Khoresht_e Chaghaleh badam/ Fresh green Almonds stew

Almonds and green? yes you heard it right  fresh almonds are green and very yummy, most people think almonds come in hard wooden shells but the delicious fact is before they get to be hard  and brownish  they are green  and soft. In Iran  these fresh green almonds are known as " chaghaleh badam ".   Iranians look forward to eat chaghaleh badam to the start of the spring, chaghaleh badam  last only for a few weeks  and then they start to get hardened . we soak them in the water for about a few hours and rub any excess white fur from  their skin. Green almonds have  tartness and they are very crunchy.

ingredients:

(8 servings)

750 gr  lamb meet

500 gr chaghaleh badam  or green almonds

3 cups fine chopped  parsley and mint leaves

1 cup fried onions

salt and black pepper  to taste

 1/2 teaspoon turmeric ( optional)

 1/4 cup lime or lemon juice

 oil

water

Direction

cut the meat in  one inch  cubes,  fry meat cubes in  1 table spoon  vegtable oil in a  cooking pan until its color changes, add fried onions and 3 cups of water, cover the pan and cook  the meat,  meanwhile  remove the stem of fresh almonds  stir fry them for a few minute, add chopped  parsley and mint  to the frying  almonds, stir them for a short while  until vegetables lose water,  then remove from the heat and set it aside,

when the meat is half cooked  add the  vegetables  and raw green almonds  ( chaghaleh) to meat.. add a pinch of salt and pepper, cook for 1 hour or until the chaghaleh and meat both are done,  add lemon juice and remove from the heat,

we serve this khoresht with  rice .. nooshe jaan!!!

Torshi Liteh, Eggplantt Pickle

In my previous post I talked about Iranian pickle (Torshi), today I am going to post another delicious Torshi/ pickle made  from cooked eggplant so lets just  get started with no delay:

Ingredients: 

1 kg eggplant 

2 table spoons  black seeds

1 table spoon coriander seeds ( you can grind them)

4 carrots

200 gr celery

2 tea spoons turmeric

5 cups  white  or apple vinegar 2 cups water 1 table spoon salt ( you can modify the amount of vinegar salt and water according to your own taste, you can reduce salt and increase vinegar or salt)

2 table spoons honey

1/2 cup  cauliflower chopped very finely
3 garlic cloves ( chopped )
 1 table spoon dried mint and basil (powdered)
 

Direction

peel the eggplants put them in hot salty water for one hour, drain and rinse them , cook them for 10 minutes or steam cook them, place them in a strainer and  leave for a few hours until all water drained and left eggplants completely  after that  process egg plant  or you can use chopper to chop the eggplant  finely,
Carrots and cauliflower should be chopped very finely as well, I always steam cook them for a few minute, so i suggest you to do so as well, (only for a few minutes) , after  that, spread them  over a clean towel and allow them  to dry, 

Add celery to vinegar salt  water  and honey solution,  bring it to a boil, adding celery to this solution  gives it a very tasty  flavor,
add all the ingredients together in a large bowl, toss them well to marinate them with spices ( turmeric, dried mint and basil and chopped  garlic)

add them to the prepared jars or containers followed by  the solution, the acid solution should  cover the ingredients  completely,  put the jars in the fridge or cold place for a few weeks, I don't wait that long to taste the result so I try it right after 10 days or even  a week!!! but the best result comes out after passing 2 or 3 weeks,
 Happy Turshi making!!


PS; please remember to remove celery from the solution. if you don't like  sweet taste of honey in this  pickle try  to reduce it to one  table spoon or you can omit honey.

Salad mashhadi Pickle

Pickling is a very common form of preserving  food  in Iran for winter, although we make different pickles  for all seasons , I think  you can spice up every meal by delicious pickles with salty or sour tastes,  they are fat free and low calorie  side dishes,  but as we all know  everything delicious can be harmful to our health  as we enjoy their benefits , so my motto is to keep everything  moderately . I also try to not use salt  excessively .

Iranians preserve  vegetables mostly  by fermentation in brine ( solution of salt in water) or storing them in  an acid solution  ( vinegar)  or  brine and acid  together, according to my own foodie protocol  I only use  combination of vinegar and salt,  it gives me the best result   always, unless I want to brine  cucumber ( khair shoor)  khiar is cucumber and shoor means salty,  

I know the  winter is going to  end soon in a few days but  it will be fun to have a small bottle of pickle  at your  fridge  in the spring!  I have to warn you  I am used to measure  things  with  my eyes  specially when I am making pickles and I can’t give you exact  amounts of raw materials , I have always made pickles in large scale . Don’t limit yourself for the ingredients measurement  you can reduce or even increase the ingredients  amounts.

Ingredients:

Half of  small size  cauliflower ( finely chopped)

500 gr carrot (chopped in very small cubes)

3 kg tomato

1 yellow bell pepper  1 green  bell pepper

One cup pickled cucumber ( chopped finely in small cubes)

5 cloves of garlic 9 finely chopped

4 cups  apple vinegar one cup water  and 1 table spoon salt  ( you can add salt if you wish to have salty solution)

One table spoon  coriander seeds

1 tea spoon turmeric

Direction

       First wash  all the vegetables   and dry them  completely , Put tomatoes in hot boiling water , drain them  after a minute  and rinse with cold water  so that you can easily peel the tomatoes.   process  tomatoes in your food processor  or you can chop them  finely ,  cook them without  adding any salt, or water  and until a thick consistency  but not like a thick  tomato paste!  Remove from the heat and  Leave it to cool

      Chop the cauliflower, carrots and pickled cucumbers  in fine small cubes , I processed  cauliflower and carrot  in electric chopper ,

    In large bowl  combine all the ingredients together ,

    Prepare a few containers some jars or you can use  air tight food containers,  wash them thoroughly and put them in the microwave  for a few minutes to dry and  clean them, or you can  clean the jars in hot water bath over the  heat I am sure you know the technique

 Jar Preparation
Wash the jars , lids, and bands in hot, soapy water; rinse and drain. Fill the canner with water and place the jars in the rack. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat and keep jars hot until you're ready to fill them.

Put the flat lids in a saucepan and cover with water; bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Do not boil. Reduce heat and keep them hot until you're ready to use them

      In a sauce pan add vinegar,  water and salt  bring it into  a boil and remove the pan form the heat.

       Fill the containers or jars with jars with a ladle the ingredients,  leaving the appropriate amount of headspace,  pour the vinegar salt solution to the  jars, seal them.  Put the pickle bottles or containers in the fridge  for a few days,  It s important to  keep it in the fridge always  because this pickle  has got a cooked  tomato ,

   You can  have this pickle after a few days,

I hope you like it.