This is a delicious recipe from Esfahan/Isfahan or Hispahan is an old and significant city in centre of Iran.
Before talking about food, I would love to give a brief introduction about this city.
Isfahan اصفهان is famous and well known for many reasons such as: historical architecture and palaces, tiled mosques, churches, covered bridges, minerals, Grand bazaar, artefacts, monuments, and food.
Esfahan is one of the largest city squares in the world with splendid and outstanding architecture.
There is a well known proverb about Esfahan : Esfahan nesf-e jahan it means: Esfahan is half of the world.
The Safavid صفوی empire (1502-1736) was one of the most magnificent dynasty of Iran and one of most famous kings of Safavid empire, Shah Abbas 1588-1629 (King Abbas) re-routed the Silk Road through Esfahan.
There are many things to visit in Esfahan as a visitor and tourist such as: Naqsh-e jahan square (also known as Imam Square) means pattern of the world. This with a numbers of splendid architectural masterpieces. One of them is Imam Mosque (Shah Mosque) and it is one of world heritage sites of Iran which is inscribed in the list of UNESCO.
Alee Qapu palaceعالی قاپو was a royal residence.
Another famous palace in Esfahan is called: Chehel Sotun چهل ستون means 40 pillars or columns but actually there are 20 wooden columns and the reason this palace called Chehel Sotun is reflection of the columns in the long fountain in front of the palace. Nowadays, this palace changed into a garden museum.
Shopping time 😊 Yes, one of my favourites things to do. If you travel to Esfahan, you SHOULD visit Grand Bazaar or as we say in Farsi (Bazar-e Bozorg).
This wonderful bazaar is a collection of caravanserais, madraseh (Old style schools), alleys, with high ceilings.
Si_o_Se Pol Brigde means 33 due to its 33 arches and 300 metres in length. This bridge is one of most visited landmarks of Esfahan.
Vank Cathedral کلیسای وانک
Another popular tourist destination in Esfahan, is Vank Cathedral that is an Armenian church. Vank means Monastery. This Cathedral was established for hundreds of thousands of Armenian. Vank Cathedral has a library and museum.
What led me talk about Esfahan, is a delicious local recipe from Esfahan.
In Iran, meat or vegetable patty are all time favourites, either warm or cold. We love this dish that is called Cutlet and Shaami. Today I made Esfahani carrot patties. Carrot is called Havij هویج in Farsi language. Carrot patties is a SUPER DUPER tasty meal which is made with carrots, potatoes, onion, and spices. It serves with a special sweet-sour sauce made with POMEGRANATE MOLASSES رب انار ,So yum.
Shaami havij might be served with steamed rice, or flat naan bread or with a roll bread as a sandwich, like a burger in a bun.
As I said earlier, shaami and cutlet are served either warm or cold and cold leftovers shaami are so delicious the next day as a sandwich in a roll bread. You may keep them in the fridge for few days or you can cook and freeze them for later use. Shaami could be as a wonderful starter or main course.
Ingredients
- 400 g ground meat (beef/lamb)
- 3 medium carrots, finely grated, squeezed the juice out
- 1 medium potato, finely grated, squeezed the juice out
- 2 medium onions or 146g, finely grated, squeezed
the juice out - 1 egg
- 3 tbsp chickpeas flour (Gram flour)
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- salt – pepper to taste
- Bread crumbs
Ingredients for sauce
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp pomegrante molasses
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, grated
- 5 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp sugar (white or brown)
Instructions
In a large bowl, place ground meat, and add in grated carrots, onion, potato, gram flour, egg,
- turmeric, coriander power, salt and pepper. Combine thoroughly until form a thick batter. Let the mixture set for 30 minutes.
- In next step, what we do is:, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium. Take a small portion of mixture and give a burger, oval, or ring shapes. Then coat it with bread crumb. Repeat with remaining of mixture until done. Fry for 7-8 minutes each side, until browned.
