TAJIKISTAN: THE FOOD

We finally ended the year known as January and February came and went. Supposedly spring will come early (I’m not complaining about that), and it’s a busy time for both of the nonprofits I work with. A couple weeks ago, I spent the entire day volunteering at the Indiana Civic Day, listening to people speak on getting out in their communities and trying to make this a better place economically, environmentally, and educationally. I may complain a lot about my state being on the lower end of every list (except ones like “Who has the highest carbon footprint” and “Who treats their teachers like crap”; we rank pretty high on those), but I’m glad that there are people out there trying to make it better for everyone. And today, I took pictures at our Annual Feijoada and celebrated the projects we have between Indiana, USA and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, all with the goal of changing lives.

Nice and buttery on the inside, the sesame seeds added a nice touch.

But I guess that was the whole point of this blog: to teach people that there are places out there like Tajikistan. Today, I made a pretty complicated dish called Qurutob, or Tajik braised lamb with yogurt sauce and flatbread. This dish has many stages to it and takes forever to make. So, I divided this dish into two days, with some minor modifications. The first thing I did was make the flatbread part, or fatir. In a mixing bowl, I added in my flour, salt, water, and egg to make a basic dough; when it was done, I wrapped it in plastic and and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. After that, I rolled it out into a big rectangle about a ¼” thick and cut it in two longways. I spread softened butter on top of both pieces. Then I took one piece and rolled it up, placing it on the edge of the other piece and continued rolling them both together. Then I wrapped this cylinder in plastic and put it in the fridge for an hour. When it was time to take my dough out of the fridge and unwrap it, I put this on a baking sheet lined in parchment paper and pressed the dough flat with the palm of my hand. I pricked it with a fork and added my sesame seeds to it before putting it in the oven for 35 minutes or until it was golden. Mine never really got golden, but it was still good, I think. Probably all the butter.

The soft cheese-like flavor with the onions was a pleasant surprise.

I did the other two parts today. First, the qurut, or yogurt part. I spread my plain yogurt out into a 9”x13” baking dish into a thin layer and baked it at 300ºF for about an hour. While that was baking, I started preparing the lamb. In a small bowl, I mixed my spice rub: cumin, ground coriander, and paprika. After applying the rub to the lamb, I sauteed my lamb in olive oil so that all the outsides were seared. I transfered this a baking dish with all the drippings and added in my tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes that I chopped in half). I baked my lamb for about an hour and a half, making sure that it wasn’t drying out.

Of course, lamb is one of my favorite meats.

I took out my qurut (yogurt). I squeezed out any liquid I could through a colander and put it back in the baking dish, adding a bit of salt into it and stirring before putting it back into the oven for another 30 minutes. Finally, I took the qurut and the lamb out of the oven to cool. In the original skillet I seared my lamb, I added a bit more olive oil and sauteed some sliced onions until they were soft and transferred them to the dried yogurt mixture. Then I spooned in the yogurt-onion mixture in and around the lamb and tomatoes, stirring everything together. I took my flatbread that I made the day before, warmed it up a bit and tore off pieces of it and put it in with the lamb and qurut. I stirred everything together to mix it well. To serve, I layered the lamb, tomatoes, and qurut mixture of top of that, and topped it with fresh chopped parsley and basil.

A stroke of genius, this all came together and tasted fantastic.

I had my doubts about this meal. I mean, I was really skeptical about the whole thing from the start. The thoughts that ran through my head included “Isn’t this going to burn up the yogurt?” and “I bet the meat is gonna dry out and be nasty.” But it wasn’t like that at all. The qurut almost had the taste of a soft feta cheese, and the meat was so tender, it broke apart from the bone very easily. Of course, the recipe called for the meat to bake for 2 ½ hours, and I only did it for 1 ½. But maybe that’s why it was good. Sometimes you can’t judge a recipe by its ingredients, I guess.

Up next: Tanzania

IRAN: THE FOOD

It’s been a beautiful week in Indianapolis. The weather is warmer, and the city is gearing up for the Indianapolis 500 in a few weeks. Even in the midst of some bad publicity for our state because of our knuckle-dragging governor, I am looking forward to the festivities of the Indy 500. And who doesn’t love a good backyard cookout? When I was a kid, it was like the entire month of May was one gigantic holiday. It’s kind of toned down now (unless you happen to actually live in Speedway). Several years ago, my husband worked for an IndyCar team and got to be on the pit crew, so it was pretty cool seeing him realize one of his childhood dreams. 

The sesame seeds were the best part. A little nutty, kind of like me.

I have been looking forward to making this food for the past couple of days. I’m starting with Nan-e barbari, a Persian flatbread.  I started by mixing my lukewarm water with the yeast and letting it proof for a few minutes. Then I added in my flour and salt and mixed it altogether until I got it to a smooth dough consistency. After kneading it for another minute or so, I put my dough in an oiled bowl and covered it in plastic for an hour. After this first hour, I punched the dough down (always my favorite part), and divided it into two, shaping them into ovals by hand. I placed these two ovals onto an oiled baking sheet and covered them with plastic wrap for another hour. While this was resting for the second time, I mixed together a little bit of flour, sugar, vegetable oil, and water in a sauce pan, heating it, and whisking it until it becomes thickened. Then I took it off the heat to let it cool. Now, I don’t own a pizza stone; I’m still not sure why I’ve never purchased one because I don’t think they’re very expensive. But I did read that one hack to get by is to put a baking sheet in the oven upside-down and let it heat up in the oven for about 30 minutes, usually at high heat (I had this set for 450º.). Here’s where I was forced to deviate from the recipe just a bit. I was supposed to sprinkle the baking sheet with semolina (course wheat flour) and lay the bread on top to bake. But the dough was so sticky still, that it was nearly impossible to move. And because it was so sticky, I wasn’t able to make the five ruts/ridges in the bread lengthwise with my hands, so I coated a long wooden skewer with flour and carefully laid it on the bread. Then I brushed the flour paste I just heated up on top of the bread, and then sprinkled the white sesame seeds and black sesame seeds (in lieu of nigella seeds). Then it was time to slide the bread into the oven (I just laid the baking sheet with the bread on top of the baking sheet that was already in the oven) for about 18 minutes. It turned out just fine. The bread had a thick crust with a soft inside, and the sesame seeds gave it a subtle nutty flavor.  I liked it by itself, but it went very well with the herbs and cheese I put on it later.  

Very good. I can't wait to have this for lunch tomorrow.

 

The main dish for today is a stew called Khoresht-e Karafs. I started by lightly frying my sliced onions in a pot, then putting in my lamb (I cut it into bite-size chunks) with my onions. I also added in a little bit of turmeric and black pepper as well as some hot water, bringing this all to a boil. I let this cook for about 45 minutes.  This original recipe didn’t call for potatoes, but I found a very similar stew that did include potatoes, and well, I really wanted potatoes, so I added them in after about 20 minutes. Then I added in some celery, fresh mint, parsley, and salt to the meat and potatoes. Just before serving, I added in some sugar and lime juice (I only used half of what they suggested, and I still thought it was too much). I served this over rice. I think I was ok with everything up until the lime juice. It just made it a little too acidic. I think next time, I might just use a quarter cup or less (the recipe called for 1 cup!). But otherwise, it was good, and I’m glad I threw in the potatoes. 

Spiced feta cheese in the middle; clockwise: walnuts, scallions, feta-stuffed olives, radishes.

Clockwise: chives, dill, cilantro, marjoram, basil, tarragon.

Finally, to go with the flatbread, I decided to serve a fresh herb platter called Sabzi Khordan. This dish is often served at the beginning of a meal to help quench appetites and is left on the table throughout the meal. It includes a block of feta cheese that I poured sautéed coriander, cumin, and caraway seeds over as the centerpiece. I also included walnuts, green onions, sliced radishes, fresh basil, fresh cilantro, fresh tarragon, fresh chives, fresh marjoram, and fresh dill. And of course, I bought some feta-stuffed olives to go with this as well. I just wish I had a better platter to put everything on. I broke open my bread and made mini sandwiches. My daughter actually wanted to send a pitch to Subway to have more fresh herbs available for sandwiches. That’s sounds amazing. I wish I had thought of that myself. 

A great meal and a great ending to a nice weekend. Now I have more herbs than I know what to do with.

 

And of course, I had a glass (or two) of shiraz wine to go with my meal. I had always thought shiraz wine was originally from Iran because of the city of Shiraz. It’s a little confusing, but the grapes used for what we know as shiraz wine are actually called syrah grapes, which are native to the Rhône area of France. Somehow, Australia and other countries decided to use the word “shiraz” as a synonym for “syrah.” There used to actually be a wine called Shirazi wine produced in the city of Shiraz, but it's no longer produced anymore because of government restrictions. Regardless it’s still my favorite red wine, although I do like a good malbec every now and then (pinot grigio is my favorite white wine). The more you know. And although there are tensions between many countries and Iran, I’m hoping that by understanding more about a country’s history and culture and food, people might be able to separate governments and stereotypes from how people actually live in these countries. At least, that’s one of the goals of this blog. 

Up next: Iraq