KOOFTEH BERENJI

Koofteh Berenji



Ingredients :
- Basmati or Long Grain Rice, 100 grams -
- Ground Beef or Lamb, 500 grams -
- Chick-pea Flour, 100 grams -
- Herbs (spring onion ends, parsley, common-dill, sweet-fennel, mint, tarragon), 500 grams -
- 3 Eggs -
- Split-peas, 100 grams -
- 3-4 onions -
- 0.5 cup of cooking oil -
- 2-3 spoons of turmeric (or tomato paste) -
- Salt -
- Black pepper -
- Barberries, 100 grams -
- Walnuts, 100 grams -

How to Prepare :
1. Koofteh-Berenji is a delicious ball of meat, rice and herbs with extra goodies inside. Cook rice in some water with a bit of salt until it softens, then filter out the water. Do the same to split-peas.
2. Mix rice, split-peas, chick-pea flour, meat, eggs, salt and pepper very well. Cut the herbs very finely and mix in with the rest. Chop the onions and fry in oil until golden. Save some of the fried onions. Add 5-6 glasses of water to the rest of the onions with a bit of salt, pepper and turmeric (or tomato paste) and bring to boil.
3. Make balls about the size of an orange from the mix, leaving a bit of barberries, walnuts and fried onions at the center. Place the balls in the boiling water and cook for a few minutes. Then continue cooking at low temperature until the koofteh is completely cooked. Make sure the container is not covered during cooking.

SPICY TEA

Spicy Tea



Prep: 2 min, Cook: 5 min.

Ingredients :
- cloves -
- cinnamon sticks -
- cardamom cloves -
- ginger -
- Optional: whole black pepper -
- Optional: tea bag or hibiscus (we call it in Mid EAST - Carcaday) -
- Optional: milk, soy milk or oat milk -

How to prepare :
Combine your spices (but not tea bag) and boil. Once it boils for 2 min, you can add milk and a tea bag or delete any of them…….. as you like, let stand for 3 min and serve

For sweetener, again it is up to you……. try to use honey though stay away from the sugar this month.

MUTTON KORMA

Mutton Korma



Ingredients :
- 1 tb Cumin seeds -
- 4 tbsp Coriander seeds -
- 1-2 ts cayenne-pepper -
- 1 ts Saffron threads -
- 3 tb Hot milk -
- 6 tb Ghee or clarified butter -
- 2 md Onions, chopped -
- 5 Black cardamom pods-cinnamon sticks -
- 4 Cloves -
- 3 Bay leaves -
- 1 Fresh ginger, grated -
- 4 lg Garlic cloves, minced -
- 2 lb Boneless lamb, cut into-1/2-inch cubes -
- 1 cup Fresh, sweet, unflavored-yogurt -
- 1/4 cup Heavy cream -
- 1 tb Rose water -
- 1/4 c Blanched almonds -

How to prepare :
1. Grind the cumin and coriander seeds in a spice mill, combine with the red pepper and place near the stove.
Soak the saffron in hot milk.
2. Heat the ghee or clarified butter in a large, shallow, heavy pan. Stir in the onions, cardamom pods, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to turn reddish brown, about 15 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the onions are reddish brown. Stir in the ground spices and cook, stirring, for about 10 seconds, or until the spices release their fragrance.
3. Dry the meat with paper towels.
4. Stir half of the meat into the spice mixture. Increase the heat to medium high and cook, stirring for a few minutes, making sure all the meat is coated with the spices.
5. Stir in the remaining meat, and cook as before, scraping the bottom of the pan. If the mixture gets too dry, splash in a little water.
6. Turn the heat to medium. Start adding the yogurt 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring and incorporating it into the mixture before adding the next tablespoonful. Continue adding in this way until all the yogurt has been used. Turn the heat to low. Cover the pan and simmer the meat for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the meat is very tender. If necessary, splash in a little water from time to time. When the meat is tender, and salt to taste.
Stir the cream and cook until the sauce is thick. Stir in the saffron and rose water and heat thoroughly.
7. Fry the almonds in a little oil until golden brown. Serve the lamb hot garnished with the almonds.