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.

Green beans frittata ( Tabrizi Kookoo loobia sabz)

Posted on May 27, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Kookoo lobia sabz is a traditional classic dish in Tabriz an ancient city in NW of Iran. This dish is served in especial occasions and for Iftar in month of Ramadan.

Tabrizi green beans is absolutely delicious, full of flavour and colour.

Kookoo ( kuku) in Iranian cuisine, applies to an eggy dish or an egg-based dish. Kookoo or frittata might be meatless that would be a vegetarian dish and sometimes is made with meat.

Kookoo is a mixture of whipped eggs with different ingredients.

Green beans is called loobia sabz in Farsi language. My today recipe is meatless kookoo loobia sabz but you can add 200g minced beef to the ingredients if you wish.

Ingredients

350 g baby green beans, finely diced and boiled
100 g carrots, finely diced and boiled
100 g potatoes, finely diced and fried
1 large onion, finely chopped and fried
5 eggs
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
1 tbsp flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tbsp saffron water
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil

Instructions

Crack the eggs into a large bowl. Add milk, chopped walnuts, flour, baking powder, saffron water, turmeric and season with salt and pepper. Whisk it well until all ingredients combine together. Saffron smell spread all over the kitchen and it’s lovely.

Next, add fried and boiled vegetables to the egg mixture. Mix all together.

Heat the oil in a deep pan, pour the mixture in the pan. Firmly press the ingredients with the back of the spoon to the down. Cover the pan with a lid and allow to cook on side ( about 10-15 minutes), then flip over to cook other side.

Serve it in a platter garnish with Zereshk (Barberries) and cut it into pieces.

Crispy-colourful fried onions ( Persian piaz dagh)

Posted on May 16, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Fried onions or as we say in Farsi ( Piaz dahg) is one of essential ingredients in Persian cuisine. We use fried onions a lot in stews, soup, aash, ……

Frankly speaking, it’s very easy peasy to make crispy crunchy fried onions ( piaz dagh) at home and إyou know home made fried onions is much better and so delicious. In one of my earlier posts, I have shared my crispy brown onions recipe.

In today post, I made deep fried onions in different colours just like rainbow. They are very colourful, beautiful, tastyyyyyyyyyy, crunchy a lottttt, and good to garnish your dishes.

Ingredients

3 onions
2 tbsp plain flour
Salt
Vegetable oil
Deep frying pan
Paper towels
Food colouring

Method

Peel off onions skin. Cut top and bottom. Thinly slice the onions. Add pinch of slat and flour.

If you would like to have coloured fried onions. Divide sliced onions into 2 or 3 separate bowls.

Add pinch of food colouring to the onion and combine. Set aside.

Heat he oil in the pan. Test the oil temperature by dropping a slice of onion in the oil, if it sizzles then you know the oil is hot.

Add onions to the pan, keep stirring and fry onions on high heat until change into light brown. Duration of frying plain onions is shorter than coloured ones. Remove fried onions from the pan and place on paper towel to get rid of excess oil.Store it in a jar with a tight lid.

Persian turnip-rice soup

Posted on April 15, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

This is a very easy following recipe for turnip soup with a soft texture and lovely flavour. Turnip is called ‘ Shalgham’ in Farsi. There are different recipes for turnip soup, like turnip-carrot, turnip-onion, ….. and this is my turnip-rice soup a Lovely meal for a lunch or as a light dinner.

دوتایی

Ingredients

1 large turnip
3 onions
2 cloves of garlic
4-5 carrots
3 Tbs brown rice
2 vegetable cubes
Some thyme leaves
Salt – Chilli to tase
and olive oil

Preparation:
Preheat the oven. Peel off turnip skin. Cut it into chunks. Place them in a baking tray and drizzle over them some olive oil. Roast it in 160c degrees for 20- 30 minutes.

Peel off onions, garlic and carrots. Cut them into small pieces. Place them in a pan, add some oil and thyme leaves. Stir it for 10 minutes. Dissolve 2 veggies cubes in 500 ml warm water.

Pour it in a pot. Add all vegetables to the pot.Add brown rice, salt and pepper. Let it to cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Pure soup in a food processor. For garnishing you can have some fried onions. Serve it with fresh bread and butter. Bon a ppetit.

همه دوتایی یکی تا

Persian style chicken omelette with fried onion

Posted on April 8, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Omelette is a dish made from beaten eggs, duck, goose, quail , ostrich egg…fried in butter or oil. Sometimes omelette is plain and sometimes you can add other ingredients and give more flavour.

I love any dish made from eggs : Boiled, fried, scrambled and poached eggs all are not only fantastic and tasty also full of goodness.

Ingredients
3 eggs
One skinless, boneless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
One large onion, chopped
Salt, chilli powder to taste
Olive oil
Slices of Persian flat bread or tortilla bread

Method
Peel and finely chop onion. Melt the butter or heat the oil in a pan and fry onion until get gold colour. Put it aside. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and chilli powder and beat well with a fork. Add shredded chicken and beaten eggs to the pan with fried onion and let it cook and serve it with flat bread.

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Sour Black eyed beans stew (turshi ghorma)

Posted on March 16, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

This is one of traditional Azerbaijani stew from Ardebil an ancient and beautiful city in Iran on neighbouring Caspian sea. The key point in making this stew is using lots of fried onions that should be very finely sliced.

Ardebil is known for it’s trade in honey and carpet. Twenty two sites in Iran are inscribed on the list of the Worlds Heritage sites. One of them is located in Ardebil.

Ingredients

300g chicken or red meat
2 large onions, finely sliced
1 cup black eyed beans
10 dried prunes
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cinnamon
3 tbps lemon or verjuice
2 tbps Persian saffron water
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil

Method

Cook black eyed beans one day before. Heat the oil in a pan and fry onions until golden brown. Saute chicken meat, add turmeric, cinnamon, season with salt and pepper.

Then add cooked beans, prunes, fried onions, saffron water, lemon or verjuice and at the end, 2 cups of water to the chicken and leave to seamer until meat is cooked and tender.

Serve it with rice.