FOOD RECIPE Khoresht (sauce) Directions: Melt butter in a 3-quart pot. Add meat, onions, and seasonings and sauté until meat is brown. Add tomato sauce, water, green beans and lemon juice and let simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour on medium heat or until beans are tender and the meat absorbs most of the juice. Cook rice as directed below. When you come to step 6 of the directions for the rice, put ¼ of the rice in the pot, place ¼ of the sauce over the rice, and alternate until all of the rice and sauce are layered. (makes 4-5 servings ) Polo (Rice) Ingredients: 2 ½ cups of rice 2 ¼ tbsp. salt 2 tbsp. salt ¼ cup butter (melted) 2 qts. Water ¼ cup vegetable oil
Estamboli Polo
a recipe from the Persian Mom’s Kitchen
Like many other cultures, there is a variety of tasty dishes on the Persian kitchen menu. But one thing for sure, there isn’t such a thing as “fast food” or “fast cooking” in the Persian cooking! All of the dishes are prepared like cuisine and they consist of all of the food groups. Even preparing the side dishes and salads require time, patience, and special attention or “love” as it is being called by the cooks in this culture. Most of the Iranian dishes are consist of Polo (rice) and Khoresht (sauce) which are cooked separate and served in different platters. Estamboli Polo is one delicious dish that polo and the khoresht are prepared in different pots but mixed and cooked together in one pot. In one way you can say that this dish is an introductory recipe to the art of Persian cooking. Try it and without any doubt you will enjoy it and as we always say in Farsi “NOOSHE JAN”! Khoresht (sauce) Ingredients: 3 ½ tbsp butter 1 ½ lb. ground beef or stew beef, cut into 1/2 “ cubes 1/2 tsp. salt 2 medium onions (finely chopped) 3 cups fresh green beans (cut in half) 1/4 tsp. pepper 3/4cup tomato sauce 1/3 cup water 2 tbsp. lemon juice 2 1/2 cups basmati rice 1 ¾ tbsp. salt 2 qt. water 2 tbsp. salt ½ cup melted butter
2) Boil 2 quarts of water and add 2 ¼ tablespoons of salt. 3) Pour off the water in which the rice has been soaked. Add rice to the boiling water and boil it for 10-12 minutes. (stir rice with spoon once or twice to prevent the grains from sticking together.). 4) Pour the rice and water into a strainer and rinse with cold water. 5) Put vegetable oil into the bottom of the pot in which you cooked the rice. 6) Take a spoonful of rice at a time and put it in the pot, distributing it evenly. Allow it to mount into the shape of a cone. 7) Pour the ½ of the melted butter over the rice, along with 1/8 to ¼ cup of water, distributing it evenly. 8) Put paper towel over the pot and cover. Cook for 12 - 15 minutes on medium heat and cook for 35-40 minutes on low fire. Note: If the rice is cooked at the right temperature, the rice will form a crust at the bottom of the pot which will become crisp and turn golden brown, while the rest of the rice remains white. The Persian name for this crust is “Tah-deeg”. Don’t worry if this does not happen on your first try. Just remember like other things, the mastering in making a perfect Tah-deeg comes with practice. By the way Tah-deeg is the best part of the Polo and is very popular with the Iranians as long as it is not totally burned. n
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Persian Tribute Issue June 2012.indd 28-29
Polo (rice) Directions: 1) Wash rice 3 - 4 times in lukewarm water and then soak in cold water with 2 tablespoons of salt. Use enough cold water to cover the rice. This rice should be soaked overnight or if you are in a hurry soak rice minimum 1 or 2 hours.
• PERSIANTRIBUNE
PERSIANTRIBUNE
• 27 12-07-31 4:05 PM