Tags
cooking, eating, food, health, persia, photography, recipes, vegan, vegetarian
Posts have gotten rare and the reason for this is that in a few months time, the three magical letters B E and D, also known as BEd., or Bachelor of education, will (hopefully) attach themselves to my name. I am very well aware that Austria is a country whose people are very proud of their academic titles and I earnestly hope to not become one of them. Because what can three letters possibly reveal about you, your attitudes, beliefs and expertise? Not much, I believe.
I wish I could say that I am only busy with my bachelor thesis and find myself in a flow all the time, but as a matter of fact, I am still trying to figure out what direction I will be going in. Sometimes you feel a little stuck and thankfully you have professors who make this clear to you: you won’t find the right way unless you make a step forward. The wind won’t be able to push you if you put down roots. It took me quite a while to understand, but I think that I can say that I’ve learnt a life lesson. Make a step, and the next steps will be so much easier.
Also, if you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed that I’m trying to reduce my waste a lot. One step towards this aim, which can sometimes seem impossible, was to buy big quantities of ingredients we use a lot and sharing it with friends and family. I’m deeply in love with how beautiful things look in glass jars.
Apart from the fact that I am highly annoyed because I should be in Stockholm right now, (but my flight was cancelled, I found out less than 12 hours before it should have taken off due to my father telling me and not understanding how I could possibly not have heard anything about it – sometimes, a radio would be a nice thing to have on hand), I am very happy to finally post another recipe for a Persian main dish – thanks mum for the recipe and for making it!
Serves 4
- 200 g mung beans
- 350 g basmati rice (2 1/2 cups)
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 small onions
- 25 g dried dill (1/3 cup)
- oil
- salt and pepper
Rinse the mung beans and soak overnight in a bowl or pot (make sure to use enough water!).
On the next day, wash the rice and soak it for an hour. For a detailed how-to watch my video (don’t go past the soaking step!).
Drain the mung beans and put them into a pot with enough water (the water should be about 1 inch above the beans).
Before it comes to a boil, a foam forms. Remove the foam until the water stays almost clear.
When it boils, reduce to middle heat and add the turmeric and 1/2 tbsp salt.
Let cook for about 15 minutes. The beans should be on the al-dente side and certainly not overcooked. Drain and keep about one cup of the water. Set aside.
In a small pan, heat some oil and squeeze the garlic clove. Fry for a minute, until the garlic has a golden colour.
In a big non-stick pot, bring some water to a boil. Add salt (the water should be saltier than the rice should be). Drain the rice and add to the water (mum’s special trick: rinse the rice with warm water so it doesn’t take ages until the water comes to a boil again). Let cook for about 7 minutes and drain. Set aside. Again, if you need a more detailed idea of how to do this, watch the video.
Slice the potatoes and the onions into thick rings.
Dry the potatoes and add some salt and pepper.
In the same pot you cooked the rice, heat some oil (bottom of the pot should be covered). Place the potato slices on the bottom of the pan.
Add a layer of rice on top, put the onions on the rice, a layer of mungo beans, half of the dill, garlic, rice, mungo, dill, rice.
Add the cooking water of the beans, make three holes and cover. Cook on middle heat (caution: the needed heat depends on your pot! The thicker it is, the higher the heat must be to get a nice rice crust, known as tah-deeg.)
When steam starts to come out, place a dish towel around the lid and cover again.
Cook for about 50 minutes and flip on a tray or serve directly on plates.
Enjoy.