koofte myself, but I have used it in other recipes and it worked well. Noshe jAn August 8, 2002 * Close enough to kolouche In response to "Noon-Ghanndi, Noon Shirmaa...baa Khormaa!" I remember my grandma making noon ghandi and noon shirmal each time she baked the month supply of bread for her large family at home. And we all still remember the taste of koluche from ShomAl from the old days. I think there are some things better left to memory rather than try to duplicate them or they are just to hard to do!! I have no recipe for any of the above to offer you but maybe can direct you to some thing that may be close enough to koluche and noon khorma! In Arab stores, you can find a pastry called "maa'mul" which looks like a koluche with date paste inside. It is individually wrapped, the pastry is soft and the date feeling inside is not too sweet. You can also find a ring of sweet yellowish bread like coffee cake with dates inside that is in the bread section of most Arab stores. Try them and let us know what you think. Noshe jAn. August 6, 2002 * Back to Tas Kabab In response to "Tas Kabab and Khoresh-e-Qeymeh" Dear Sylvia, Noosh e Jaan, -- Simin Khanum August 6, 2002 * If you like spinach now that we're talking about any kind of cooking (even if it's just talking about it like your marble cake recipe which kind of reminds me of Alice in Wonderland), here is one easy to make recipe (you can call it whatever you want): to make a light, nutritious and delicious dinner, you need spinach, onion, feta cheese, olive oil, walnuts, fresh lime juice, salt and pepper and of course garlic (there is no particular amount of each, all totally depends on your taste buds) wash the spinach real well (even soak them for a few minutes and drain an soak again, but don't leave them in the water too long for they are perishable). chop them and chop the onion and the garlic (for me the more the better). sauté them in the frying pan with olive oil (preferably extra virgin), add the walnuts (you can leave them halved or you can crush them). sauté a little more for another ten minutes or so. add the cheese, squeeze the lime juice over it. add the salt and pepper if the taste requires and try it with naan-e lavash or better yet sangak. now the whole thing depends on whether or not you like spinach ;) August 5, 2002 * Best book In response to "Wedding food" The best place to look for a recipe for Shirin polo and Javaher polo which are used for weddings, is from "New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies" by Najmieh Batmanglij (Mage, 1992) He can also read about the other traditional Iranian ceremonies and also about Iranian weddings. He can have a look at a book at a book store or receive the book from someone as a shower or wedding gift that he can enjoy and use it for years to come! MobArak bAshe. August 5, 2002 * Used to bake cakes My mother made great deserts when we were growing up in Abadan. She taught me how to make marble cake. Once she told me to make one for one of our neighbors. I did and I took it over to their house. The neighbor's wife thanked me and said, "Who made the cake?" "My mother," I replied. August 5, 2002 * Favorite: Tuna One of my favorite quick meals is tuna sandwich. On average, I eat a can of tuna a day, especially now that I'm trying to lose weight. The way I make it is what I learned from my mother: a can of tuna, some mayonnaise, some lemon juice and chopped cucumbers. The key is the cucumbers. It makes it much more delicious than adding celery. August 2, 2002 * I call it Azari Tabulleh In response to "Muhammara?" Dear Maria, I am not sure of the name in Persian or in Turkish or if we are talking about the same dish. But I learned to make the dish close to what you are asking for, from an old Iranian woman who was born in Istanbul. I had never seen it Iran or in any Persian cook books but it taste great. Here is the Recipe: I call it Azari Tabulleh Nenoshe jan. August 2, 2002 * Wedding food An American student of mine who is studying Farsi and Persian culture is getting
married and asked for special food that is served for marriage festivities. I thought
about Shirin-Polo and like to get the recipe for him or ask him to contact you himself. August 2, 2002 * Shekar Polo Khuzestani In Khuzestan, we have a sweet rice dish called shekar polo. It's yellow and it's eaten with a fried fish dish called zubadi. Can you help me with a recipe? -- T Nordstrom August 2, 2002 * Muhammara? I am trying to figure out whether or not the appetizer called "muhammara"
(walnuts, pomegranate molasses, breadcrumbs, red pepper, etc.), which is eaten in
Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, etc. is also an Iranian dish, and if it goes by the same
name. I know that walnuts and pomegranate are a common combination in Iran, but I
don't know about -- Maria August 2, 2002 * Noon-Ghanndi, Noon Shirmaa...baa Khormaa! I would like to ask for a simple recipe. How do you make: August 2, 2002 * Kolucheh recipe? My favorite cookie is this walnut-paste filled kolucheh. I have eaten (and enjoyed) them when visiting the north part of Iran. I have been unable to find a good one here (in Arizona) and would love to find a recipe so I can attempt to bake them. I purchased this kolucheh in Orange County at a Persian market. The filling was very good, but the cookie was not quite right -- it was a bit dry and bready and had an egg wash on top (for color I assume). Do you have any suggestions on where I can find this kolucheh, or do you have a recipe? I appreciate your help!! -- Simin August 2, 2002 * Best rice cooker I've been looking to buy a rice cooker that can make decent Persian rice. Do you
have any recommendations? August 2, 2002 * Tas Kabab and Khoresh-e-Qeymeh My boyfriend, who is Persian, loves Tas Kabab and Khoresh-e-Qeymeh. Do you have
the recipe for me? I already cooked according the recipes of Najmieh
Batmanglij, but I think there is still something missing (spices, a special trick,
a special kind of meat: e.g. what part of the lamb?). August 2, 2002 * Morabaa-ye-bahaar naarenj? Do you have a recipe for morabaa-ye-bahaar naarenj? I live in the south of Spain
and the bahaar naarenj and I would love to try to make the jam, so would be very
grateful if you could send the recipe? August 2, 2002 * Vegetarian koofteh August 2, 2002 * Kalleh Joosh -- Katy Etemad Ashpaz We have two Simins for now :-) -- I like to give advice on Ashpazi. I am the queen of low fat, Fat free, vegetarian cooking. After many years of cooking passionately, these days I would like to spend my time on other things rather than cooking. I can give advice whenever I have the time. My name is Simin Khanum. -- I can give some cooking tips. Email me: Simin Rasmussen.
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