King Rice/Shah Pilaf

Posted on July 22, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Shah plov or crown rice is an Azerbaijani signature dish. There are different types of rice dish in Azerbaijani cuisine but this one is king of rice.

This rice dish is known as : Khan rice, shah rice or crown rice and is served in special occasions. Shah rice made with red meat or chicken mean, dried fruits and nuts and last but not least, Persian Saffron water.

Ingredients

3 cups rice
1 large onion, chopped
400g diced meat, cooked
1 cup raisins
1 cup apricot, cut into small pieces
220 g melted butter
3 tbsp Saffron water
1 large Lavash bread or 5-6 medium tortilla bread
Salt and pepper to taste

How to make it

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Rinse the rice in cold water 2-3 times. Then soak the rice in salted water ( add 1 tbsp salt) for an hour.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add chopped onion and fry onion until soft. Then add cooked meat , dried fruits, season with salt and pepper and fry for few minutes. Add saffron water and Stir constantly to prevent from burning and set aside.

Fill a pot with water. Bring it to a boil. Drain salted water of rice and add it to the boiling water. Let to cook for 10 minutes.

Using a colander and strain the rice. Rinse with tap water. Melt the butter and spread it on the bottom and sides of the pot.

Place one round bread on the bottom of the pan . Grease each Lavash or tortilla bread with melted butter and arrange around the sides of the pan, overlaps each other ( as you see in the photos).

Do not leave any open space between breads. Now, Spread a layer of rice in the pot and then pour some of meat and fruits mixture. Pour some saffron water on the rice. Repeat the procedure again.

Cover top of the rice with another round bread then fold the corners down. Grease with melted bread.

Cover the pot with a lid. Cook in the oven for 50-60 minutes until Lavash bread is golden. Remove from the oven and let to rest 5 minutes.

Turn the pot upside down and cut the crust into portions and serve it.

Noosh ulsoon , enjoy it, Noosh-e jan

================================

King rice/Shah pilaf

Ingredients

3 cups rice
1 large onion, chopped
400g diced meat, cooked
1 cup raisins
1 cup apricot, cut into small pieces
220 g melted butter
3 tbsp Saffron water
1 large Lavash bread or 5-6 medium tortilla bread
Salt and pepper to taste

How to make it

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Rinse the rice in cold water 2-3 times. Then soak the rice in salted water ( add 1 tbsp salt) for an hour.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add chopped onion and fry onion until soft. Then add cooked meat , dried fruits, season with salt and pepper and fry for few minutes. Stir constantly to prevent from burning and set aside.

Fill a pot with water. Bring it to a boil. Drain salted water of rice and add it to the boiling water. Let to cook for 10 minutes.

Using a colander and strain the rice. Rinse with tap water. Melt the butter and spread it on the bottom and sides of the pot.

Grease each Lavash or tortilla bread with melted butter . Place one round bread on the bottom of the pan . Then, grease remaining of breads and arrange around the sides of the pan, overlaps each other ( as you see in the photos).

Do not leave any open space between breads. Now, Spread a layer of rice in the pot and then pour some of meat and fruits mixture. Pour some saffron water on the rice. Repeat the procedure again.

Cover top of the rice with another round bread then fold the corners down. Grease with melted bread.

Cover the pot with a lid. Cook in the oven for 50-60 minutes until Lavash bread is golden. Remove from the oven and let to rest 5 minutes.

Turn the pot upside down and cut the crust into portions and serve it.

Noosh ulsoon , enjoy it, Noosh-e jan

================================================================

Fruit Cake

Posted on June 11, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

This is light fruit cake with candied orange, coloured cherries and raisins. A cake for four season. I love this beautiful cake , full of colours and flavour.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
½ cup melted butter
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract
5 tbsp milk
½ cup candied orange
½ cup candied cherry
1/3 cup raisins

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180C.

In a bowl mix two eggs with sugar. Whisk for 5 minutes. Then add melted butter, baking powder and vanilla extract and whisk for 2 minutes. Now, add flour to the mixture in two steps. Keep stirring. Add milk and mix. Now you have a smooth batter. Finally add candied fruits and raisins. Mix all together.

Grease the baking pan with oil and line it with parchment paper. Spoon the mixture into the pan. Put the pan into the oven and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

When cake is done , remove from the oven and let to cool in the pan.

Oatmeal Cookies

Posted on June 4, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Either Soft and chewy or crunchy cookies are tasty snacks. You can make your home made cookies with dried fruits such as dates, raisins, figs, or nuts and seeds or chocolate chips. My oatmeal cookies are soft cookies made with raisins and orange skins. Due to orange skin , taste is gorgeous. If you baked these cookies, please send a photo of that to me.

Ingredients

125 g all purpose flour
150 g oatmeal
150 g raisins
1 egg
115 g unsalted butter
100 g brown sugar
50 g white sugar
½ tap baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp orange or vanilla extract

Instructions

In a bowl mix flour with salt, cinnamon and baking soda. In another bowl, add butter, brown and white sugar and with an electric mixer, combine for 2 minutes until mix well. Then add egg and orange or vanilla extract.

Now add flour to the above mixture and keep mixing then add oat meal and raisins too. Transfer cookie mixture to a plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 176C.Line baking tray with parchment paper.

After 30 minutes, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Drop 1tbsp of the cookie dough onto the tray, and gently press down to flatten each cookie dough, also leave a good space between each cookie dough, as they will spread in the cooking process. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Then remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray before transfer to a platter.

Shirazi Rice Pilaf

Posted on May 28, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Shiraz is an ancient city in SW of Iran. Shiraz is known as the city of literature, flowers, wine, gardens, nightingales and poets.

This beautiful city is a one of the important tourism centres in Iran. With a short driving distance from Shiraz there are ruins of some of most spectacular ancient sites such as: ancient city of Persepolis, Tomb of Cyrus the Great in Pasargadae, ancient necropolis of Naqsh-e Rustam with rock cut tombs of Persian kings, Naghsh-e Rajab with rock cut reliefs,….

My today recipe is called Qanbara polow, one of traditional classic rice dish from Shiraz that is served in especial occasions, parties and as Iftar in month of Ramadan.

Ingredients

3 cups rice
350 g minced meat
1 large onion, finely chopped
100 g chopped walnuts
2 tbsp gram flour
50 g raisins
3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 ½ tsp grape molasses
1 tsp turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil

Instructions

In a bowl with minced meat, add gram flour, turmeric and season with salt and pepper. Mix all together well. Then, give small ball shape to the meat. Heat the oil in a pan and fry them.

Heat the oil in another pan and sauté chopped onion until soft, then add raisins and chopped walnuts. Fry for 2 minutes and set aside.

In a bowl with pomegranates molasses, add grape molasses and 2 tbsp of olive oil. Mix together.

Semi cook the rice. Add meat balls and fried onion mixture with walnuts and raisins. Pour molasses mixture top of rice and allow to cook perfectly.

Once rice is done, gently stir the rice and serve it.

Raisins baklava

Posted on April 15, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

For making this baklava no need to special technique. Super easy and quick will be ready.

Ingredients

Filo pastry
Butter
4 tbsp chopped pistachio
4 tbsp raisins
Ingredients for syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp Orange blossom or rose water
½ lemon or lime juice

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Brush the small size muffin tin with melted butter and set aside.
Brush 5 layers of filo dough with melted butter.

Using a cutter, and cut it into circle shape. Place them in the tin. Fill them halfway with chopped pistachio and raisins. Bake them for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare sugar syrup: In a pot with 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar, add lemon juice and orange blossom and bring it to a boil, then Simmer for 10 minutes.
Once baklava is ready, pure 1tbsp of syrup on hot baklava. Let it set and serve it .

Dried fruits biscuits

Posted on March 19, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

These scrumptious biscuits are really good. I am sure kids and adults would love it. Recipe is flexible and you can choose your favourite dried fruits. They are just good, simple, healthy, tasty and beautiful.

Ingredients

160g all purpose flour
110g butter, softened
100g sugar
50g nuts:pistachio or walnuts or almonds, chopped
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp baking powder
grated zest of 1 lemon
grated zest of 1 orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dried fruits such as: cherries, raisins, apricots, chopped
Handful crystallised ginger

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.

In a bowl, beat the butter with sugar until creamy. Add eggs, lemon, orange zest and vanilla extract. Mix well.

Add baking powder and flour. Combine well. Then add dried fruits, nuts and ginger.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour the dough into 2 small and long loafs in the baking tray. Sprinkle some flour top of the dough and give the right shape.

Bake it for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Then cut each loaf into small slices. And put it back in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.

You can store these yummy fruity biscuits in a container for about 10 day. They can be frozen up to 2 months.

Azerbaijani Rice Pilaf with Milk ( Sutti Polow)

Posted on March 11, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

This is a traditional rice pilaf made in milk and serves with beautifully fried raisins and dates in butter, cinnamon and saffron. In some recipes you can serve rice either with smoked fish, that is just yum or with raisins and dates.

Ingredients

2 cups rice

2 cups milk

1 ½ cups water

1 cup Dates

1 cup raisins

3tbsp butter

2tbsp vegetable oil

1tbsp Persian saffron water

1tsp cinnamon powder

½ tsp turmeric

Method

Rinse the rice. Pour all milk, water, rice and 2tbsp butter and vegetable oil into a pot. Bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Add turmeric and Saffron water. Give a stir. Allow the rice to cook.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small skillet, add raisins, cinnamon powder and saffron water. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until softened. Then remove from the heat and do same process with Dates.

Serving milky rice with fried raisins and dates. If you like add a pad of butter to rice and give extra richness.

Bird Shaped Breads

Posted on March 5, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

I love home made breads. When you make your breads you will never go back to buying them. I have shared plenty of my bread recipes from flavoured breads with garlic, onion, olive, to quick breads, and to be honest with you Nothing is better than to have home made fresh and warm bread specially in a miserable cold weather. These cute bird shape bread rolls are so easy to make.

Ingredients

600 g all purpose flour

250 ml warm water

80 ml olive oil or other veg oil

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dry yeast

Method

Sift the flour in a large bowl. Add water and yeast to the centre of the bowl, add a little bit of flour to the water. Whisk it well. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and leave it in a warm place for 30 minutes until yeast to activate.

Now add sugar, salt and oil to the flour and mix all ingredients together well and knead it for 10 minutes until have a smooth dough.

Drop oil in the bowl, place the dough inside the bowl. Cover it with a wet kitchen towel and leave it in a warm place for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 180c degree.

After 2 hours, the dough is double in size and now knead the dough again and then divide it into small pieces (each one 55g).

Take a ball and roll it with your hand, like a long cigarette or sausages.. Make sure that sides are thicker, so just roll out the middle . For making a bird shape bread,tie the dough into a knot ( as you see in the photos).

Make one end a tale by pressing the fork or by a scissor ( as you see in the photos).

Instruction for making two birds is same, and by following photos you will learn it.

Make other end a head and a beak. For bird’s eye using a tooth piece and pierce the dough, leave it like that or fill the eye with raisins or sesame seeds. Put the ready birds into a baking tray.

Then bake for 20-25 minutes. Once they are ready, brush with olive oil or other vegetable oil and serve it.

cover bite

20180222_133936

Chocolate dipped Orange peel- dates and raisins

Posted on January 17, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Anytime I make a dish, desert or jam with orange, it brings amazing beautiful bright coloعr and warm perfume into all kind of my recipes. Orange peel or fruit in sugar syrup is popular in Middle East. but they are not jam. Because It is crystallized fruit or a pieces of peel that are cooked and preserved in sugar syrup.

بشقاب.JPG

Ingredients:

3 oranges

350 g Sugar

8 dates

3 tbsp large yellow raisin

1 cinnamon stick ( or 1tbsp ground cinnamon)

1 star anise

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

5 cardamom pods

200 g dark chocolate, mint chocolate or white chocolate ( I prefer dark and mint chocolate. It is just matter of your taste)

Method

Wash oranges well. cut off tops and bottoms of them. Remove skin( and white part of skin) of oranges. Cut peels into narrow or wide stripes and tiny square ones. Place orange strips in a pot. Pour cold water. Allow to simmer for 3-4 minutes. pour off boiled water. Repeat it for 3-4 times more, until bitterness of orange skin remove. pour orange skin in a colander and let it drains.

Remove cardamom skin. Grind cinnamon stick, cardamom seeds and star anise with a mortar and pestle. Then in a pot, pour your sugar, ground cardamom, star anise, cinnamon. Pour 350 ml cold water into the pan.Place it on a medium heat, and stir it time to time until sugar dissolved. Then add peels and cook it for 30 minutes. Keep your eyes open on the sugar syrup and be careful in last 5-6 minutes. Because you do not want your syrup get very thick and caramelized. If it happens, your orangettes will be very sticky.

Remove the peels from pan and lay strips on a wire rack and put also tiny square peels in a plate. Allow them to dry for few hours.

Put your chocolates in the chocolate melting bowl. When chocolates are melted, dip peels one by one into the melted chocolate. Repeat same process with all pieces of peels and raisins and let them to dry on the wire rack. You can also stuff dried date with orange peel🙂. So first remove date seed and then stuff it with a piece of orange peel.

They have taste of heaven🙂. Fragrance or flavor of orange makes you feel good, specially along with a good cup of tea or coffee. Also you can put either coated or uncoated in a nice box and gift it. You can store it in the fridge or in cool place for a month.

Nosh-e Jan

طرز تهیه

پرتقال ها را شسته و سرو ته آنهارا بکنید.سپس پوست پرتقال ها را جدا کرده و به صورت خلال های نازک

مستطیل شکل,مستطیل پهن و نیز مربع های خیلی ریز خرد کنید. در یک قابلمه مقداری آب ریخته و پوست پرتقال ها را به آن اضافه نموده و بگذارید به مدت 3-4 دقیقه بجوشد. سپس آب جوشیده شده را دور ریخته و پوست پرتقال های جوشیده شده را داخل آبکش ریخته و آب سرد روی آن‌ها بریزد. مجددن پوست ها را بجوشانید. این عمل را 3-4 بار تکرار کنید تا تلخی پوست ها از بین بروند. ادویه ها شامل هل,زنجبیل و بادیان را داخل هاون ریخته و پودر کنید. سپس شکر و ادویه هارا به همراه 350 میلی لیتر آب سرد داخل قابلمه ریخته و با حرارت ملایم بگذارید شکر حل شود. سپس پوست های خلال شده را به شیره ی تهیه شده اضافه و بگذارید به مدت 30 دقیقه بجوشد. سپس قابلمه را از روی اجاق برداشته و خلال ها را دانه دانه روی سینی بچنید تا خنک و خشک شوند.

شکلات ها را در پیاله ی مخصوص آب کردن شکلات بریزید و شکلات ها آب کنید.خلال پوست پرتقال ها را یکی یکی در شکلات مذاب فرو کرده و به سینی بر گردانید تا خشک شوند.همین کار را با کشمش ها انجام دهید. شما می‌توانید همچنین خرمای خشک را با پوست پرتقال پر کنید. برای این منظور هسته ی خرما ها را در آورده و سپس یک یا دو خلال پوست پرتقال در میان خرما بگذارید. این شرینی ها طعم و عِطر فوق‌العاده‌ای دارند بخصوص اگر با یک فنجان چای یا قهوه همراه باشد.پوست پرتقال های قندی یا شکری را می‌توانید به مدت یکماه در یخچال نگه داری کنید

بشقاب دور بشقاب نزدیک .

Rice with Dried Fruits ( Shirin Polo)

Posted on January 3, 2018 by rozinaspersiankitchen

Shirin polow comes from Azerbaijani cuisine. In this dish, we have dried fruits such as dates, apricots and raisins. It has a gorgeous sweet savoury taste and however it is sweet but is not a dessert .
Sweet rice ( shirin polow) is served on its own or served with beef or lamb. It is a simple dish but at the same time like a gem is stunning. You would just surprise with this fruity rice.

Ingredients
200 g rice
30 g golden raisins
20 g dried apricots, cut into half
10-15 dates with stones removed and cut into half
Saffron (if is not available use turmeric)
Butter
1 Tsp cinnamon powder
Lavash bread
Salt to taste

Preparation
Put a few threads of saffron in a bowl and add 4 Tbsp boiling water, cover the bowl and let to infuse.
Melt the butter in a pan. Add dried fruits and cinnamon powder to the butter and saute for 3-4 minutes until soft. Set aside.

Wash the rice. Soak in the water with salt for 1 hour. In a pot with water, bring to the boil. Drain the salty water of the rice and add the rice to the boiling water. Cook it for 7-8 minutes and then strain the rice using a colander.

Pour some oil in the same pot, place Lavash or tortilla bread in the bottom of pot. Pour half of the par cooked rice on the bread and then pour over some of saffron water and fried fruits. Repeat the process and then cover the pot with a lid and leave it to cook over medium low heat until is ready.
Serve it hot.