Vegetarian kebab

Posted on September 27, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

This is one of the tastiest vegetarian kebabs which is made with bread and vegetabls. It is simple but super tasty and easy to make it, with crispy texture, golden outside and fulllllllllllll of flavour. You may serve it with yogurt, sweet chilli sauce, any kind of chutney or ketchup.

Ingredients

5 slices of fresh white or brown bread
1 cup chickpeas, cooked
1 onion
1 lemon juice
Handful fresh mint leaves
Handful fresh coriander leaves
1-2 cloves of garlic
Small piece of fresh ginger
3 tbsp yogurt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp coriander powder
½ tsp curry powder
1 tsp Olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

How to make it???

Put slices of bread into a food processor or blender and blend it until crush and look like soft bread crumbs and set aside.

Put cooked chickpeas into a mixing bowl. Add onion, garlic, ginger, mint and coriander leaves, lemon juice, yogurt and oil to the chickpeas. Blend until become purée. Add puree mixture and all spices to the bread crumbs, mix until combine well.

Grease your hand, take a small portion of mixture and roll it like a hot dog, however you can give ball shape or cutlet/ round burger shape too. Once all kebabs are done, you may push the wooden sticks into the kebab . it ‘s just optional.

Now heat the oil or butter in a saucepan. Place kebabs into the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes, until golden crispy.

Serve it with your favourite sauce.

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Vegetarian kebab

Ingredients

5 slices of fresh white or brown bread
1 cup chickpeas, cooked
1 onion
1 lemon juice
Handful fresh mint leaves
Handful fresh coriander leaves
1-2 cloves of garlic
Small piece of fresh ginger
3 tbsp yogurt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp coriander powder
½ tsp curry powder
1 tsp Olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

How to make it???

Put slices of bread into a food processor or blender and blend it until crush and look like soft bread crumbs and set aside.

Grease your hand, take a small portion of mixture and roll it like a hot dog, however you can give ball shape or cutlet/ round burger shape too.

Once all kebabs are done, you may push the wooden sticks into the kebab . it ‘s just optional.

Now heat the oil or butter in a saucepan. Place kebabs into the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes, until golden crispy.

Serve it with your favourite sauce.

Grains– Beans and Greens Soup

Posted on September 15, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

The taste of this soup might be new or exotic for Europeans or Americans. It is a light soup with delicious taste. A combination of bulgur, rice, beans, fresh green herbs and spices such as turmeric. It is an easy recipe that you can make it in an hour.

Ingredients

250g adzuki beans
120g bulgur
100g rice
200g black eyed beans
200g spinach leaves, chopped
100g spring onions,chopped
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 large onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp turmeric
2 beef stock cubes
Olive oil

Instructions

Soak the beans and bulgur for at least 6 hours in enough cold water to cover them. Drain when ready to use.

Place black eyed beans and adzuki beans in a pot, Pour enough water and allow to cook until soft and set aside.Heat the olive oil in a pan, fry chopped onion for 3 minutes and then add to the beans pot.

Dissolve beef cubes in 800ml water and add it to the cooked beans.

At this point, add bulgur- rice, dried tarragon and turmeric into the pot and season with spices and some oil. Bring it to a boil.

Then turn down and simmer for 45 minutes. In last ten minutes add chopped spinach and spring onions.

Before serve, check the seasoning. ِYou may serve this soup as it is or blend it in a food processor and puree it. Garnish with some fried onion and serve with bread and butter.

Mimosa Salad

Posted on August 31, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Mimosa salad, is a traditional, scrumptious and satisfying layered Russian salad. Mimosa got it’s name from Mimosa Spring flower.

This tasty salad is popular in Russia and has a wide variety of recipes. For instance, typically it is made with canned fish but in some other recipes there is cooked chicken instead. Or in some recipes there is mixture of Mayonnaise and cheese. In this salad all ingredients are grated finely and layered.

It’s really tasty salad especially with fresh dill leaves for garnishing, you will experience a piece of heaven in your plate.

Ingredients

one canned tuna in oil, drained
2 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and grated
2 medium carrots, boiled, peeled and grated
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 eggs, hard boiled, peeled, whites and yolks separated after boiling
Mayonnaise
Fresh dill leaves for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste

How to make it??

Arrange grated potatoes evenly on the bottom of plate and press down with a spoon. Season with pinch of salt and pepper, then on top of potatoes, goes some Mayonnaise.

On top of potatoes, make fish layer then cover this layer with chopped onion and then spread Mayonnaise.

Then arrange grated carrots, season with salt and pepper and spread Mayonnaise. Now, cover top of carrots with egg whites, season with salt and pepper and , spread Mayonnaise.

For last layer, arrange egg yolks, season with salt and pepper. Garnish with dill leaves or any other fresh green herbs to make it similar to Mimosa flower.

You can keep this salad in the fridge for few days. As i mentioned above, you can use chicken instead of canned fish, or cooked rice instead of potatoes.

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Mimosa Salad

Ingredients

one canned tuna in oil, drained
2 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and grated
2 medium carrots, boiled, peeled and grated
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 eggs, hard boiled, peeled, whites and yolks separated after boiling
Mayonnaise
Fresh dill leaves for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste

How to make it??

Drain the fish and mash it with a fork. Prepare your serving plate or dish. In my serving plate I am using a Springform pan that will give a nice round shape to my salad but this is optional and you can just layering ingredients on a plate in any shape you wish. Arrange grated potatoes evenly on the bottom of plate and press down with a spoon. Season with pinch of salt and pepper, then on top of potatoes, goes some Mayonnaise.

On top of potatoes, make fish layer then cover this layer with chopped onion and then spread Mayonnaise. Then arrange grated carrots, season with salt and pepper and spread Mayonnaise. Now, cover top of carrots with egg whites, season with salt and pepper and , spread Mayonnaise. For last layer, arrange egg yolks, season with salt and pepper. Garnish with dill leaves. You can keep this salad in the fridge for few days.

Eggplant dish (Bademjan dish)

Posted on August 26, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

If you are eggplant( aubergine) lover, you know eggplant is delicious in a curry, or stew, on the barbecue , as a fried dish, as a salad or as a jam. This is a mouthwatering eggplant recipe which is a warm vegetable dish.

If you are interested in eggplant , I have more recipes , such as: Persian eggplant jam, Persian eggplant stew with chicken, deep fried eggplant, eggplant onion with tomato sauce, Turkish grilled eggplant salad, Persian eggplant dip ( kashk-e bademjan) , eggplant rice which are available in my web page.

Ingredients

2 large eggplants, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, cut lengthwise
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 larger onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated
Small bunch of cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
½ tsp turmeric
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Greek yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

How to make it??

Dice all vegetables into the pieces. Lay the pieces of eggplant in a colander, sprinkle lightly with salt and set aside for 30 minutes to draw the moisture and bitterness out of the eggplant. It also helps the eggplant stay shapely when is cooking instead of becoming soggy.

Before cooking rinse the aubergine under cold water to remove the excess salt and then press the eggplant between kitchen towels.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place eggplant pieces in hot oil and fry 3-4 minutes until aubergines are nice and golden brown.

I love fried aubergines. That’s why I could not resist and made a small bite of fried eggplant and ate it 🙂

In the same skillet, add chopped carrots, bell pepper and onion. Cook and tossing occasionally until vegetables are tender, it will take about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add fried eggplants to the vegetables and mix together.

Mix tomato paste with a cup of water and turmeric. Pour on the fried veggies, add tomatoes and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes . Turn off the heat and let to sit for 10 minutes to develop more flavor.

Serve the dish with a mixture of yogurt with grated garlic.

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Eggplant dish

Ingredients

2 large eggplants, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, cut lengthwise
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 larger onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated
Small bunch of cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
½ tsp turmeric
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Greek yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

How to make it??

Before cooking rinse the aubergine under cold water to remove the excess salt and then press the eggplant between kitchen towels. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place eggplant pieces in hot oil and fry 3-4 minutes until aubergines are nice and golden brown. In the same skillet, add chopped carrots, bell pepper and onion. Cook and tossing occasionally until vegetables are tender, it will take about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add fried eggplants to the vegetables and mix together.

Cabbage aash ( ash-e kalam Azari)

Posted on August 25, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Azerbaijan is located in NW of Iran. People of this region have their own magnificent recipes. This is one of those.

It is called ‘Azari cabbage aash or kalam aashi in Azari language. Maybe you ask what is aash ( aush) ?? In Iranian cuisine there are two kinds of liquid food. Aash is a thick soup which is served warm and hot and exactly like soup made with variation of vegetables, noodles,, stocks and spices. This dish is spelling: Ash, aash, aush, ashe.

But soup is a thin and light liquid food, served warm and made by combining vegetables with water, stock, spices,…

Ash or aush is popular food in Iranian, Turkish, Afghani, Azerbaijani and Caucasian cuisine.There are tens and tens of thick soup in Persian cuisine. Like Ash reshteh ( noodle soup), ash doogh, ash anaar, ……

photo (11).jpg

Ingredients

1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
1 cup cabbage leaves, finely chopped
2 cups fresh herbs: spring onions, coriander, parsley, spinach, finely chopped
4 tbsp fried onions
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 beef stock cubes
3-4 tbsp Yogurt
1 tsp dried mint (fry in oil for 1 minute)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

photo (16).jpg

How to make it??

Bring to a boil water in a pot, add beef stock cubes and dissolve them.

photo (1).jpg

Then, add cooked chickpeas,Oatmeal, oil and spices.Allow to cook for 10 minutes.

Then, add chopped cabbage leaves, herbs and fried onions.

Stir occasionally. Allow aash cook for 20 minutes over low to medium heat. Pour your aash in a plate, garnish with fried onions, mint, and 2-3 spoons of yogurt.

photo (12) photo (13) photo (15) photo (14)

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Cabbage aash (a soup from Iranian Azerbaijan)

Ingredients

1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
1 cup cabbage leaves, finely chopped
2 cups fresh herbs: spring onions, coriander, parsley, spinach, finely chopped
4 tbsp fried onions
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 beef stock cubes
3-4 tbsp Yogurt
1 tsp dried mint (fry in oil for 1 minute)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

How to make it??

Bring to a boil water in a pot, add beef stock cubes and dissolve them.Then, add cooked chickpeas,oatmeal, spices and oil.

Allow to cook for 10 minutes. Then add chopped cabbage leaves, herbs and fried onions. Stir occasionally. Let aash cook for 20 minutes over low to medium heat.Pour your aash in a plate, garnish with fried onions, mint, and 2-3 spoons of yogurt.

Persian kebab kubideh with rice (Chelow kebab)

Posted on August 9, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Kebab is an absolute favourite, the most popular and delicious dish in Iran. In Iranian cuisine, there are different types of kebab with ground meat or diced meat and believe me all are super tasty and you will be over the moon when you have kebab for lunch or dinner.
Kebab is usually grilled over hot coals or in the oven if you have no barbecue.
Chelow kebab means a dish with rice and kebab. Kebabs are various cooked meat dishes.

My today’s kebab is called ‘ kebab kubidhe ‘ made with ground beef/lamb, other kind of kebab is ‘kebab barg’ with diced beef, lamb or chicken. Still, there is more different kebabs.
Chelow or pilaf (pilau) is a kind of plain steamed rice topped with butter, saffron and kebab.
Making a good kebab firstly requires quality fresh meat. It should be combination of lamb with beef ( mixed minced). The meat should be around 20% fat which will keep the kebab juicy and moist.
Secondly, when you buy minced meat, you should ask your butcher to grind the meat 2-3 times or do it at home by using your food processor.
Thirdly, you need to marinate the kebab meat earlier and leave the meat to rest in the fridge overnight.

Once kebab is ready serve it with pilaf/polow, fresh herbs, sumac powder and doogh ( that is an Iranian yogurt based drink).

Ingredients for kebab

600 g ground lamb
400 g beef
250-300 g onion, grated and remove excess juice
1/2 lime/lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for accompaniment

A bunch of cherry tomatoes
4-5 potatoes
3-4 red-yellow bell peppers

Ingredients for mint sauce ( optional)

Handful fresh leaves of mint and coriander
3 tbsp Greek yogurt
1 small bell pepper
Salt to taste

Preparation
Grind finely the meat 2-3 times or ask butcher do it for you. Grate the onion and remove the juice. In a big bowl, add grated onion, salt, pepper, lime juice and meat. Mix well and knead the meat mixture for 3-4 minutes and until well combined… Kneading the meat mixture for few minutes will make the meat like a paste that will stick together and not fall apart when your thread it on skewers. Then refrigerate the meat overnight.

For threading the kebab you can use either metal skewers or wooden ones. If you are using wooden skewers, you need to soak them in water overnight as well to prevent of burning in the oven.
Next day, divide the meat into seven or eight pieces and thread on the wooden skewers by pressing the meat and shaping it evenly. Preheat the oven to 180C for grilling the kebabs.

Place a flat bread or (tortilla bread) on the baking tray and place the kebabs skewers on it. Grill the kebab for 20-25 minutes.The juice from the kebab will soak into the flat bread as the kebab cooks.

Thread the potatoes and peppers on the skewers as well. Grill them in oven 200C for 20-30 minutes. You can do grill the tomatoes too but I just fried them in a pan

For refreshing mint sauce you need to blend all ingredients in a blender and make a puree.
Once kebab and accompaniments are grilled, remove from the oven. Traditionally kebab kubideh is served with steamed saffron rice ( chelow/polow), cubes of butter on top of the rice, fresh herbs such as basil, chives, mint, onions.

Sprinkle sumac powder on kebab. If you serve the kebab with rice, you can sprinkle sumac powder on the rice as well.

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Chilli con carne

Posted on July 13, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

If you are a spicy and hot dish lover, chilli con carne would be right choice. Chilli con carne means chilli with means. It serves with bread or rice.

Ingredients

500g minced beef
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, peeled and finely chopped
1 red pepper
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground cinnamon
400g kidney or Pinto beans, cooked
400g chopped tomatoes
1 small bunch of coriander
2tbsp vinegar
plain yogurt as much as you wish
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

How to make it

Place the pan on a medium heat and add oil and all chopped carrots, onion, celery, garlic, red pepper, cumin and cinnamon. Stir frequently and fry them for few minutes until softened.

Add minced meat, Pinto beans and chopped tomatoes and chopped coriander . Fry until meat lightly coloured. Pour 1 ½ cups water and vinegar into the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat down to simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Serve chilli con carne with fluffy rice, or tortilla bread.

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Chilli con carne

Ingredients

500g minced beef
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, peeled and finely chopped
1 red pepper
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground cinnamon
400g kidney or Pinto beans, cooked
400g chopped tomatoes
1 small bunch of coriander
2tbsp vinegar
plain yogurt as much as you wish
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

How to make it

Place the pan on a medium heat and add oil and all chopped carrots, onion, celery, garlic, red pepper, cumin and cinnamon. Stir frequently and fry them for few minutes until softened.

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Stuffed Rose Shaped Bread

Posted on July 10, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Rose shaped bread is very delicious. However preparing of bread, needs spending longer time but result is so good and you will be happy with your baking.
This bread not only has a beautiful shape but also has a very tasty filling. If you do not like this filling you can simply add your favourite vegetables, different cheese or even meat (fish, beef, chicken,..).

Ingredients for dough

500 g plain flour
1 cup warm water (not boiled)
1 egg
1 tbsp. dried yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ cup oil
2 tbsp. milk

Ingredients for filling

1 large onion, finely chopped
200 g grated cheddar cheese
4-5 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp. oil
¼ tsp white pepper powder
1 tbsp. sweet paprika
3 tbsp. water

Preparation
In a large bowl with flour, add sugr, salt and milk. Mix together. Add dried yeast , 4 tbsp. warm water, oil and egg. Mix all together. Then, slowly add and stir in remains of warm water to the flour. Transfer mixture into the food processor and knead the dough for 15 minutes until dough is elastic.

Oil lightly a bowl and place the dough into the bowl, cover it and allow rising for 2 hours.
Until dough gets ready, we prepare filling. In a saucepan, heat the oil, add chopped onion and sauté until soft, then add in chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic powder, salt, sweet paprika and 3 tbsp. water, mix well. Then, add grated cheese and cook for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Once dough is ready, slightly press it with your hand to release the air inside the dough.
Spread some flour on the working table. Spread dough with a rolling pin into about ½ cm. Now cut 1 medium size circle and also cut smaller circles from the remaining dough.

Roll each one of small circle dough thinner. Add 1 tsp of the filling. Fold and seal with a fork ( see photos). Roll out the big circle. Cut like you see in the photo. Add ½ tbsp. of the filling to the middle. Fold to make a rose bud. Place the rose bud in the centre of an oiled baking pan, then place smaller filled doughs around the bud ( see photos). At the end, brush your filled dough with beaten egg yolk. Bake in 190C for 35 minutes ( or until golden).

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Stuffed rose shaped bread.

Ingredients for dough
500 g plain flour
1 cup warm water (not boiled)
1 egg
1 tbsp. dried yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ cup oil
2 tbsp. milk

Ingredients for filling
1 large onion, finely chopped
200 g grated cheddar chees
4-5 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp. oil
¼ tsp white pepper powder
1 tbsp. sweet paprika
3 tbsp. water

Preparation
In a large bowl with flour, add sugr, salt and milk. Mix together. Add dried yeast , 4 tbsp. warm water, oil and egg. Mix all together. Then, slowly add and stir in remains of warm water to the flour. Transfer mixture into the food processor and knead the dough for 15 minutes until dough is elastic.
Oil lightly a bowl and place the dough into the bowl, cover it and allow rising for 2 hours.
Until dough gets ready, we prepare filling. In a saucepan, heat the oil, add chopped onion and sauté until soft, then add in chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic powder, salt, sweet paprika and 3 tbsp. water, mix well. Then, add grated cheese and cook for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Once dough is ready, slightly press it with your hand to release the air inside the dough.
Spread some flour on the working table. Spread dough with a rolling pin into about ½ cm. Now cut 1 medium size circle and also cut smaller circles from the remaining dough.
Roll each one of small circle dough thinner. Add 1 tsp of the filling. Fold and seal with a fork ( see photos). Roll out the big circle. Cut like you see in the photo. Add ½ tbsp. of the filling to the middle. Fold to make a rose bud. Place the rose bud in the centre of an oiled baking pan, then place smaller filled dough around the bud ( see photos). At the end, brush your filled dough with beaten egg yolk.

Bake in 190 C for 35 minutes or until golden.

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Keema Naan

Posted on June 16, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Keema or qeema naan is a kind of stuffed meat bread. Maybe you asked what kind of meat is in the qeema naan.

It might be minced beef or lamb. It’s absolutely super easy to prepare keema naan, t’s absolutely mouthwatering bread and it’s absolutely perfect 🙂

Ingredients for dough

500 g all purpose flour
100 ml yogurt
100 ml warm water
150 ml water
7 g dried yeast
3 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Ingredients for filling

300 g minced meat ( beef or lamb)
1 onion
Salt and chilli flakes to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp turmeric

Method

First we prepare meat mixture: heat the oil in a pan, add chopped onion and sauté until soft, add minced meat and all above mentioned spices. Let to cook meat until turn into brown. Set aside.

For making dough:

In a bowl with 100 ml warm water, add sugar and yeast. Mix together and let to sit for 15 minutes until surface of water is bubbly and foam.

In a bowl with flour, add salt, yeast, yogurt, oil and water. Mix together and knead well for 2-3 minutes.

Drop oil on the dough and cover it with a towel. Place the dough in a warm corner and let the dough rise until doubled in size. (it will take 2-3 hours).

Knead the dough until all the air is expelled.

Now place the dough on a floured surface and divide it into 5 pieces.

Take a dough and roll it with rolling pin. Put some of meat mixture in the centre of dough, Pinch all corners together. And give a round shape to the dough. Using bottom of a wooden spoon make holes all over the dough. Brush top of the dough with yogurt.

Heat a non stick pan and place the dough in it, until cooked from the bottom. Flip to the other side and let it cook until golden brown in colour. Once naan baked transfer it to a plate and brush it with melted butter.

Potato Soup

Posted on May 28, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

With few ingredients you can create a lush and delicious home made comfort potato soup.

Ingredients

400 g potatoes, peeled and diced into small pieces
100 g onion, finely chopped
4-5 spring onions ( green part)
900 ml vegetable stock
120 ml cold milk
50 g butter
Salt and chilli flakes to taste

Instructions

Melt the butter in a pan. Add chopped potatoes and onion. Sauté them until softened. Then remove them to a pot. Add chopped spring onions, vegetable stocks, milk and season with salt and chilli flakes. Gently stir and allow to cook for 15 minutes.

Purée the soup, garnish it with freshly chopped herbs and drops of olive oil and serve it.