Taste & See: An Iranian ["Persian"] restaurant near you
On Friday nights after work, some of my workmates & I head out to a weekly ethnic food outing. Of course, when used with food, ‘ethnic,’ often used as a synonym for ‘exotic,’ is a relative term; there was talk of an American burger joint in commemoration of the Fourth. One week's meal was, for me, truly exotic, in the “I’ve never eaten & am glad to be with someone who can order for me” sense of the word. In honor of a colleague departing home to Iran, we went to a restaurant with an English sign reading simply, "Persian food."
Every dish we ordered, except the meat platters, consisted of a large plate of rice. There were dishes entirely composed of rice with some kind of flavored sauce drizzled on top, plates of rice with some chunks of meat, plates of plain rice accompanying smaller bowls of meat in a thick sauce, rice with herbs . . . The rice-based dishes should be ordered in a strategic proportion to the kabab platters, easily the first thing on the table to run out.
Unless of course you are vegetarian. Actually, even among carnivores the kabab platters faced stiff competition from this eggplant dish we had as an appetizer with bread similar to [Indian] naan. The food is clearly meant to be shared, but if I had to order one dish just for me, this would be it.
The second favorite was definitely the rice with tumeric, chicken and cranberry [our host said it wasn't a cranberry but she didn't know the English name; it was small and tart, tasted just like a cranberry]. The tart bursts from the berries provided a nice accent to the rich, pungent chicken and rice. It reminds me of a couscous I like to make.
do-it-yourself
This recipe for almost instant couscous is from a Barefoot Contessa cookbook, but I'm not sure which and I never use the cookbook anymore. It requires some guess work because I just do it by feel, but the basic parts are:
-couscous, made via microwave: melt better & water into couscous according to proportions on packaging; let sit covered for about 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork
-plain yogurt: stir in about 1/2-1 cup plain yogurt to make it moist
-seasoning: black pepper, rock salt, tumeric [or saffron, if you have it], curry powder to taste; can also add crushed or chopped garlic and ginger
-flavoring: chopped green onions and cranberries
This makes a fragrant, beautifully colored side dish to like roasted peppers or tuna steak, or as a main with tomatoes and humus on the side.
Here are detailed directions to the restaurant:
Take the sky train to Sala Dang; walk up the Patpong soi that is furthest South [eg, furthest from the sky train] towards Surwongse. At Surawongse turn left. A short walk down Surawongse and there is a shopping plaza on your left with a tailor in the front, five or six stairs heading down to the shopping center, and signs advertising the shops inside. One should be red with Persian writing, and in English "Persian food." Good luck!
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