PERSIAN HALVA

Halva is a popular sweet found throughout the Middle East. It is very common Iranian serve halva in their ceremonies. This Persian version uses a simple mixture of


Flour, sugar, butter, rosewater, and saffron.

PERSIAN MORASAH-POLOW

Ingredients: (4 Servings)


basmati or long-grain rice, 500 grams

chicken, 800 grams

cooking oil

butter, 2 spoons

barberries (dried), 80 grams

almonds, 50 grams

pistachios, 50 grams

raisins, 50 grams

orange peel, 100 grams

sugar, two spoons

large onions, two

saffron, 1/2 teaspoon

salt

black pepper

Directions:

Morasah-Polow is an elaborate rice dish which means jeweled rice and is usually made at weddings.



Soak rice in warm water for 2 hours. Wash chicken. Peel and thinly slice onions. Fry in oil until slightly golden. Add chicken pieces and fry until color changes. Add a glass of hot water, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes. Add more hot water during cooking if necessary. About 1/2 glass of water should be left at the end. Romove chicken bones.



Wash barberries and raisins with cold water and drain. Fry separately in oil over medium heat for a few minutes. Add some sugar to barberries during frying. Thinly slice almonds and pistachios. Soak almonds in cold water for an hour. Thinly slice orange peels. Boil for a few minutes, drain and repeat. Soak in cold water for an hour, drain, and repeat. Finally boil for a few minutes with a few spoons of sugar, and drain.



Prepare rice using the recipe for polow. When rice is rinsed, pour a bit of oil and hot water in a pot, and add 1/2 of rice. Spread chicken pieces over the rice, and cover with 1/2 of remaining rice. Spread half of almonds and orange peel over rice and cover with remaining rice. Pour chicken-juice and a bit of oil over rice. Dissolve saffron in a bit of hot water and also pour over rice. Cover and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes. Add remainder of almonds and orange peel, raisins, barberries, and pistachios, and mix well. Pour two spoons of melted butter on top, and serve.

PERSIAN TAH-CHEEN

WWW.persian foods .com

Ingredients: (4 servings)

• chicken, 1 kg
• basmati or long grain rice, 500 grams

• yogurt, 300 grams

• saffron, 1/2 teaspoon

• large onions, two

• 3 eggs (yolks only)

• cooking oil

• salt

• black pepper

Directions:

Start by washing rice and soaking it in warm water (with added salt) for 2 hours. Then filter out the water.

Chop onions into thin slices and fry in oil until slightly golden. Wash and cut chicken, remove skin, and fry in onions until color changes. Add some water and bring to boil. Turn heat down and let boil slowly until cooked, adding more water if needed. Remove the bones.

While chicken is cooking, beat the yogurt until it is smooth. Dissolve saffron in half a cup of hot water. Add saffron, salt, pepper and egg-yolks to the yogurt and mix very well.

Pour a few glasses of water in a large pot and bring to boil. Pour in rice and cook while stirring occasionally until rice grows longer and slightly softens (Take care not to overcook the rice. It should still be too hard for eating). Again filter out the water.

Pour several spoons of oil and several spoons of the yogurt mix into a non-stick pot. Add a thin layer of rice and flatten using the back of a spoon. Add a layer of chicken on top followed by another layer of rice. Again flatten the rice. Spread several more spoons of the yogurt mix on the rice. Continue in this fashion until chicken, rice and the yogurt mix have been used up. Add some more oil on top. Put the lid on and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat.

Place the pot in an oven (preheated to 250 F) and cook for 1.5 to 2 hours. Note that the longer Tah-Chin is cooked, the thicker the Tah-Dig (delicious crispy layer of rice at the bottom) will be. When cooked, remove the lid and let cool for a few minutes.

Place an inverted large dish over the pot and turn it over. Tap the pot in order to loosen the contents inside. The contents should fall on the dish in one piece with the Tah-Dig on the outside.