Homemade pizza

I use the recipe for barbari bread to bake thin crust pizza at home, without having the professional equipment such as pizza stone. It turns pretty decent and does not take much time.

Ingredients for Pizza dough: Bread Flour: 3+1/4 cups.  Water: 1.5 cups. Active Dry Yeast: 1 pouch or 2+1/4 tsp. Baking Powder: 1 tsp. Salt: 2 tsp. Sugar: a pinch. Whole wheat flour: 1/2 cup. Read the rest of this entry »


Hot whisky

Hot whisky made as follows, does wonders relieving the symptoms of common cold , as it is a mixture of pain killing (from cloves), calming (from alcohol), soothing (hot water and honey) and a bit of vitamin C (from lemon) substances.

Ingredients: Any brand of whisky, ¼ cup. Hot water, ¼ cup. Lime or lemon, 1 slice. Cloves, 6-7. Sugar, or honey, 2 tea spoon. Read the rest of this entry »


ghormeh sabzi, mixed-herb stew

Ghormeh sabzi, a mixed-herb stew or khoresh, is the signature dish of any Iranian’s kitchen. So much so there is even an anthropological article written entitled “Bastard chicken or Ghormeh Sabzi”, by Lynn Harbottle which I recommend if interested in the strategies Iranian women migrants in UK employ to keep their family healthy through good food and Persian cooking. Now, My recipe:

Ingredients: (serving 5-6) Read the rest of this entry »


Halva-aardi

Halva-aardi , a chocolate brown, sweet confection made of white flour, is typically served with dates and tea at most funeral services–passed on a plate with a fork or spoon placed at the side for people to help themselves. It is also served as a dessert—especially after ghalyeh or other types of seafood, and ideally with tea.

Halva is very easy to make in theory but could be tricky in practice. My mother used to make flawless halva each and every time she did it: chocolate brown, noticeably sweet and anghosht-pich (finger-rolled) so that it was just solid enough to roll around a finger without dripping. Ok let’s get to its theory here – right after the Persian text.

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Dill/beans mixed-polow with fish

I can eat this mix-polow as a complete main dish, but it is very common to have it with fried fish in the southern part of Iran. It might also be served with large chunks of boiled or baked beef or even fried and steam-cooked chicken.

  • Ingredients (serving 3)

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Oven baked fish & vegetables

Ok, some non Persian cuisine for a change, but colorful and gorgeous looking all the same!

Ingredients: Tilapia or Haddock, 4 fillets. Red onion, 1 medium sliced. Bell peppers, 2 different colours, sliced. Cherry tomatoes. Lime juice, salt, pepper, oil Read the rest of this entry »


Tasty Porcupine

This is my most recent “invention”, see what you think

Ingredients: A large plump grapefruit (or any citrus fruit larger than that). Cubed cheddar cheese (or any hard cheese of your choice). 300 gr. Pitted green and black olives; cherry tomatoes, large, table grapes (red, or green), one cup each. Wooden toothpick (about 40). Read the rest of this entry »


Barbari Bread

Make me very tenderly, and stretch me very long… bake me to the end of love!  Recipe In Persian

I took this recipe from a friend of mine who has in turn taken it from somewhere else but developed it over the years (yes, years!) to the point of perfection. When I first went through his well-organized and gorgeous pictures, I noticed he must be in love with barbari bread or with baking in general, or perhaps just in love! The instructions he gave for treating the dough with tenderness, and forming it with bare hands and fingers, and the evocative descriptions of the bread’s scents and sights were all indications of a very special type of bread and bread making. Well, I tried his recipes a couple of times, before I really came to the conclusion that yes, to bake this barbari in its perfectly original taste and texture, you must absolutely be gentle, caring and patient- you must be truly in love with it! Try it and you will know what I mean.

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Yogurt soup

This is yet another Shiraz speciality, although in other Iranian cities we have “aash maast” (yogurt soup) which follow completely different ingredients and cooking methods.

Ingredients (serving 4) Read the rest of this entry »


Shrimp-Onion dish

This is another exciting southern Iran speciality, provoking a lot of “home” memories. It is eaten with bread, which means it is usually prepared for supper, but no written rule about it. It is nutritious, delicious, gorgeous and very easy and fast to prepare.