Iranian Cuisines – Page 2 – Welcome to Iran

Zereshk (Barberry)

Barberry is the shrub without thorn that has about 1 to 5 meters length. The wood of this plant is brown, red or yellow. The leaves of this plant are in oval shape with saw teeth and the fruit of that is in the oval shape, red and sour. The root of this plant with the special name of “Aertkhis” has its own properties for itself.

At the end of spring and at first of summer is the time of blossom this kind of shrub.

Yellow buds of berries in the autumn coming to have red colour for themselves.

Berry is the native of temperate and subtropical regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and South America. Iran is the world’s largest producer of barberry, that among them Khorasan provinces and Qaenat city with having nearly 97 percents of the cultivated lands for themselves, has about 95 percent of this product in hand.

Medicinal properties

Root, Skin, Stem

Bran and the roots of Berry contain chemicals called alkaloids Ayzukuyynulyn. This combination has Antibiotic properties. Some of these properties contain:

Lower fever
Reduce swelling
Reduce blood pressure
Arrange Heart rate
Heart muscle contraction

This plant also has these benefits as follow:

It is useful to dispel dysuria.
It is useful to treat varicose veins.
Relieve Gout and rheumatism.
Relieve anorexia.
Regulates acts of the digestive system and eliminate indigestion.
It is effective for the treatment of Neonatal jaundice and jaundice.
Those who are suffering from swelling of the spleen can use from this plant for treatment.
It is beneficial for the treatment of hemorrhoids.
You can use the boiled root and stem of the barberry to wash your eyes with them.

Leaf

It is cure chronic diarrhea.
The leaf of Berry has lots of C vitamin.
At the time of angina and sore throat gargle the barberry brewed leaves.
Consuming large amounts of stem and leaf of Barberry is not suitable for the pregnant women.
The high amount of use of this plant for a long time can cause gastrointestinal upset and make it difficult to absorb vitamin B in the body.
Chewing Barberry leaves, causing tightening the gums and teeth.

Fruit

Barberry

Addiction Treatment

Due to the available alkaloid berberine in the barberry plant, it can treat the addiction with Opium and addicts on its sides. In addition that this effectiveness in laboratory animals which had been artificially addicted to morphine repeatedly proven.

Botanical Barberry

Barberry and its relationship with the natural environment

Different kinds of grainy Barberries as the fruity and grow by themselves shrub can be seen in the most mountain parts of our country and as this is one of the natural parts of the environments of mountain place even in the unfavorable conditions it produces abundant fruit.

Water requirement

The requirement of net irrigation of this kind of plant is about 9900 cubic meters in Hectare that are employed depending on the irrigation methods and the gross irrigation is more than this amount.

Fertilizer needs

Without seed, Barberry wants relatively light soils loamy – sandy with good drainage in the submontane. They grow very well in plaster and calcareous soils. Also, it tolerates high EC PH and doesn’t need rich soil. The researches show that the used Phosphorus in Summer was not the reason for growing the plants in that year and it shows its effects in the spring of the next year and most of the Phosphorus in the new grow was from the Phosphorus that they were in the roots of the plant from the past. The transfer process of Phosphorus id in this way that first of all most of it is gathering in the roots and after that goes to the new place of growing and the new phosphorus that is absorbed will come to be alternative of the last one that was in the root.

Barberry in the traditional medicine

Barberry contain both hot and cold disposition and its peacemakers contain as follow:

Cloves
Red sugar
Natural sweets and …

Barberry is soothing bile, blood, thirst and heat of the stomach and liver and it is making the heart and liver that contain the hot disposition of this plant. This plant is only with the hot medicines such as honey and Cinnamon and … is good for the strengthening the liver and open obstruction of hepatic the ducts is the cold feature of Barberry. It has also contained beneficial for cold viscera.

Consuming too much of this plant is not good and harmful for the people who they have cold nature of mucus and sodium.

Barberry cultivation in Khorasan province

This kind of product is farming in the Khorasan province especially in Ghaen, and under the Mountain of Ghaen such as Afin village and the other villages of there and the distance of that until the center of Khorasan province is about 100 to 110 Kilometers.

Khorasan province has the top position in the production of Barberry in between all provinces of whole Iran. After Khorasan Mazandaran especially Tonecabon with producing the beautiful barberry has the second position in Iran. It is important to know that the Beautiful Barberry is only for making the environment and the yard beautiful and they don’t have too much fruit.

Shirin Polou

The Ingredients of Shirin Polou

Rice: half a kilogram

Chicken: 800 gram

Butter: 2 tablespoons

Almond: 50 gram

Pistachio: 50 gram

Orange peel: 100 gram

Sugar: 4 tablespoons

Medium onion: 2 numbers

Saffron: half a teaspoon

Salt and Pepper: necessary amount

How to prepare Shirin Polou?

Soak rice in the water for two hours.
Wash chicken and patchy it.
Chop onions and fry them in the oil and wait until the colour of them come to be golden.
Fry the chicken in the onion and let the colour of it change.
Add salt, pepper and one glass of hot water to the chicken.
Put the materials on the medium heat for 20 minutes. (If it was needed you can pour additional water to it either until the materials don’t burn.)
After about 20 minutes it must remain about half a glass of chicken water.
Bone Catch the chicken.
Boiling some sugar with a glass of water and add 2-3 spoons of butter, saffron and some chicken water and rile them together very well.
From before soak pistachio and almond in the water.
Peeling their skin after pistachio and almond soaked very well.
Chop them in fine shape.
Make the orange peel in slice shape and boil it in the water for some minutes.
Empty the bitter water of the orange peel (do this work for several times until orange peel doesn’t have the bitter taste).
Pour orange peel for one hour in the cold water (do this work for several times either).
At the end cook orange peel with 3 spoons of sugar and finally empty its water.
Rinse rice.
Pour oil and little hot water at the bottom of the pot and add half of the rinsed rice to them. Strew parts of chicken on rice.
Pour rice on the chicken.
This is the time that you must pour half of orange peel, almond and pistachio on the rice and cover them all with rice.
Pour chicken water and sugar that they prepared before on all the rice.
Cover the door of the pot with the cloth and put it on the pot.
Give the heat to the pot for 30 minutes.
The food is preparing to serve.
Pour Shirin Polou in the dish.
Now mix remaining pistachio, almond, and orange peel together and cover Shirin Polou with this tasty mixture.
You can even don’t mix them together and pour each of them separately on the rice.
If you want you can add barberry and slices of cooked carrot to this mixture and decorate your food with them.

Pistachio Properties

It has many benefits for calming heart and nerves. Pistachio is very well for opening the liver channels and it is recommended to consume. It is strengthening the stomach and it is very good for cough relief. Pistachio is the treatment of ordinary diarrhea and dysentery.

Labou pokhteh (Boiled Beets)

Beet has two kinds:

Cooked
Raw

Nutrients and effective compounds of beets

Folate
Calcium
Manganese
potassium
Iron
Bethanien
Malvnyk acid
Alcohol plant
Saponins
Protein
And fiber

Useful properties

Anticancer
Anti-inflammatory
Antioxidants
Strengthening the immune system
Increase the absorption power of oxygen in the cells
Rejuvenescence
Detoxification

This plant is usually cooked in boiled, steamed or mixed in the food (different kinds of Soups) methods.

Gojeh Sabz (Prunus)

Prunus is the small juicy fruit, with the thin green or red skin with the hardcore. Plum is the smaller and sourer than Prunus. According to old writings, the strain of Prunus is back to 2000 years ago and the Chinese were the first ones that cultivate it. It is said that the plant was brought to Greece via Syria or Iran. The tree of this plant has the best grows in temperate areas and the mild weather it has the colours as follow:

Amethyst
Red
Orange
Bright Yellow
Bright Green

Cold weather causes brown color and undesirable appearance for the Prunus fruit. This fruit is quickly complete and it can be storing in the refrigerator only for four days. Prunus used in both shape of fresh and cooked in stews. It has lots of vitamin C, Malic acid, citric acid. Excess consuming of Prunus cause the stomach bloating. This kind of fruit has the sour taste and it is also stiff and crunchy. It was consumed in between Iranian as a Junk Food. The tree of this fruit proliferation and harvested in the most parts especially Northwest of Iran. Prunus is the modified shape of Almond that has great prosperity in the Sardrood city.

The nutritional value of 100 grams of green tomatoes

Carbohydrates 52/8 Gram.
Fat 14/2 Gram.
Protein 6/1 Gram.
Crude fiber 5/0 Gram.

With consuming about 100 grams of Prunus, it will supply 5 percent of A vitamin, ½ percent B1 vitamin (Thiamine), 9/1 percent of B2 vitamin(Riboflavin),8/2 percent of Niacin, 13 percents C vitamin, 5/1 percent of Ca vitamin, 2/2 percents of Phosphorus, 5 percents of Iron and 6/3 percents of K vitamin .

Therapeutic Properties

CULPEPES, the famous botanist of the 17th century believed that the consumer of Prunus is useful to improve the mouth feel. Cooked the Prunus leaves in the vinegar can be effective in the treatment of many kinds of roundworm.

CULPEPES the famous botanist of 17 century believe that consumption of Prunus will improve mouth feel and cooked the leaves of this tree in vinegar can be effective in treating roundworms of the stomach.

From the other properties of this fruit, being Laxatives is known.

Also, unique effects of this fruit including as follow:

Lower blood pressure and blood fat
Remove deposits from blood
Regulate gastrointestinal function

This Fruit is the reason of acid-base balance in the blood flow so this can be useful in the treatment of acidic blood.

This Fruit has significant effects in preventing diseases such as high blood lipids, cell aging, and cancer.

Benzoic acid is a compound that has anti-microbial properties. This material naturally exists in the Prunus. Also, some of the researches show the anti-fungal and antibacterial properties of this fruit.

Studies show that this fruit can be effective in the treatment of tumors. Also, due to the existence of ascorbic acid, it is recommended for the people that they have gout.

Boz Qormeh ( Boz Fricassee)

Boz Qormeh is one of the Kermani local stews.

Ingredients

Pulverized Curd: 3 modules

Hand meat and young goat fat muscle: 1 kilogram

Half -beat Pea: 2 modules

Beaten Garlic: 1bush

Hot Garlic: necessary amount

Dissolved Saffron: 1 tablespoon

Chopped Onions: 5 numbers

Salt, Pepper, Turmeric: necessary amount

Oil: necessary amount

How to prepare Kermani Boz Qormeh stew?

Put meat, onion, pea and beaten garlic with two liters of water on the heat and let the water boil.
Make heat gentle and give time until your food boiling little by little.
After two hours, add curd with turmeric, the little salt, and pepper to the above mixture.
Make the door of the pot in the semi-open shape and make the heat very low until the food boiling little by little and the water of that come to be mucilaginous and thick.
Pour the stew into the dish and decorate it with hot garlic and dissolved saffron.

Points

You can eat Boz qormeh in two shapes with bread and with rice.
It is possible to use the other kinds of Red Meats instead of this shape.
In compare with the meat of the goat the meat of Young goat is very delicate and delicious so in preparing this stew the people use Young goat meat.

Pea properties

Pea has the properties of anti-cough and anti-flue. This food material is strengthening the immune system of the body. So it is also recommended to the people who they have a self-safety sickness like as MS.

Pea has some kinds of benefits as follow:

Removing intestinal parasites
Relieve chest pain
Relieve shortness of breath
Strengthen hair roots
Treatment of jaundice
Treatment of kidney pain
Increase memory

Pea is beneficial for the treatment of osteoporosis because it is rich sources of calcium. It is recommended to eat pea in the time of growth of bones and teeth. Also if it is mixing with honey, in the shape of ointment it comes to be very good and beneficial for healing of wounds.

Khiar Shoor (Cucumber pickle)

Ingredients:

Fresh cucumbers: 1 kilogram

Onion: 2 numbers

Salt: necessary amount

Apple cider vinegar or white vinegar: 2 cups

Turmeric: ¼ of teaspoon

Mustard seeds: 3 tablespoons

Dried red pepper: 1-3 numbers

Sugar: ½ cup

Making pickles in a traditional way required one to two weeks. However, with this method, you can have tasty and crunchy pickles within 24 hours. This method is very easy and fast.

How to prepare one-day pickle?

Wash cucumbers.
Make the cucumbers in the ring shape. (It is not necessary to take the skin of the cucumbers and it is better to use firm cucumbers for making pickles.)
Peel the onions.
Finely chopped the onions.
Put chopped cucumbers and onions in the big strainer.
Sprinkle salt on them in your desired level.
Mix them well together.
Let the cucumbers and onions 1-hour stay in the strainer and the excess water come out of them and come to be dry.
Pour vinegar, sugar, salt, turmeric, mustard seeds and red pepper in a pot.
Put the pot on the heat. When the liquid was boiling, reduce heat.
Add chopped onion and cucumber to the pot.
Boil cucumbers for 2 minutes then remove the pot from the heat and set it aside.

13. Prepare one or two jars. Pour the pickles inside them. Close their doors tightly and put them in the refrigerator.

After 24 hours your one day pickle is prepared. You can enjoy from its unbelievable taste.

Point:

This immediate pickle is ready to eat after one day. But if these cucumbers are inside the refrigerator 2 or 3 days more, the taste of the pickle come to be very well.

Zeitun Parvarde (Marinated Olive)

Ingredients:

Seedless olive: 500 gram.

Pomegranate paste: 2 modulus.

Minced walnut: 300 gram.

Lemon juice: 2 tablespoons.

Dried mint: 1 tablespoon.

Dried thyme: 1 tablespoon.

Pomegranate seeds: 2 tablespoons.

Olive oil: 2 tablespoons.

North of Iran marinated olive is preparing with pomegranate paste, walnut, olive oil, local vegetables and additives as same as dried pomegranate seeds. It is better to buy dried pomegranate seeds and tomato paste from the north of Iran until you understand the real taste. There are some alternative vegetables that they can consume instead of north vegetables…

How to prepare marinated olive

If the olives were salty or sour soak them for one hour in the water (if it comes to be in the water for more times it will lose its real taste).

Pour olives in the drain and after it lost its additional water pour them in the big bowl.

Mix pomegranate paste, lemon juice, and olives together very well, add the other materials either and after they mixed together very well put the bowl in the refrigerator and let them be cool.

Marinated olive colour

If using more walnut for preparing the marinated olive, the mixture will have the lighter colour and if using more pomegranate paste it will have vice versa result and the marinated olive will have the darker colour.

Limoo Amani (Dried limes pickles)

Ingredients:

Sour lemon: 1kilogram.

Vinegar: 1 cup.

Salt: necessary amount.

How to prepare Dried Lime pickles?

Wash Sour limes.
Pour salt on them.
Put them aside for one day.
Wash limes with the cold water.
Pour several glasses of water in the pot and add the vinegar to them. Wait until boiling is starting.
Add limes in two levels to this mixture of water and vinegar.

First: Pour the limes into the mixture of boiling water and vinegar and let them boiling for 10 seconds then you can drain them with the cold water.

Second: Pour the drained lime once again in the boiling water and let them boiling for one minute now. Put them in the drain but don’t pour water on them.

After your Sour limes come to be cool make a small hole with Toothpick in each of them.
Expand the cloth under the sun and put limes for 10 days on it. After passing 10 days put limes in the basket in shadow and let them dry completely.

Chaqaleh Badoom (Unripe almonds)

Unripe almond is the fruit of the almond tree. At the beginning of growth, it is somewhat firm and with the green outer hull and covered with a fine fluff. There is also one encased inside it with white colour and soft status.

Unripe almond holding watery and thin brain of almond. Gradually the outer surface of the shell of almond and interface of it comes to be harder and harder. From the time that the fruit is young and not completely growing (unripe) yet, it has the unripe almond name. The unripe almond is available only in first of spring.

Sabzi Polou (Vegetable Polou)

In the North of Persia, the Nowrooze polou is served with the fish and vegetables placed on the haft seen table, instead of the chicken.

Ingredients:

Long-grained rice: 2 pounds

Equal parts of fresh spinach, dill, green onion tops, coriander (if available), and fresh parsley: 1 ½ pound

White fish fillets: 6 pieces

Shortening or good cooking oil: ¼ cup

Saffron: 1 teaspoon

Hot water: 1 tablespoon

Cooking oil: 3 tablespoons

(Serve for 6 people)

Prepare the rice according to directions for chelou and drain.

Wash the greens, chop fine, and cook in the water adhering to the leaves until wilted.

Mix greens with the rice.

Saute the fish in the ¼ cup shortening until lightly browned on both sides.

Put half the rice in an oiled deep saucepan or casserole.

Arrange pieces of fish over the rice and cover with remaining rice.

Make a hole in the center, cover the pot tightly, and bake in a preheated 350 ° oven for 1 hour.

Just before serving, mix saffron with the water and the 3 tablespoons oil and sprinkle over the rice.

Note:

If desired, you may omit the vegetables, mix the rice with 3 ounces cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon saffron, and ¼ pound currents and serve with fried fish. This is called fish polou or mahi polou. Either kind of fish polou is served with Qa’meh and eggplant, or pickles.

Category: Iranian Cuisines