Mirza Ghasmei- Aubergine , tomato and egg

I have been really busy lately with my PhD work and spending most of the time eating soup, to make things nice and happy again my mom made this Iranian dish which is my all time favourite and mom make it really well. It is called Mirza Ghasemi and here is the recipe. It serves 3-4.

Ingredients:
Garlic: 5 cloves- crushed
Aubergine: 2 Medium
Egg: 2 Medium
Chopped tomato: 1 tin
Tomato pure: 1Table spoon
Veg oil: 2 Table spoon
Salt, pepper and turmeric : to taste


Grill the Aubergines in the oven until it is all smoky and burnt on the edges, it would be even best if you can grill them on the BBQ, the smoky taste is priceless :-), peel their skins and chop them and put them aside.
Fry the chopped tomato with oil, garlic , pepper, turmeric and tomato pure in a frying pan until it is all golden , add two eggs , do not scramble the eggs, let them get some sort of shape.Add the aubergines to the combination and let them all sweat for 5-10 minutes in the frying pan, serve it with rice or pitta bread. Bon appetit!

Chicken with prune and plum (Khoresh)

My friend is gone now, but before she leave she cooked this fantastic plum khoresh with chicken, I myself cook it with lamb but this was something new for me and definitely worth sharing. This serves 2-3.
Ingredients:
Chicken: 6 pieces

Dried black prune and plum: 1.5 cup
Lime: 2
Salt, pepper, turmeric: 1tsp each
Tomato paste: 1Tsp
Sugar: 1 Tsp
Saffron: 0.25 tsp
Water:1.5 cup
Onion: 1 medium
Veg oil

Rob the spices on the chicken pieces really well, in a sizzling hot pan fry the chicken until golden on all sides. Mix the tomato paste, water and half of the lime juice and pour the mixture into the pan, add the saffron and reduce the heat for 15 minutes.
Chop the onion finely and fry them in a separate frying pan until golden, when its almost ready add the prunes and plums and fry them with the onion as well.
Add the plum, prune and onion mixture to the chicken and add 1Tsp sugar and the rest of the lime. Let it all steam together for about 10 minutes and serve it with rice or even naan bread. Enjoy!

Pomegrenate and walnut khoresh ( fesenjoon)

My friends stayed over the weekend and she cooked this tradintional khoresh which is a nation's favourite and taste fantastic. So enough with the marketing and here's the recipe. This serves 3-4.


Ingredients:
Onion: 2 medium
Chicken: 5-6 large pieces
Pomegranate paste: 1 bottle
Walnut: 2 cups
Water: 2 cups
Salt, turmeric
Veg oil
Sugar : 1 Tsp ( optional)


Chop and fry the onion really well until golden add 1tsp turmeric , add the chicken mix it with the onion and add the water, let it half cook for 15 minutes. Crush the walnut really well and add it to the mixture, add the pomagrante paste, put the mixture on really low heat and let it be for 70-90 minutes, this is until the khoresh changed colour to darkish brown and the walnut oil is oozing out. If half way through you think that the chicken is melting and shreading remove it from the pan and add towards the end again. Serve it with nice and fluffy rice and dig in!

Ghorme sabzi khoresh

This Khoresh ( Iranian stew) is one of my favourites and its packed with herbs and all the good stuff. This serves 2-3.

Ingredinets:
Onion:1 large
Diced lamb: 5-6 pieces
Chopped chives, coriander, parsely and fenugreek: 1.5 cup
Red kidney beans: 1 tin
Dried lime: 3
Stock cube:1
Rice: 2 cups
Veg oil
Salt, pepper and turmeric
Water

Chop the onion and fry it in a pan until golden, add the lamb and turmeric, pepper. In a seperate pan fry the chopped herbs and add it to the lamb. Cover the mixture with water and add a beef stock cube and dried limes and let it stew for around 90 minutes on a low heat. When its around 70 minutes in add the red kidney beans.
Prepare the rice, cover the rice with water and add a dash of salt and veg oil, put the lid on until the rice is nice and fluffy. Now all is ready, enjoy!

Saffron blast -Meshkoofi

Meshkoofi is an Iranian dessert and is perfect for dinner parties because you can make it the night before. Well I have a guest coming over tonight and this is going to be the dessert, although its going to be the two of us, this is easily good for 4-5 people. I know I am greedy :-)

Ingredients:
Sugar :  5.5. table spoon
Milk: 1.5 pint
Corn flour: 4.5 table spoon
cold water: 1/3 pint
Rose water: 1 table spoon
Saffron: 1.5 tea spoon
Flaked almonds: a handful
dried rose for decoration

Mix the corn flour with the cold water and prepare the saffron ( as I explained before). In a large pan, add milk, sugar and the corn flour mixture, on a low-medium heat stir the mixture gently until it is thick like custard , add flaked almonds and rose water, the reason for adding the rose water towards the end is to keep the aroma as much as possible and not heat it all away. Pour the thick and beautiful mixture in something transparent (e.g. serving pyrex) and decorate it with almonds and dried roses. let it cool in the fridge for 3-4 hours and dig in.

Spinach goodness

I love spinach, its my favourite green and its really good for you and easy to cook. Tonight I was busy with a project and did not have much time to prepare lunch, so spinach was there to the rescue. This serves 2 but it's all mine this time. Here is The recipe.
Ingredient:
Spinach: 2 cups
Red chilli: 1small
Onion:1small
Egg:1medium
Cinnamon and salt
Veg oil

Dice the onion and chilli finely, add the spinach, cinnamon and salt to the mixture. Break the egg and mix everything together. In a pancake pan pour the mixture and fry it for 5-7 minutes on each side and its ready to go. Enjoy!

Chicken couscous cutlet

I like these ingredient but I was a bit bored by the way I usually eat them, which is couscous chicken salad so I have tried it differently and they came out real good. So there you are, familiar ingredients presented differently.

Ingredients:
Chicken: 1 fillet
Couscous: 1 cup
egg: 1 medium
stock cube: 1
bread crumb: 1Tsp
vegetable oil
pepper and turmeric

chop and dice the fillet really finely, almost make it like a minced chicken. Cover the couscous with boiled water , don't add salt as we will add a stock cube and that is salty. Add the egg and bread crumbs and mix everything very well. Use a table spoon and pick pieces of the mixture and fry it in a really hot pan, you can use your hand for a really organised and round shape, but I prefer to use the spoon and minimise the mess. Fry the cutlet until nice and golden on both sides, serve them on a bed of fresh salad.