A Pinch of Persian

Last month, I cooked a Lunar New Year meal, a significant holiday in China, Vietnam, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian countries.

In March, there’s an often overlooked New Year’s celebration: Nowruz. Nowruz is not as widely known as Lunar New Year but it’s just as unique, with its own food, festivities, and centuries of culture. The holiday is often referred to as Persian New Year or Iranian New Year, but in addition to Iran, it’s also celebrated in Iraq, India, Afghanistan, and many other Central Asian nations. Nowruz is the start of the New Year on the Solar Hijri calendar and is celebrated from late-March to early-April. The festivities continue for two weeks and include four public holidays. The cuisine is largely influenced by Persian culture, with flavors such as rose, saffron, and pistachios being big contributors to the meal. 

I decided to make a Nowruz meal consisting of three dishes to celebrate Nowruz: sabzi polo ba mahi, a fish and rice dish served as the central focus of the meal, mast-o-khiar, a yogurt-based side, and of course a dessert to finish it off, saffron rose-water brittle.

SABZI POLO BA MAHI

Origin

Sabzi polo ba mahi is a combination of herb rice and fried fish. The “sabz” in the name means greens in Persian, referring to the herbs in the rice, “polo” means pilaf, which is a type of cooked rice, and “mahi” means fish. Sabzi polo is a staple of each Nowruz meal. However, it isn’t always served with fish, it can also be served with chicken or other meat. The origins of sabzi polo ba mahi dates back many centuries to when modern-day transportation technology wasn’t available, so the fish used was typically local to the area such as tilapia. Today, there is a much wider variety of fish used in the dish, such as pollock and salmon.

Process

There were two main parts in cooking the sabzi polo ba mahi. I started with the herb rice. For the herbs, I thinly chopped parsley, dill, cilantro, and spring onions.

After thoroughly washing the rice, I boiled it with some salted water, removed it from the heat, and mixed in the herbs. This created an eye-catching blend of herbs and rice, with the small pops of greens really showing through the plain white rice. Next, I poured some oil into a saucepan and placed it over medium heat. Then, I added the herbed rice into the saucepan and sprinkled a few chunks of butter on top of it. To let the rice cook I placed a folded cloth over the top of the rice, to capture the steam and placed the saucepan cover over the top of it.

I set the rice aside and prepared the fish. First I created a mixture of ingredients to use as the batter for the fish, including flour, parsley, turmeric, etc. I then coated raw filets of salmon with the mixture. The once bright pink salmon instantly started to turn yellow due to the turmeric in the batter mixture.

Once the fillets were fully enveloped in batter, I dropped them in a pan filled with hot oil. Once they’d cooked for about five minutes, they came out yellow and covered in oil, so I placed the fried fish on paper towels to allow some of the oil to come off the fish.

Finally, once the rice had cooked for about thirty to forty minutes and had developed a sort of crust underneath it, I plated it along with the fish.

Taste

My family and I ended up loving the dish. Straight away our mouths were all watering because of the delicious smell of the fish and rice. Not only was it very flavorful but also very filling. The herb rice was great on its own but also worked perfectly as a side with the salmon because its milder flavor balanced out the fish. The texture of the fish was delicious, the batter gave it a sort of crunch with each bite, and it was perfectly seasoned. The crust of the rice gave it a similar crunch, however, the crust was a little overdone for my rice and ended up being a little burnt. Although it was only on a small section of the rice, it could be improved for next time. My main mishap in cooking the rice was not properly making three holes in the mound of rice before covering it with a cloth and letting it sit in a saucepan over heat for half an hour. The recipe called for this but I didn’t make holes all the way through the rice, which was the issue.

MAST-O-KHIAR

Origin

Mast-o-khiar directly translates to “yogurt and cucumber”, two main ingredients included in the dish. Alongside these two components, mast-o-khiar is full of Middle Eastern ingredients like Aleppo pepper, mint leaves, and olive oil. The yogurt dish is often used as a side to heavier meals, especially spicy or hot meals. It can be compared to South Asian raita, which I’ve further discussed in a previous post. The dish is typically enjoyed during warmer seasons, which makes Nowruz the perfect occasion to enjoy it!

Process

I started by preparing all of the ingredients I would be incorporating into the yogurt base. This included cucumber, yellow raisins, garlic and lemon rinds. Most of the preparation was chopping or grating the ingredients and setting this aside. The next step in the process was toasting the walnuts and setting them on my cutting board, alongside the other ingredients.

I started by adding lemon juice and olive oil to the yogurt and mixing until combined. Next, I mixed in the rest of the ingredients and mixed them well. Finally, I topped off the yogurt with some olive oil and a few mint leaves and served.

Taste

The side was a great refresher to go with the more heavy fish and rice combination. It wasn’t the perfect pairing because the meal was fairly mild in flavor and not hot or spicy enough that it required a cooling side, however, it was a nice touch and added some sweetness to our meal as well. The dish did a great job at combining sweet, sour, and salty ingredients, and didn’t distract from the main aspect of the meal, the sabzi polo ba mahi.

SAFFRON-ROSE WATER BRITTLE

Origin

Sweets are a huge part of the Nowruz festivities. Sugar is believed to have been first introduced to Persia on Nowruz many over a millennia ago, around 460 CE. According to Persian mythology, while King Jamshid, the fourth Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Iran, was riding during Nowruz he discovered sugar cane. He was instantly drawn to the sweet taste of the sugar cane and ordered for its production. Apparently, it even became a tradition to eat a spoonful of white sugar the morning of Nowruz, before you said your first words.

The inclusion of rose in Persian cooking is traditional, and its use in Middle Eastern cooking is believed to be of Persian influence. Its incorporation into the broader category of Middle Eastern cuisine can be traced back to the Arab conquest of Persia. Rose petals are often used for their aromatic scent, bright color, mild, yet floral taste, and even their nutritional value. Rose petals contain antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins, and were even used in various medicines to treat infections, menstrual cramps, respiratory issues, etc. The popular Middle Eastern sweet, Turkish delights, often include rose petals or water to develop a floral smell and flavor.

Saffron is another essential ingredient in this dish. Saffron is typically characterized by its bright yellow-orange color, flavor, aroma, and flexibility to add flavor to so many dishes. It is often added to rice dishes, along with desserts such as custards, cookies, and cakes. Another important ingredient is almonds. Almonds are often used in Persian desserts, such as noghl, or sugar-coated almonds. Pistachios were another nut included in the brittle. Iranian pistachios are well known for their unique flavor. Similar to saffron and rose petals, pistachios are often used for their bright color. The pop of green they add to sweets, such as Turkish delight, makes them a perfect ingredient for decoration atop Iranian sweets.

Process

To start, I heated a mixture of sugar, honey, and golden syrup in a medium saucepan to create the sugar base for the brittle. Although the recipe called for corn syrup, we didn’t have any, so I decided the best substitute would be golden syrup. The golden syrup, honey, and caramelized sugar formed a beautiful brown-orange color for the mixture. Once the sugar mixture was boiling and had reached the desired temperature, I added in slivered almonds, amongst other ingredients.

Once the mixture was smooth and the almonds were evenly incorporated, it was time for the baking soda, along with the saffron that had been previously dissolved in rose water. Adding the baking soda caused a dramatic change in the sugar mixture. It initiated a chemical reaction in which the mixture started vigorously bubbling, to the point where it threatened to overflow from the saucepan. The saffron also changed it up, adding to the intense color and creating a kind of erupting volcano effect when combined with the bubbling of the orange mixture.

Once it had calmed to a smooth, creamy consistency, I poured the contents of the saucepan into a prepared baking sheet and used a spatula to spread it out across the sheet. The recipe then called for me to add the decorative elements atop the brittle, crushed dried rose petals, chopped pistachios, and sea salt. However, I couldn’t find any rose petals, so I ended up not including this in my brittle. While the brittle was not yet cooled, I sprinkled the pistachios and sea salt on top of it and then set it aside to cool.

Finally, it cooled into a brittle, after which I broke it into smaller pieces, around two by two inches each. I then served them on a plate and they were ready to eat!

Taste

Right off the bat, the brittle was beautiful to look at. The bright colors really popped and although we, unfortunately, didn’t have any dried rose petals that I could add on top, the bright green of the pistachios contrasted the bright orange brittle base beautifully. The texture was very unexpected. Due to the name, and how easy it was to break off, I expected the brittle to be more hard and crunchy. This was not the case, and alternatively, the brittle ended up extremely chewy, enough so that it even stuck to our teeth! The flavor of the Persian ingredients in the brittle unfortunately didn’t get a chance to shine through (because there was so much sugar in the base). However, it was still a pleasant end to our meal and highly addictive (we all had to stop ourselves from getting another piece).

While we were enjoying our dessert, my dad told me an interesting story about his childhood. I was confused as to why the brittle was so chewy and wondered if I had done something wrong in preparing the dish. He told me that this was not the case, and the chewy texture was simply a result of the sugar caramelizing. He said he grew up eating a similar Nepali brittle with coconut and peanut additions, called hade (meaning as brittle as a bone). He and his siblings would gather around with steel plates to beg for small amounts of hot molasses as they were being poured into vats to make jaggery. to sell to the city sugar merchants.