Persian Cooking

[Hopleaf]

Does anyone have any recipes for Persian cooking they'd like to share with me?  I'm looking for a few particular dishes that my grandmother used to make, though I'd take a look at almost anything.  In particular, (and I have no idea how to spell these since I don't know any farsi) adas polo: she made it with lentils, raisins and what I think was grilled lamb slices (though there weren't many of those, perhaps indicating how the cuisine reflected their history of not having a lot of protein from animal sources in their diets); havich polo: carrots shredded into a rice; then she made these cardamom butter cookies with raisins, which I think I've replicated, but something seems to be missing.  There are a few others that I'll have to think of and post later.  Thanks in advance!

[Adam_Balic]

You might like to track down this book, which is really great read on Persian food/culture, and has many recipes for pilaw/polo. I'm sure that in reading it you would remember other recipes of ou grandmothers as well.

http://www.interlinkbooks.com/Leg_Cuis_Persia.html

[Hopleaf]

great, thanks Adam.  I'll try to get my hands on this book.  Have you ordered from Interlink before?  Are they a reputable site?  Frankly, I've never heard of them and I get wary with new e-commerce sites.  

I'll have a look and see if the book has any good recipes to post (can we do that here or do we need to link to a site with the info?)

[Adam_Balic]

I don't know anything about the site, the book is still on the shelves of some book stores in the UK, but I'm sure you can get it from Amazon.

As for posting the recipes, well that would be breaking all sorts of copyright laws and it isn't very fair to the author. No, what I think will happen is that in reading the book lots of details about you grandmothers recipes will come back, which are similar but not the same as the recipes in the book. You should post these, then I can tell you if they remind me of your grandmothers cooking as well.

[researchgal]

Hopleaf, a google search revealed quite a few sites with recipes, this one click me has a few of the recipes you mentioned, plus it's called "persia.org" sounds authentic enough!  Good luck!

[muonim]

Salam -- To relive your childhood taste pleasures, may I suggest that you buy Ms. Batmanglij's book -- Food of Life published by Mage Publishers in D.C.  They have a web site.

As an Iranian, I have found no better recipes for all the foods you mention.  As a matter of fact, last night, we had addas polo using the recipe from the book.  It is too long a recipe to type out here.  If you don't find the book, e-mail me for further information.

muonim

[Orik]

A quick google search came up with a couple of recipes that seem to have potential (seem to greatly resemble what our persian maid/cook used to make).

adas polo

havidge polo lubia

This being the type of kitchen it is, it is certainly open to a lot of variation (e.g. lamb is sometimes replaced by pita, as in the recipe in persia.org), so I can hardly vouch for similarity to what your grandmother used to make.

[Hopleaf]

Steve Klc, I'm having trouble with my PM (actually having a lot of trouble with the new software). So, I hope you see this post. I don't have any cookbooks, mostly just recipes from both my grandparents. That's why I had asked others to recommend sources of additional recipes. I've since checked the link to Legendary Cuisine of Persia that Adam Balic recommended and am trying to get it through my local library before purchasing it. Also, muonim's post about Ms. Batmanglij's book is worth looking into.

The thing that really strikes me about Persian cuisine is that it (probably like most ethnic cuisines) reflects their country's history, i.e. having only a small supply of meat meant to feed many mouths and making that stretch, as well as finding alternate sources of protein in lentils, garbanzo beans, etc. It's a wonderfully aromatic array of foods, once you prepare some you'll realize just how much so. The smells will intoxicate.

Sorry I couldn't recommend much more.

[anil]

Since when was Persia a.k.a Iran in Africa ? I thought my geography lessons put it in Asia

[Steve Plotnicki]

Hopleaf - I have checked for that book and it appears to be the same as the one muonim suggested. The full title is "New Food of Life, Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies" by Najimah Batmanglij. It is published by Mage and the ISBN number is 0-934211-34-5. It;s quite a beautiful book, and by far the best book on Persian cooking I've seen.