What does persian food consist of

Moving to the famous city of Tabriz in north-west of Iran, which used to be the capital city of the country several times during modern history. Koofteh Tabrizi is a delicious dish in which aromatic herbs are used among other ingredients such as minced meat, yellow split peas, rice and eggs, walnuts or dried plums are used as the fillings. To make this dish more aromatic, tomato paste and saffron are also used. Sabzi Khordan is a must as a side dish with Koofteh Tabrizi.

First how to cook Kooftehs:. First step: soak rice and chickpeas a night before. Cook the split peas and the potato for around 30 mins during which the potato should be cooked and the chickpeas should be half cooked. Drain and set aside. Second step: cook the rice with 2 cups of water until the water has evaporated, drain and set aside.

Third step: grind the meat twice, grind the chickpeas and the potato as well. Grate the onions and chop finely along with the leek and sweet fennel leaves. Forth step: in a big bowl add the meat first while gradually adding salt, pepper and the onions and mix it for 10 mins. Then add the rice and the mixture of split peas and potato and mix it thoroughly. Cover the mixture and keep it in the fridge for about 15 mins to rest.

In a big saucepan, add some vegetable oil, add chopped onion and turmeric and fry until golden. Grate the tomatoes and add to the fried onion, add some salt and pepper. Add 3 cups of water and turn the heat high to bring the sauce to boil. Add the soaked saffron, turn the heat down and cover it, letting in simmer. Third, adding the Kooftehs to the sauce:. Take the mixture out of the fridge, take an orange-size piece of the mixture in your hand and make a well in the middle of the meat with your finger in order to add the fillings.

Place one boiled egg, a table spoon of soaked barberries, and a soaked plum inside and cover them thoroughly making sure they are covered properly. Continue making Koofteh in the same manner. After you are done, slowly place them one by one in the simmering sauce with the help of a spatula. Let them cook for about 1 hour, making sure the sauce does not dry out.

The next five dishes are famous in every city of Iran, but the Tehrani versions are arguable the best. These dishes are Kabab Koobiden, Ghorme Sabzi, Ash Reshteh, Tah Chin Morgh and Kal-e pache, and they are cooked in the same manner in almost every city whether they are prepared in homes or in restaurants. It can be served with Persian flat bread and grilled tomatoes and onions, or with buttered rice and grilled tomatoes and vegetables.

One of the restaurants in Tehran that is famous for its Kabab Koobideh is called Nayeb and it has many branches in Tehran and other major cities in Iran. First grate the onions and drain the water, reserving it for later. Grind the meat and mix them together. And finally add the onion, salt and pepper to the meat and mix it well for about 15 mins. Cover the meat and place it in the fridge for about 2 hours.

This dish is best when grilled over direct heat from firewood or charcoal. Use wide skewers and take a handful of the meet and evenly form it around the skewer. Place the kebabs over the fire taking care to constantly turn them to make sure they are cooked evenly.

Cut the tomatoes and onions in half and place them on the grill. This kebab is preferably served with saffron rice and butter. Dizi or Ab Goosht dates back to Safavid dynasty early 16th century to 18th in Iran. Dizi can be prepared differently in different cities but the most famous ones are cooked in clay pots dizi , placed in wood burning oven, accompanied by freshly baked flat breads, lime and fresh herbs.

Soak the beans and chickpeas a night before. In a large clay pot, mix all the ingredients together and add 6 cups of water.

Place the pot in a furnace or oven for two hours. Once cooked, separate the soup from the meat and other ingredients. Cut flat bread into small bite-sized pieces, place in a big bowl and pour the soup over the bread.

Mash the meat, potatoes, tomatoes and the beans into a fine paste. This mashed meat is then served along with the mixture of bread. Freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice and some herbs makes this dish a delicious feast. Ghorme Sabzi is believed to be the king of all Persian food. It is not possible to find a Persian who does not enjoy having this dinner as a Friday lunch or at family gatherings and festivities.

Ghorme Sabzi dates back to around years ago and like Fesenjaan, different cities have their own style of cooking. From the nutritional point-of-view, this food is a healthy meal as the ratio of herbs and legumes mixed with red meat is enough to cover the daily need of protein perfectly in our daily needs.

First: soak the red kidney beans from the night before and change the water a few times. Fry the chopped onion and garlics until golden and add some turmeric to it.

Cut the meat into small pieces and add to the onions and fry for about 10 minutes. Cook the red kidney beans in a different pan. Chop the herbs finely and add to the meat, add salt and pepper and fry everything for 20 more minutes.

Pour 4 cups of water, add the dried lemons, turn the heat down, and let the Ghorme simmer for about 2 hours. Ghorme Sabzi is served with rice, salad and pickles. Ash Reshteh is a dish perfect for cold winters. It is a healthy dish, containing a range of legumes and herbs. It is believed that over different kinds of Ash are cooked around Iran but Ash Reshteh is the most famous one amongst them and very nutritious.

First soak the legumes a night before, changing the water a few times. Fill a big pot with 6 large cups of water and bring to boil. Drain the legumes and add to the boiling water.

Turn the heat low and let it simmer for about an hour or until cooked. After the beans are cooked add all the mixed herbs and let it simmer of one more hour on low heat. And finally add the Persian reshteh and let it cook for about half an hour. In a frying pan, fry half of chopped onion and garlic, add the half of turmeric and salt and pepper until golden brown, add 2 tbs of dried mint and mix the dried onion with the Ash.

During this time period, the practice of preparing rice as polow or chelow began here. At the same time, the practice of making khoresh t s and eating them with rice also became popular in the royal court. It is said that the practice of preparing these dishes stemmed from the surrounding Central Asian cultures that had meshed into Persian society by the 16th century. These influences and culinary styles would go through the Persian filter, and came out slightly more refined with an angle towards the Persian palette.

This would eventually trickle down to the masses; consequently you saw a huge rise in the popularity of rice across Iran. To meet this demand, the cultivation and growth of rice in Iran spread across the Caspian region of Iran. There is evidence that rice came to Iran from India and Southeast Asia. Rice cultivation in Iran is in the northern Caspian region, this region has enough water to cultivate the rice.

Moving on from the carbohydrate component of the Persian diet, we now move to the proteins. Persians love meat and it plays an important role in many of their major dishes, in this next portion we will examine the backstory of meat in Persian cuisine. In ancient Iran meat varied from pork, poultry, lamb, beef, and fish.

As Islam came to Iran, pork obviously went by the wayside. Meat as it is now in Iran was more prevalent for those in the upper classes. The primary meat that is consumed in Iran is lamb. Beef was not popular in Iran or the Middle East traditionally. In fact, Persian royalty would look down upon the Europeans for having to eat such a poor meat. By the midth century, the spread of beef became prevalent in Iran and spread across the country.

Pork is not popular in Iran due to it not being allowed in Islam or Judaism. But its high price prevented its popularity from spreading. The words for pork products in Farsi come entirely from their European roots such as kalbas for mortadella bologna Russian , susis for Sausage French , initially, eating processed sandwich meats was a status symbol, but it quickly became popular in Iran and favorite of teenage Persians growing up in the s.

After the revolution, the deli meats were preserved only in the sense that any pork products were replaced by non-pork substitutes. Chicken in Iran was a delicacy, but with the influx of Western culture, the farming of chickens became more common and as a result, the eating of chickens grew in popularity. The popular jujeh kabob as we know them today, with chicken breasts, was not common in Iran until after the Persian diaspora popularized it in the West.

It then made its way back to Iran. In Iran jujeh kabob was primarily done with Cornish hens. Fish was not traditionally popular outside of the coastal areas of Iran other, but this has changed over time and it is now popular in Iran.

Persians will often include meat into stews rather than eating the meat by itself. These dishes are called khoresh. Next we will look into this dish and how it came to be in Persian cuisine. Khoresh t s have roots that go back hundreds of years, the cuisines of Central Asia trickled down into Iran and melded with the Persian flavors to create the khoresh t s Persians eat today. Travelers during the Safavid era attested to the lavish dinners that featured these food items.

The meaning of the word comes from the Farsi verb khordan which means to eat. The first modern evidence of khoresh comes from texts from the Safavid court, which highlights 13 different types of khoresh. That number has since increased over time with the arrival of new ingredients to Iran. Khoresh t s are the most frequent food prepared in Persian cuisine and in Persian households. In the southwestern part of Iran, fish is often substituted in place of beef.

Khoresh is always eaten with rice berenj. The khoresh is served over the rice and eaten with yogurt. The way you eat it is by either taking a spoonful of khoresh and rice together, or just mixing it on your plate and chowing down.

We move on to examine this tasty dish and the different types. Meat on a skewer is not something new to human history. Rice is served alongside most meals, but the most coveted rice is tadeeg: the bottom crispy layer that's slightly burnt and has soaked up much of the caramelized saffron.

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