My mother-in-law is Persian and she makes the best Persian food you’ve ever tasted. For those of you who are not familiar with Persian food, it is incredibly time consuming (a typical meal can take days to prepare), is a little complicated and may require ingredients that are not part of a non-Persian’s every day vernacular.
Maryam’s food is part of our family’s fabric and very soul. I feel it’s really important to learn how to make some of her favorite recipes so we can carry on her tradition.
Here’s one of the dishes my husband grew up with that was actually simple enough for me to make from the Persian cucumbers in my garden. Of course, the recipe she shared with me, like all of her recipes, have no quantities but Chef Jeff and I worked on it until it approximated her dish – and I think it’s pretty darn close.
Yields 2 cups
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups plain or Greek yogurt
2 cucumbers – preferably Persian Cucumbers, with seeds removed
1 T. sliced scallions (white part only)
2 T dried mint (see my recipe for drying your own mint)
1/4 t. Maldon sea salt
1/4 t. lemon pepper
1/8 – 1/4 cup Thompson seedless raisins
1/4 cup finely choppped walnuts
4-5 sprigs fresh mint for garnish
Peel, de-seed and dice 2 medium cucumbers. Maryam dices her cucumbers into very small pieces as shown above, but my research showed recipes with halved, thinly sliced cucumber as well. So, choose the shape you desire for your dish. You may need to add more yoghurt to the dish if you slice your cucumbers.
Add all remaining ingredients into a bowl and stir. You may wish to add more of some of the ingredients, to taste. That’s the beauty of Persian cooking – it’s inexact and adjusted to the creator’s palate.
Most importantly, once all ingredients have been combined, put in the refrigerator to let it meld together, for a minimum of 2 hours. It will become a little runny (which is what you want) over those two hours, so stir occasionally.
Enjoy this very refreshing dish alongside most Middle Eastern foods. It is especially yummy with lamb, eggplant and lentils. We enjoyed it last week with moussaka, made with tomatoes from our garden. Delicious!
