Religious Harmony Via Iranian Rice

Coming from a country where religious balances are part of the constitution, I could not blog a Christian meal occasion one day (see Sunday's entry), a Jewish one yesterday (see yesterday's entry) and not follow with a Muslim one today, despite no relevant occasion in the near past or future.

So I invited an Iranian friend and we produced a Lebanese-Iranian coalition dinner.


The menu included, from Lebanon, Humus, Fatoush (the recipes for those two will be featured on the blog next week), and grilled chicken. From Iran we had the fancy Iranian rice, which is the story for tonight.

The recipe for Iranian rice looks simple, but I am not sure I can replicate what the Iranian chef produced. First, a large pot was filled with water (no measurement), a whole lot of Basmati rice was thrown in the water (no measurement) with piles of salt (looked like a full cup, but again no measurement). The rice and water were brought to a boil.

After few minutes of boiling, the rice, half cooked, was drained. Some oil was sprinkled in the pot and heated up. Slices of potatoes were thrown in the pot, the rice added to them, covered and steamed until ready. Once it was ready, the pot was soaked in cold water which helps the potatoes separate from the bottom of the pot.

Then the culinary adventure went to further heights with Zeresh. Zeresh is the Persian name for the dried fruit of Berberis vulgaris, which are cultivated in Iran. This is widely used in Iranian cooking and the fruit itself is also made into jams and juice.

The dried Zeresh was first soaked in water mixed with rosewater for about 30 minutes, bringing out the aroma of rosewater throughout the kitchen.

It was then fried with a big chunk of butter prior to being used as garnish on the rice. The combination of the tartness of the fruit and the sweetness of the rosewater mixed in the salty Iranian rice made for a taste that brought out visions of the indulgences portrayed in the The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 


And this is the story of the Iranian rice wrapping up the religious trilogy and bringing harmony to the world on this holy week. 

 

Thank you A!