Iran Iran Iran

STARTER

Kashke Bademjan (Eggplant Dip)

• 1 large eggplant
• ½ onion thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• Salt & olive oil
• Dr Food whole grain pita bread to serve
  

Peel eggplant whole and slice a few gashes on the side, rub all over in salt immediately and let sit for 20 minutes. Slice egg plants in thin slices, oil liberally and then grill in medium heat till golden brown, set aside and cool when ready. Meanwhile sear garlic and onions in frying pan till golden brown, set aside and cool. Roughly pulse/blend all ingredients together with sour cream so that it still has a chunky texture. Arrange on flat plate garnished with flat leaved parsley and a sprinkle of light spices of your choice. Toast pita and scoop it all up!

MAINS

Dizi (Lamb Stew)

Prepare 7 hours before serving

• 1.2 Kilograms of freerange lamb shoulders, diced into 3 x 3 cm chunks, keep a bone if poss
• 2 onions - roughly chopped
• 2 clove garlic - roughly chopped
  
• 2 tsp tumeric
• 1 litre water
• 1 Tbs salt
  
• 1 can tomatoes
• 1 can chickpeas
• 6 potatoes cut into chunks
  
• 2 Tsp tomato paste
• Pickles to serve
  

Heat oil and fry 1 of the onions & garlic in medium heat with tumeric, then turn to medium high. Fry lamb quickly to seal in the juice, turn heat off as quickly as possible after this. Place this into a large pot. Add canned tomatoes and tomatoe paste and any bones and fat. Put enough water into the pot to just cover the ingredients with salt. Turn heat on to low. Let this simmer for 5 hours or so. Then add potatoes and the other onion for the last 2 hours. Serve with picked vegetables such as gherkins or green chillis.
- Traditionally this dish is cooked and served in small clay pots called dizi, with very large chunks of pure lamb fat. The way you're suppose to eat this dish is to drain the liquid and soak it up with bread, then mash the rest of the content with a small hammer. When not in an ideal world a less fatty and unmashed version was accepted by my guests.

Joojeh Kabab (Chicken Skewers)

• Skinned chicken chunks in 2.5 cm cubed pieces
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Capsicums in 2.5 cm cubed pieces
• Toothpicks soaked in water

Marinate chicken overnight or at least 3 hours in olive oil, lime juice and salt & pepper. Skew up alternative chunks with capsicums. Grill in medium heat till lightly brown. Serve immediately with lime wedges, fresh tomatoes slices, and pickles.

Damy (fried rice with grains)

• Cooked basmati rice – 1 cup per person
• Cooked grain mix – eg. brown, red lentils, split peas mixture of chopped nuts such as pistachios, cashews or almonds
• ½ chopped onions
• Salt & pepper
• Grape seed oil for frying

Sear onions in oil and salt & pepper till golden brown. Add grains first and fry till a bit crispy. Then add rice, fry for 8 – 10 minutes.

Kateh (steamed rice)

• Basmati rice - 1 cup per person
• Approx 8 saffron strands soaked in ¼ cup boiling water for at least 30 minutes
• 100 g Barberries soaked in hot water

Prepare rice in steamer or by absorption method as you usually would. Remove saffron strands from soaked water, add 2/3 cup of the cooked rice in it to colour it and return to heat of some sort to let the colour set in some more. To serve, pile white rice on bottom in a pyramid shape, then sprinkle yellow rice on top. Drain barberries from water and garnish liberally.

DESSERT

Bombay Oranges

OK I cheated with a Gordon Ramsay recipe here but it was a refreshing finish to the afternoon nevertheless.

Ban Sa (Vietnamese noodle salad)

This is simply a blind stab at replicating a meal I tried at the Vietnamese Restaurant near Old Street a couple of weeks ago. It worked and knocked the socks of my new landlady. Hope it works for you too!

Ingredients

Rice noodles (80g per person)
Fresh bean sprouts (3/4 cup per person)
Shredded assorted fresh veges eg. carrots, cabbage, red cabbage, red capsicums (small handful)
Spring onions - 1 sprig diced
Half of one red onion - thinly sliced
1 red chilli finely sliced
2 cloves garlice diced
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup fish sauce
Juice of one lime
Coriander - one bunch well sliced
Lean pork - sliced thinly (can be easily substituted by chicken, fish or firm tofu)
Dash of soy sauce
Cooking oil

Method

1. Marinate red onions, most of the crushed garlic, red chillis in lime juice, fish sauce and brown sugar for at least 20 minutes. The salt in the fish sauce and the lime juice will take the sharp odur off the onions and garlic. Adjust amount of sauces and sugar to suit taste.
   
2. Pour boiling hot water onto uncooked rice sticks and cover for 5 minutes. Drain and rince with cold water immediately to prevent from further cooking. Drain well, roughly chop into smaller length with scissors and set aside.
   
3. Sear pork on high heat with oil, remainder of garlic and dash of soy sauce till cooked. Set aside.
4. Toss rest of the ingredients together and serve. Best accompanied by a crsip beer.
   

Camel Burger

Hungry and lost in a market in Meknes, Morocco. I am sure this is of much disgust to Tinkerbell, but hey, this may be the one and only time I get to eat this thing.

You will need:

For Patties
Camel meat, minced (don't ask what part, just take it) x 70g per serve
Flour - to roll

For Compliments:
Round baguette x 1 per serve - cut in half and then again sideways to resemble a pocket
Grilled sliced onions
Grilled egg plants and zuccinis
Salat de Maroc - diced tomatoes, onions, cucumber, morrocan feta in olive oil
Harissa (hot chilli sauce)

Method
1) Roll camel meat into small balls. Roll lightly in some flour, fry on hot plate till cooked. This is important as it may have sat in heat and fly-lavae for a while.
2) Place in baguette, add compliments and sauce. Eat fresh.

Camel meat has a smooth supple texture. It is actually quite fatty but unlike beef or lamb, the fat does not get clumpy or coat your mouth or make you feel bloated. It is simply a delicate light meat without any pungent odure. It is definitely the texture rather than flavour that is the highlight.

Hisblah

I was once asked in an exam what a 'hisblah' was. It was for a job interview but all I got was a 2 hour written exam that I didn't know I was sitting. It wasn't my fault when I answered 'a round lamb loaf which you eat with a tomato salad.' It was what was on my mind at the time. Don't ask about the job.

Ingredience:

For the loaf
Flour - 1 1/2 cups then another 1/2 cup
sugar - 2 tsp
dried yeast - 1 tsp
warm water - 1/3 cup

For the filling
Lamb - fatty meaty parts boneless x200g chopped into bite size
Onion x1, diced
Mustard seeds - pinch
Garam masala - pinch
Tumeric powder - pinch
Cumin powder - pinch
Coriander seeds ground - pinch
Fennel seeds - whole, 1/2 tsp
Tomato puree - 90g can

For the salad
Cherry tomatoes - 1 punnet, halved
Watercress - one bunch, rough stalks removed
Garlic - 1 clove crushed
Olive oil
lemon juice
salt & pepper

Method

1. Mix yeast, sugar and warm water together, let stand in warm spot for around 10 minutes or so to ferment. Mix yeast stuff in with flour thoroughly. Cover with glad wrap and stand in warm spot for further 30 minutes. Prepare lamb in meantime.
   
2. Preheat oven to 180c.
   
3. Saute onions in oil in med-high heat, adding mustard seeds half way. Just as mustard seeds pop, add all other spices & mix thoroughly. Add lamb and a pinch of salt & pepper and sear well. Add tomato puree, leaving about 1/4 in the tin, cook briefly and reduce once it begins to bubble. Take off heat to cool.
   
4. (from 1.) Sepearte dough into two. Knead each heavily, adding more flour if necesary to form supple dough. Let each sit for anothe 5 - 10 minutes to grow.
   
5. Flatten out each dough into a flat round shape at 2.5 cm thick with rolling pin.
   
6. Flour the oven tray, place thicker of the two rounds on first. Using a flat spoon, butter on the left over tomato puree on the inside circle of the base - leaving a good 2cm on the edge. Repeat with the other loaf.
   
7. Place lamb mixture onto the base evenly. Cover with the other loaf and secure the edges, leaving two holes on opposite sides as breathing wholes.
   
8. You may make silly patterns on the top of the hisblah with left over dough if you wish.
9. Bake for 30 minutes or till skin is golden brown. Remembering that this will expand so make sure there is enough room up and around for it to do so.
   
10. Salad - soak crushed garlic with lemon juice and a dash of rock salt & peper for 15 minutes to take the edge off. Mix thoroughly with olive oil before dressing onto tomatoes and watercress.