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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 two-layer baked rice and herbal custard (Kuku-Sbazi Tahchin)


This innovative dish combines two of the most uniquely Persian dishes, Kuku-sabzi and Tahchin, namely. I developed and first posted this recipe 9 years ago in this post in Farsi. Kuku sabzi is part of the traditional Persian New Year's Eve dinner, the meal also consisting of fried fish and herbal pilaf (i.e. Sabzi-polow). All the herbal dishes in the meal symbolize the upcoming lush spring. The Persian New Year (i.e. Nowruz) begins at the exact moment of Spring Equinox, the very first moment of spring. Therefore, I cooked this rice dish and served it with fried fish for the upcoming Spring Equinox, this year's Nowruz.
Ingredients:*
Rice layer (recipe follows)
Herbal custard layer (recipe follows)
2 TBSP barberries, rehydrated in hot water
2 TBSP broken walnut pieces
Rice layer:
1 Cup Basmati or long grain rice
1/2 cup 2% yogurt
1 TSP rich saffron solution
2 TBSP melted butter
1 egg yolk
¼ TSP salt
1 TSP sugar
Herbal custard layer:
75 gr Chinese chives, parsley, and cilantro
1 TSP dried fenugreek
1 TSP dried dill
1 egg
1 egg white (the white left from the above)
½ TSB granulated garlic
2 TBSP vegetable oil
¼ TSP salt
* Enough for 2
Parboil the rice in 5 cups of water with 2 TSP of salt added in. Drain when parboiled and run cold water over the grain to wash off the starch (see the instructions here). In the meantime, make the custard by mixing all the rest of the ingredients listed under "Rice layer." Mix the drained rice with custard. Spread the custard on the bottom of small ovenproof dishes or muffin pans. Cook for 20 minutes in the preheated 400 F (205C) oven. In the meantime, make the herbal custard by finely blending all the ingredients listed under "Herbal custard layer." Remove the rice from the oven and evenly spread the herbal custard on the surface of each vessel.
Spread the barberry and walnut mixture on the herbal custard layer. Gently press the berries in the custard. Barberries burn and become bitter when exposed to dry heat. Cook for another 20 minutes. Remove from the mould and serve.

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