Joon: Persian Cooking Made Simple

Najmieh Batmanglij

Description

the new york times declares 

najmieh is one of “seven immigrant women who changed the way americans eat.”

introduction 9

the essential persian pantry 11

preparing to cook 39

small dishes to mix + match 41

yogurt + cucumber salad 42

yogurt + spinach borani 45

fava bean salad 46

yogurt + persian shallot dip 49

eggplant, mint + walnut spread 50

eggplant + pomegranate spread 50

roasted cauliflower + cumin 52

roasted sweet peppers + garlic 52

chickpea, sesame + kale spread 54

butternut squash + kashk spread 57

beet + walnut spread 57

cheese, walnut + herb spread 58

butternut + lentil porridge 61

lentil salad 62

cucumber + pomegranate salad 65

tomato, cucumber, + mint salad 66

chickpea, cilantro + cumin salad 69

bulgur salad / tabbouleh 70

curly kale + persimmon salad 73

sesame, nigella + cabbage slaw 75

carrot + sesame salad 77

grilled corn on the cob + sumac sauce 79

olivier chicken salad 80

eggplant + zucchini yatimcheh / ratatouille 83

soup 85

noodle + chickpea soup 86

pomegranate soup 89

barley + leek soup 90

ginger + turmeric chicken soup 92

eggs + kukus 95

eggs 96

tomato, cumin + sweet pepper omelet 99

eggplant + egg spread 100

summer squash kuku 102

fresh herb kuku 104

cauliflower kuku 106

meatballs, pasta + pizza 109

fava bean + dill meatballs 111

pistachio + pomegranate meatballs 112

chickpea meatballs / gondi 115

sweet + sour chickpea patties 117

sweet + savory turnovers 118

saffron, tomato, + persian basil pasta 120

walnut + pomegranate pizza 123

fish 125

fish with verjuice + pomegranate 126

fresh herb + barberry baked fish 129

sumac grilled fish 130

grilled salmon, apple cider vinegar + zatar 130

seared fish in tamarind + fenugreek sauce 132

roasts + kababs 135

pomegranate-infused leg of lamb 136

saffron lamb rib kababs 139

lime + turmeric roast chicken 141

chicken kabab 143

oven fried chicken 144

ground chicken kababs 147

ground lamb kababs 148

caspian sweet + sour kababs 150

polow + khoresh 153

stove-top plain rice (kateh) 157

rice-cooker plain rice 158

saffron steamed rice (chelow) 161

saffron quinoa 163

yogurt khoresh 164

eggplant khoresh 167

apple + cherry khoresh 169

fresh herb khoresh 170

celery + mushroom khoresh 172

potato + split pea khoresh 175

caspian fava + egg khoresh 176

pomegranate + walnut khoresh 178

fava + dill polow 180

caramelized barberry + carrot polow 183

lentil + date polow 185

green bean + tomato polow 186

sour cherry polow 189

bulgur dami with mung beans + dill 190

desserts + teas 193

fruit + nut cupcakes 194

cardamom rice cookies 197

pistachio cookies 199

roasted peaches 199

chickpea cookies 200

baklava cake 203

sesame brittle 204

pomegranate granita 207

vinegar + mint sharbat 208

najmieh’s tea 211

infusions 213

pickle

quick + easy persian cucumber pickle 214

tools for a persian kitchen 215

index 219

Sujets

• Cuisine
• Cuisine du monde
• Cuisine d'Asie
• Specific Ingredients
• Ethnic Cooking
• Regional cooking
• Middle Eastern
• General officer
• Middle East
• Cooking
• General
• Cuisine d'Europe
• Cuisine d'Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Mage Publishers Inc.
• Date de parution: 24 septembre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 4
• EAN13: 9781933823836
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

In Joon, master chef Najmieh Batmanglij distills one of the world’s oldest and most influential cuisines to capture its unique flavors in recipes adapted to suit our busy lives. Najmieh’s fans have been making meals from her Food of Life for more than 30 years. For Joon she has simplified 75 of her favorite dishes and shows how, with the right ingredients and a few basic tools and techniques, authentic Persian food can easily be prepared at home.
Joon means “life” in Persian. It can be used in multiple ways, from a term of endearment akin to “darling” after someone’s name to showing great enthusiasm: “I love it!” The expression nush-e joon , literally “food of life,” is similar to the French “ bon appétit ,” a wish that a meal will be enjoyed.
Iran and Persia refer to the same place. These days we use “Iran” to refer to the country and “Persia” or “Persian” for the culture, from Persian carpets, and Persian cats to, Persian cooking. Persian, also called farsi , is the language of Iran.
Iran is situated at the center of the ancient network of trading routes—known today as the Silk Road—that connected China in the east to Italy in the west. The royal kitchens of two ancient Persian empires, a thousand years apart, were famous for their cooking, which both influenced and was influenced by the cuisine of countries along the Silk Road. Later, in the ninth century, it was the Arabs of the Abbasid court in Baghdad who spread Persian culture and cooking more widely in Europe and North Africa.


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Much of Iran’s cuisine is essentially vegetarian. Although kababs are popular restaurant fare, they represent only a small sampling of the dishes Iranians eat at home. Persian cooking, with its emphasis on fresh, natural ingredients corresponds with the trend in eating that’s spreading across America. “Join the delicious revolution!” as Alice Waters says; “Eat simply, eat together, eat seasonally, shop at farmers markets.”
The recipes in this book—each accompanied by a photograph of the finished dish—come straight from Najmieh’s kitchen and include not only the classics of Persian cooking, but also some soon-to-be favorites, such as quinoa or kale cooked Persian-style. You’ll discover delicious side dishes, from cooling, yogurt-based salads and tasty dips and spreads, to more sustaining platters of grains, beans and fresh herbs; tasty “kukus”—frittata-style omelets filled with vegetables and herbs; spice-infused fish; mouth-watering meatballs and kababs served on flat breads with tangy sauces; every kind of rice—including the incomparable polow topped with various sweet and sour braises; not to mention, delightfully aromatic cakes and cookies to round off meals or enjoy as a snack in between.
So, jump in and explore. You will find inspiration as well as practical guidance: a great age-old cuisine presented for today’s world.


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Copyright © 2015 Najmieh Batmanglij

All photos, copyright © 2015 Mage Publishers.
Photos were styled by Najmieh and shot by Mohammad Batmanglij, except as noted for the pages below:
Nader Souri: 13, 16, 17, 22, 23, 30, 31, 33
Afshin Bakhtiari: 6, 24, 26, 87, 94, 124, 134
Amir Naderi: 29
Maryam Zandi: 28
All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced
 or retransmitted in any manner whatsoever,
 except in the form of a review, without the
 written permission of the publisher. 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Available in detail from the Library of Congress

first edition

ebook ISBN 13: 978-1-933823-83-6

ebook conversion by TIPS Technical Publishing, Inc.

Visit Mage online at www.mage.com

202 342 1642 • [e-mail]




For my sons Zal and Rostam, and for their generation.




• 6 •


introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
the essential persian pantry . . . . . 11
preparing to cook . . . . . . . . . 39
small dishes to mix + match . . . . . 41
yogurt + cucumber salad . . . . . . 42
y ogurt + spinach borani . . . . . . 45
fava bean salad . . . . . . . . . . 46
yogurt + persian shallot dip . . . . . 49
eggplant, mint + walnut spread . . . . 50
eggplant + pomegranate spread . . . . 52
chickpea, sesame + kale spread . . . . 54
butternut squash + kashk spread . . . 57
cheese, walnut + herb spread . . . . . 58
butternut + lentil porridge . . . . . . 61
lentil salad . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
cucumber + pomegranate salad . . . . 65
tomato, cucumber, + mint salad . . . 66
chickpea, cilantro + cumin salad . . . 69
bulgur salad / tabbouleh . . . . . . 70
curly kale + persimmon salad . . . . . 73
sesame, nigella + cabbage slaw . . . . 75
carrot + sesame salad . . . . . . . 77
beet + walnut salad . . . . . . . . 79
olivier chicken salad . . . . . . . . 80
eggplant + zucchini yatimcheh / ratatouille 83
soup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
noodle + chickpea soup . . . . . . . 86
pomegranate soup . . . . . . . . . 89
barley + leek soup . . . . . . . . . 90
ginger + turmeric chicken soup . . . . 92
eggs + kukus . . . . . . . . . . . 95
eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
tomato, cumin + sweet pepper omelet . . 99
eggplant + egg spread . . . . . . 100
summer squash kuku . . . . . . . 102
fresh herb kuku . . . . . . . . . 104
cauliflower kuku . . . . . . . . . 106
meatballs, pasta + pizza . . . . . . 109
fava bean + dill meatballs . . . . . 111
pistachio + pomegranate meatballs . . 112
chickpea meatballs / gondi . . . . . 115
sweet + sour chickpea + lamb patties . 117
sweet + savory turnovers . . . . . 118
saffron, tomato, + persian basil pasta 120
walnut + pomegranate pizza . . . . 123


Contents




• 7 •


Contents



fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
fish with verjuice + pomegranate . . 126
fresh herb + barberry baked fish . . . 129
sumac grilled fish . . . . . . . . 130
seared fish in tamarind + fenugreek sauce 132
roasts + kababs . . . . . . . . . 135
pomegranate-infused leg of lamb . . 136
saffron lamb rib kababs . . . . . . 139
lime + turmeric roast chicken . . . . 141
chicken kabab . . . . . . . . . . 143
oven fried chicken . . . . . . . . 144
ground chicken kababs . . . . . . 147
ground lamb kababs . . . . . . . 148
caspian sweet + sour kababs . . . . 150
polow + khoresh . . . . . . . . . 153
stove-top plain rice (kateh) . . . . . 157
rice-cooker plain rice . . . . . . . 158
saffron steamed rice (chelow) . . . 161
saffron quinoa . . . . . . . . . 163
yogurt khoresh . . . . . . . . . 164
eggplant khoresh . . . . . . . . 167
apple + cherry khoresh . . . . . . 169
fresh herb khoresh . . . . . . . . 170
celery + mushroom khoresh . . . . 172
potato + split pea khoresh . . . . . 175
caspian fava + egg khoresh . . . . 176
pomegranate + walnut khoresh . . . 178
fava + dill polow . . . . . . . . . 180
caramelized barberry + carrot polow . 183
lentil + date polow . . . . . . . . 185
green bean + tomato polow . . . . 186
sour cherry polow . . . . . . . . 189
bulgur dami with mung beans + dill . 190
desserts + teas . . . . . . . . . . 193
fruit + nut cupcakes . . . . . . . 194
cardamom rice cookies . . . . . . 197
pistachio cookies . . . . . . . . . 199
c hickpea cookies . . . . . . . . . 200
baklava cake . . . . . . . . . . 203
sesame brittle . . . . . . . . . . 204
pomegranate granita . . . . . . . 207
vinegar + mint sharbat . . . . . . 208
najmieh’s tea . . . . . . . . . . 211
infusions . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
tools for a persian kitchen . . . . 215
index . . . . . . . . . . 21 9




• 8 •




• 9 •


I was inspired to write this book by my sons and their friends, a generation eager to explore the pleasures of cooking, as well as looking for guidance on how to prepare healthy and delicious dishes in a way that fits with their busy lives. ~ With this in mind, I have concen- trated on two main things: to simplify the cooking of my favorite Persian recipes—many of them vegetarian, and now also “one pot” dishes; and to reduce the cooking time. Many of the recipes in this book will take an hour or less. ~ Before you start cooking, do read the intro- ductory section about essential ingredients for a basic Persian pantry ( pages 10 –37 ). I have tried to keep them simple. You’ll find information about herbs and spices, and how to use them for best results. Be sure to also read “Preparing to Cook” on page 39 , where I strongly recommend that you use the organizing system known as mise en place (from the French “put in place”) as it will really help you in the kitchen. ~ Like the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi, I consider the kitchen a metaphor for life: cooking at home not only nourishes your body but also helps you gain discipline and confidence in every- thing else that you do. Use this book to cook together, to eat together, to tell good stories to each other, and to be creative. ~ As Iranians say, Nush-e joon !—a traditional Persian wish that a meal will be enjoyed.


introduction