KuKu Sabzi

I had only some eggs and sabzi so I searched for a Persian recipe and found the perfect one! It's called Kuku Sabzi. Turns out there are several variations of it, but it always includes eggs and herbs. Here's what I found on the internet about this dish:

So I used the recipe found here, on My Persian Kitchen. 

Of course I had to adapt the recipe to go with what ingredients I had or didn't have. Also, I only have a stainless steel pan so I have to be extra careful about the heat so as not to burn everything. Here is how it looked after I'd separated the first side into four slices, before I flipped them over:

After flipping the first side over:

The final product looked similar to the one on My Persian Kitchen, so I called that a success! The taste was nice, just similar to an omelet or frittata with the spice of the herbs I used. It would taste great with hot sauce, sour cream, plain yogurt, or even ketchup! I served mine on top of some rice just because I had some leftover rice, haha! 

So go get kookoo for Kuku, ya'll!

http://www.mypersiankitchen.com/kuku-sabzi-persian-frittata-with-fresh-herbs/

Khuda Hafiz (Good-bye, Go with God) for now! Thanks for reading.

Kabab Time

Chelow means steamed rice in Farsi, and Kabab means, well, it means Grilled Meat, often coøked on a skewer. And it's the "national dish" here in Iran.

However, since I do not own a grill or any skewers, I searched for another kabab recipe and found it on YouTube, on the Aashpazi channel. It's called Kabab Tabei and it's a lot easier to make than the traditional grilled kababs.

Here is the recipe, with ingredients and directions. Of course I didn't follow them exactly, but I tried! 

From the video:

And voila! My version of Kabab Tabei!

I roughly chopped the onions rather than grate them due to lack of a grater or food processor and to my burning, crying eyes!

Had several herbs and radish for color (not in the recipe, but, hey, why not?)

Must make the dishes look pretty!

Radishes, Green Onions, Leeks, Basil, Water Cress. and Mint.

I don't know how to rotate this photo. But here you see the herbs that I sautéed along with some corn (totally not in the recipe).

Sabzi (Herbs!)

I tried to fry some onions for garnish but they did not get as crispy as I hoped. Still, tasted very yum.

Some marinated, spicy cucumbers with radish and herbs.

So, there you have it. My version of Kabab Tabei. Try it out for yourselves! Thanks for reading...

Irani Eats

In the below photograph is a sample of the type of meal (lunch in this case) that the Howza students receive everyday. It is given in a Styrofoam box with another plastic container of fresh herbs (looks like mint, NANAW in Farsi). My husband brought his home so I took it out and plated it to look prettier. So there’s eggplant, chicken (MORGH), rice (CHELOW), tomatoes, and yellow spilt peas (LAPEH). I’m guessing it’s a type of BADEMJAN (eggplant) SABZI (HERBS) dish, but not sure which one in particular. Not bad for a school lunch, yum! Other types of meals include fish and beef, but always with sabzi that are usually meant to be eaten raw, no dressing! By the way, this is all information I’ve gathered online, not by true experience. #NotTrying2beIranian

I’m in no way a food snob in the sense that I don’t proclaim to be an expert or even “very good,” at any cuisine, and if I don’t have the correct ingredient for a recipe, I don’t sweat it much. But I do want to learn the specifics of some basic Iranian dishes so that hopefully, inshaaAllah, when I’m an old grandmother living back in the West, my kids will tell their friends, “Come to my house for Sunday dinner, my MODAR (mother) makes Iranian style food!” Yes, these are my dreams.

So I had some chicken and potatoes so I searched for an Iranian recipe that included those ingredients, which led me to the Persian potato salad called Salad Olivieh as it's known in Iran (apparently originating in Russia by Lucien Olivier). Now, it’s not just a potato salad, or a chicken salad, or an egg salad—it’s a combo of all 3!

But first! I’m going to prove my #NoFoodSnob, #NotTrying2BeIranian status. Had some pancakes but no syrup, the kids didn’t want to eat them, so I made a pancake cake for my husband using grape jam and walnuts and pistachios as garnish. Yummy to me. Look how cute it turned out:

So, anyway, back to the salad olivieh. I used the 2 recipes found here to make my salad:

http://www.mypersiankitchen.com/salad-olivieh/

http://persianmama.com/salad-olivieh-persian-chicken-salad/

I didn't have the traditional carrots, so I used diced tomatoes. Those are pickled cucumbers, known in Iran as KHIAR SHOOR. The ones I got were sour with a softer texture than American crisp pickles.

Ingredients for my Persian Salad, Salad Olivieh

Oops! Don't forget the boiled eggs! 

Mixed up and seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, and turmeric.

Slather the entire thing with some MAYO!

Make it look PRETTY PRETTY!

Or serve it up in some vegetables.

Scoop it up.

SO, there you have it. So far you know you'll be having ZERESHK POLOW with MORGH and TAHDIG as shown in my previous post, Tahdig: Tragedy and Triumph, and SALAD OLIVIEH when you come over to my house one day in 20 years for my Sunday dinner inshaaAllah.