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My cookbook: "Tehran to New York"

On the Norouz day of 2020 spring, I finally published my book. The manuscript is titled: "Tehran to New York: A culinary bridge between Persian and Western cultures" and aims at presenting a unique blend of classic and contemporary Persian recipes, as well as samples of Western-style cuisine, offered in a Persian context. It is important to build bridges between cultures, and not walls. This book aims at constructing a bridge between the Persian and Western cultures. The book may be ordered here: https://www.amazon.com/Tehran-New-York-culinary-cultures-ebook/dp/B0861H47GS/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tehran+to+new+york&qid=1584810930&sr=8-1  

Sabzi-polow; Persian Herbal pilaf


Nowruz (also written as Norooz, Nowrooz, or such), the beginning of the Persian New Year, is the Spring Equinox in the Northern hemisphere. One of the most symbolic and beautiful Nourooz traditions is the preparation of this herbal rice on New Year's Eve. Such rice must be served with fried fish and therefore the consolidated name of the dish is: "Sabzi-Polow Mahi" in Persian words (Mahi means fish). The rice dish is vivid green, a color that symbolizes the upcoming spring. Here I present a rather non-traditional version of this rice dish that is cooked in the oven. Not do all Persian folks make their Sabzi-polo as shown here. However, guidelines for the preparation of the traditional dish are also provided. Furthermore, the rice has red cabbage Tah-dig; if you don't know much about Tah-dig, you can read these previous posts(1,2,3). In a short description, Tah-dig is the crispy rice, or other veggies, from the bottom of the rice pan and is a huge delicacy in Persian cooking and its food culture. 



Ingredients:
4 cups of Basmati or Jasmine rice
2.64 Oz (~75 gr) Chinese chives*
2.64 Oz (~75 gr) parsley(With stem on)
2.64 Oz (~75 gr) dill(With stem on)
1  Oz (~28 gr) fresh fenugreek leaves**
3 cloves of garlic
4 TBSP butter
Pinch of saffron***
Red cabbage leaves (or lettuce, potatoes, bread,...) for Tah-dig
* All the herbs must be measured after being cleaned. Buy twice as much to account for the removed roots and stems.
** You can use 2 TBSP of the dried herbs instead
***A cheaper alternative will be using turmeric instead of saffron



As an option, for color enhancement, you can process a handful of the herbs with butter to reach a puree consistency. 


Parboil and drain the rice following the instructions here. In the meantime, finely chop the herbs and the garlic cloves. 

Gently fold in the herbal butter puree and chopped herbs into the drained rice. Rub the bottom of a 2~3 Q.t. loaf pan with oil. Arrange a couple of cabbage leaves on the bottom and sides and pour in the rice. 

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 F (~175 C) for 45 minutes.


In the traditional approach, the rice is cooked in a pot, with its lid covered with a piece of cloth. To make such a version follow the instructions here. Serve with any fried fish dish of choice.
Traditionally, this dish is supposed to be served with  "7-year-old garlic pickle." After the long fermentation time, the sharpness of garlic is transformed into a mild and sweet flavor. The vinegar also turns sweet and changes color to dark black. I clearly did not have that much time to make the pickle, so I made a quick version pickle with garlic, balsamic vinegar, black fig vinegar, and soy sauce to simulate the flavors. After 40 days, my pickle was ready and was great in looks and flavor.

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