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Ramadan is a time for prayer and introspection. It is also a time when people get together with family and friends over a meal. Every week this month, tabloid! will bring you recipes as well as culinary tips from well-known chefs in the UAE to make your suhour and iftar meals healthy and interesting.
Today we feature some classic Iranian recipes provided by chef Mohammad Reza from Sails restaurant at The Renaissance Dubai Hotel. This Mediterranean restaurant offers a menu inspired by Italian, Moroccan, Greek and Spanish cuisine with a creative and contemporary presentation.
"These are popular dishes prepared on special occasions and have a beautiful blend of the special flavours and aromas that Iranian cuisine is well known for," says chef Reza.
Special theme nights featured at Sails include a ‘Reef and Beef' night every Monday and Tuesday and Seafood Buffet nights every Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Kashk-e Baadenjaan
Ingredients:
6 small eggplants
1 one glass kashk (kashk is thick whey, and can be purchased at an Iranian store)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 medium onions
2 spoons dried mint (or 200 grams of fresh mint)
cooking oil
Salt
Black pepper
Method:
Peel eggplants and slice length-wise to a thickness of 1 cm. Add salt and pepper and fry on both sides on medium heat, until golden. Add half a cup of hot water to one spoon of tomato paste and mix well. Add to eggplants and cook over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes.
Peel onions and slice thinly. Fry in oil until golden. Also fry dried mint in oil for a few minutes. Alternatively, fresh mint can be used. If so, wash and finely chop mint, then fry in oil. Pour kashk evenly over cooled eggplants; follow by onions and mint, then serve.
Tah-Cheen
Ingredients:
1 kg chicken
500g basmati or long grain rice
300g yogurt (Greek if possible)
1/2 teaspoon saffron
2 large onions
3 eggs (yolks only)
Cooking oil
Salt
Black pepper
Method:
Start by washing rice and soaking it in warm water (with added salt) for 2 hours. Then drain 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 colour changes. Add some water and bring to boil. Turn heat down and let it 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 well.
Pour a few glasses of water into 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). Again drain 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-Cheen is cooked, the thicker the Tah-Dig (delicious crispy layer of rice at the bottom) will be. When cooked, remove the lid and let it 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.
Salad-e Olivieh
Ingredients:
400g chicken
500g potatoes
100g dill pickles (not the sweet variety)
2 medium onions
3 medium eggs
1/2 cup peas
1 medium carrot
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
Mayonnaise as required
Cooking oil
Salt
Black pepper
Method:
Peel and thinly slice onions. Fry in oil until slightly golden. Add chicken and fry until colour changes to golden brown. Wash and peel carrot. Chop into small pieces. Add to chicken with a bit of salt and one cup of hot water. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes.
Remove the bones and cut meat into small pieces.
Wash potatoes well. Add hot water and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, then mash them well using the back of a fork. Cook peas over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Finely chop dill pickles. Boil eggs until hard. Remove shells and crush well using the back of a fork.
Add potatoes, peas, pickles, salt, black pepper, mayonnaise, eggs and lime juice to chicken (with a bit of juice) and mix well. Salad-e Olivieh should be served cold.
Optional: pour the mix in a dish and flatten the surface with the back of a spoon. Place some mayonnaise on top and spread over the surface with a knife. Slice one or two dill pickles length-wise and use the slices to decorate Salad-e Olivieh.
Joojeh Kebab
Ingredients:
1 kg chicken breast
200g lamb mince
80g green peppers, chopped finely
125 ml extra-virgin olive oil
150 ml yoghurt
2 large onions, grated
4 medium tomatoes
Salt
Black pepper
Saffron, 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Method:
Prepare marinade: mix olive oil, grated onions, saffron, salt and black pepper.
Wash and cut chicken breast into 1 cm long strips.
Marinate overnight (or at least for several hours) in refrigerator. The container should be covered.
Thread chicken on long, thin metal skewers into rounds. Fill with lamb mince into hollow bits. Also thread tomatoes quartered if big or whole, if small separately on another skewer. Brush with marinade.
Barbeque for about 5-10 minutes on each side, turning frequently. Joojeh Kebab can also be prepared in the oven. Prepare chicken as before, pre-heat the grill to a high temperature, and place just under the grill, again turning frequently. Serve hot with basmati rice or on Middle-Eastern bread.
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