Category: Middle East

Badenjan Chalow

This month, Pomi asked that I try to create a recipe using one of their tomatoes paired with eggplant. I have been craving my favorite Afghan meal from a restaurant in Philadelphia called Ariana so my mind went immediately to trying to replicate it. The meal, Badenjan Chalow, is a lamb dish with eggplant, cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices served over basmati rice.

Pomi’s strained tomatoes are perfect for this recipe. Although I’d love to put this in a slow cooker and let it cook all day, I wanted to make this weeknight meal friendly.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cooked basmati rice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 eggplant, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
  • 1 lb lamb chunks
  • 1 container Pomi strained tomatoes

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Tandoori Chicken Thighs with Saffron Rice

Adding spices to your meal is a great way to add tons of flavor to a dish without adding calories. Because you need so little of the spice to enhance a dish, it’s a pretty cost-effective way to add flavor as well. (I try to buy my spices outside of supermarkets where they are really marked up. Spice Terminal in Reading Terminal was my favorite spot — I hope it’s coming back soon! update: The Head Nut is now open!) This dish in the latest Cooking Light for Tandoori Chicken Thighs incorporates traditional Indian spices which I absolutely love. I also made a quick saffron rice to go with the chicken.
Ingredients (this recipe makes 2 servings):
For the chicken:
  • 1 cup plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
For the rice:
  • 1 cup uncooked basmati or similar rice
  • 1 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1/2 tsp saffron, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon ghee, or butter
  • 6 cardamom pods
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 4 whole cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon tumeric
  • Salt, to taste

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Baba Ghannouj

My CSA share came with eggplant this week. My mind went immediately to Baba Ghannouj, which is sort of like hummus with eggplant substituted for the chickpeas. The eggplant is grilled or baked before pureeing it to give it a smoky flavor. I have never worked with eggplant before, so I used Eating Well’s recipe as a base for my baba ghannouj.

Ingredients:

  • 1 eggplant
  • 2 cloves of garlic (unpeeled)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus zest from the lemon
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 3/4 teaspoons salt
  • Olive oil, as needed
  • Pine nuts, optional

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Shish Kabobs with Rice

This weekend I was given quite the culinary challenge: make a meal for ten people without breaking the bank. I would be feeding everyone at the beach, so my mind immediately went to Shish Kabobs with Rice (I want summer and barbecues to be here so badly!). This is a great option for vegetarians as well, always a plus.

Living in the city does not mean you can’t enjoy this recipe. If you have a little indoor grill, that will work just fine. Due to the poor weather we had this weekend, we actually ended up broiling the shish kabobs in the oven, which worked just fine.

Ingredients (serves 10):

  • 3 pints cherry tomatoes
  • 1 bag of pearl onions, peeled (quick tip below)
  • 2 green bell peppers
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 orange pepper
  • 2 8 oz packages of whole mushrooms (I used cremini)
  • 1 large zucchini
  • 2 large summer squash
  • 5 lbs top sirloin steak, cut into cubes
  • 10 cups chicken stock (ideally, use vegetable stock to keep veggies truly vegetarian)
  • 5 cups rice

Ingredients for marinade:

  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 heaping tablespoon of the following dried spices: thyme, basil, oregano, marjoram
  • 2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 3/4 cup oil
  • 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 2/3 cup red wine (an inexpensive table wine is fine)
  • 5 bay leaves
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • 6-8 drops tabasco sauce

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My Attempt at Afghan Cusine

There are two Afghan restaurants near where I live, and I love them so much that not one, but both restaurants know me by name. That’s when it hit me that I should probably attempt to recreate some of these delicious meals myself, to help my poor empty wallet.  So, here’s my attempt at Korma-E-Murgh (at least that’s what it is called on their menu). The dishes are usually made with lamb or chicken, and the lamb far surpasses the chicken. But making lamb still intimidates me, so I’m trying this with my trusty chicken. On the menu, this dish is described as “delicately seasoned boneless diced chicken with tomatoes, onions, and selected Afghan spices, served with white rice”… here goes..
Ingredients
Ingredients
   For the sauce:
  •      3 tablespoons olive oil
  •      1 medium onion, chopped
  •      1 tablespoon tomato paste
  •      1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules
  •      2 teaspoons paprika
  •      3 teaspoons ground cumin
  •      3 teaspoons ground coriander
  •      1 cup water
  For the chalow:
  •      1 cup basmati rice
  •      1 1/2 cup chicken broth
  •      1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  •      1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  •      1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  •      Chicken

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