Persian cuisine is the origin of the famous kebap that was later inherited by the Turks and Arabs, along with many other preparations, in addition to presenting its own characteristics such as the intensive use of saffron and other spices, nuts and the abundance of fruits that are grown in the area and above all because of the predominance of rice (there called polo) over any other cereal.
Chelow kebap is the national dish of Iran. It consists of a plentiful supply of donerci,manti,pideci,Types of restaurant you can find in Istanbul,corbaci,gözlemeci,lokanta,yufka,rice cooked in the traditional Persian manner accompanied by grilled meat. Iranian rice is always of the basmati (long grain) type and should be soft, loose, golden and crispy. It is convenient to steam it but it can also be cooked in water following a special technique that I will explain to you. The recipe that I present is a simplification of the traditional one but the results are the same.
INGREDIENTS :
to make the rice
- 1 cup of basmati rice (4 people)
- 2 cups of water
- Saffron
- Clarified butter
First, wash the rice in plenty of water. We simply pour it into a bowl, fill it with water and shake it by hand until it becomes cloudy. The water is emptied by decantation and filled again. We repeat the operation three times. At the end there will be a very clear water, which means that the starch has almost disappeared. This is the Persian way of preparing rice.
Boil the water (always just twice the volume of the rice) with a teaspoon of salt. Add the rice, stirring until it absorbs the water. To make it loose immediately after cooking, put it under cold tap water and drain it vigorously, preferably using a sieve or similar. We repeat this washing and rinsing operation several times.
Now we are going to clarify the butter. To do this, melt two tablespoons of unsalted butter over low heat and let it rest for about five minutes, enough to form three layers. The upper one is foam that we will remove with a slotted spoon. The following is the layer that we are interested in preserving and that we will separate by simple decantation. At the bottom we will have a whitish substance that is the whey of the milk that we will reject without further ado. This step is optional. You can use butter directly (the result is less 'clean') but in this case a tablespoon would be enough.
The next step is to flavor the rice and give it a crispy, golden coating. To do this, take a large saucepan and add the clarified butter and a teaspoon of saffron. Heat and pour the rice, distributing it all over the bottom. Stir until the rice absorbs the butter and browns slightly while remaining loose.
INGREDIENTS :
for the kebab
- 400 grams (14 oz) of minced lamb
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- A pinch of black pepper
- 1 onion
- wooden skewers
Make a dough with minced meat, beaten egg, salt, pepper and finely chopped onion. If we notice that the dough is too liquid due to the effect of the egg, we can dry it by adding breadcrumbs.
We make a kind of elongated croquette about a foot long and a one centimeter thick (less than half an inch) , more or less. We thread it on the wooden skewer placing it on the grill until we notice it is well done.
We serve the meat and rice on the side. Tomatoes and peppers are usually grilled as an accompaniment.