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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  

Persian spinach Tah-chin~baked rice in yogurt custard


Tah-chin is Persian savory rice cake, made with a mixture of rice and yogurt custard. Being an all time Persian favorite, Spinach Tah-chin is traditionally made by stuffing cooked chicken and spinach in between the rice layers. Inspired by French cooking techniques, I give a modern twist to this classic dish. Please note that this version, containing raw chicken which cooks along side the rice, is not the traditional way of cooking this dish.


Ingredients:
For the chicken mixture:
2.2 Pounds (~ 1 kg or 4 medium) chicken thighs
2 TBSP butter
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
8.81 Oz (~250 gr) fresh spinach
2 Key limes (or 1 Persian lime)
For the yogurt custard:
2 cup Jasmine or Basmati rice
3/4 cup 5%  thick yogurt
1 TSP sugar
1 TBSP of rich saffron solution
Pinch of nutmeg




De-bone the thighs and reserve the skin. Finely chop the onion. Parboil and drain the rice according to the these instruction. 

Saute the onion in butter. When translucent, add the spinach and increase the heat to high. Wilt and season with salt, pepper and lime juice. set a side to cool.

Season the de-boned meat (which should weigh around 1 Pound~ 450 gr) with salt and pepper and process to a coarsely. Make the custard by combing all the ingredients. When adding the parboiled rice to the custard, if the mixture is thick and hard to stir, add a dash of oil or melted butter.

In a third bowl, mix half of the rice mixture with half of the meat mixture.

Preheat the oven on  400 F(~205 C). Rub a 20x30 cm pan with oil or cold butter and spread out the rice layer. Then, a layer of the meat.

The third layer would be the meat/rice mixture.

And finish it up with whatever is left.

To get crispy skin, I covered the rice with the skins and seasoned them with plenty of salt. Make sure the skin is completely dry. This is an optional step. If chose not to use, cover the pan with aluminum foil.

Bake on the middle rack for 30 to 40 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and the rice is crispy. If using aluminum, remove it after 20 minutes.

Take out of the pan, cut and serve.

Comments

Behzad said…
This is the first time i see Ta-chin with spinach???!!!
Doozel said…
It is actually very popular.
June said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
June said…
This is the first time I see Tahchin without eggs. Is it really stick together with only yoghurt 😳
Doozel said…
Yes It does. Yolk is just fat and could be replaced by oil