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bowls sprinkled with ground golpar or oregano to help with digestion and most commonly for breakfast i love adding a knob of butter to the center of my bowl and watching it melt into liquid gold pure nourishing comfort exactly what my heart and my stomach want we know that del is truly persian because we see it in its indo european cousins such as hindi which has the word dil which of course we know from the 1998 movie dil se at heart which gave us this most amazing bollywood moment ever adasi persian slow cooked lentils makes 8 servings the actual cook time is a bit fudgy in this recipe depending on how long you soak the lentils and the type of lentils you use it can vary from about 45 minutes to two hours if you use a pressure cooker you can get them done in about 20 minutes what you re looking for is a creamy almost spreadable texture with very little loose liquid and soft but not completely broken down lentils 2 cups green or brown lentils 1 teaspoons salt plus more to taste 1 2 teaspoon black pepper plus more to taste 1 teaspoon ground turmeric optional 1 teaspoon ground cumin optional garnishes butter dried oregano ground golpar or oregano add lentils 5 cups water and salt to a large bowl and stir to combine soak lentils for at least two hours up to overnight move lentils with their water to a large pot add pepper and turmeric if using and bring to a boil lower heat to a lively simmer cover and cook stirring approximately every 15 minutes until lentils reach desired consistency adjust seasoning to taste serve steamy hot with a sprinkle of oregano or ground golpar and a big knob of butter posted by tannaz sassooni at 22 44 email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest 3 comments labels dining in etymology persian sunday august 28 2016 it s a process it s been a while it s been a long while and i m sorry lovely readers so much has happened i m not sure where to begin but today i m making granola in march of 2015 i bought a house before i d even signed the papers i had started dreaming of a summer housewarming party lots of people milling through the backyard the dim glow of moonlight and garland lights against suntanned skin making everyone look extra beautiful as they chatted and laughed over tacos and poured tart margaritas from giant jugs a full eleven months later late february of this year i moved into my house i had yet to buy a bed the shelves on the kitchen wall had yet to be built and the backyard was a jungle of weeds the mix of over the top elation exasperation and gentle management of expectations has been constant today we re about six months past the move i have a bed the backyard is for now still a jungle but last week the shelves were finally finally done i m the last person to rush the closing of summer but this morning felt a little cooler than it s been lately i mean maybe 73 instead of 77 staying in with a playlist of the head and the heart and old rem felt right so did some quality time with my kitchen making granola a big batch that will sit in a giant mason jar on the shelf the first friday after i moved into the house i left my job at dreamworks after nine years the following monday i started a new job this new job is a work from home one i ll spare you the process and just say this after months on a rollercoaster of nerves i came out of it with a new sense of buoyancy i stepped away from a comfortable job that didn t feel good anymore and into a new one that feels right in ways the old one never did i aced interviews i negotiated salaries i did it and then i started and i knew nothing i felt as helpless as an infant the first few months i videoconferenced with my coworkers sitting on the floor at my coffee table because i had no desk but then i did and it was glorious i was perplexed by the task of managing myself in my own home all day though for real it s the best my office is about 5 steps from my bedroom my closest coworker lives in eagle rock my farthest lives in melbourne i love it and it s bizarre i m learning all of this newness has been the biggest exercise in patience i m not a rash person i don t make big changes often for me this transition is a pretty huge one and changes like these bring with them so much expectation for the last year and a half my head has been filled with images of this new life dinner parties and barbecues winding down at the piano after a long work day meals made with vegetables from my own garden recipe testing in breaks from work but first i need a piano first i need that veggie patch to exist first i need to actually be good at my job chocolate buttercream on lunch break mais oui but don t get me wrong it s happening things are shifting in april i picked elderflowers from the river path behind my street and made amazing cordial for whoever came by all spring long a few weeks ago i took my first bike ride on the river path to frogtown with a new neighbor he was patient with my abject lack of bike prowess and we had lunch at wonderful wax paper seriously guys the ira glass on bub and grandma s bread is the bomb a small wobbly triumph i m officially a regular at my local cafe after one of the baristas recognized me out in the neighborhood as of last week the second bedroom office is now available for houseguests and co working seriously come hang out a few small dinner parties and pancake breakfasts have happened and now when my sister s family makes the trek to the city i have space to house her tall crew and a counter to spread with safe snacks for her celiac son and his siblings elderflower syrup nascent stages my new life and i are just getting started eventually i ll have the piano the dreamy yard where i can host friends and harvest tomatoes a sense of mastery with my job it s about making a home and that s a process today i have shelves and a big jar of granola to put on them granola makes about 7 cups adapted from orangette i ve hewn close to the early bird recipe since i first saw it on orangette if your ingredients especially your oats are gluten free so is this recipe like moving like starting a new job like life it s a process i d like to hone it down to something i love as i make more batches so if you have secrets for your perfect granola i want to hear them today i mixed up the nuts a bit and decreased the brown sugar i want to try it with vanilla and with cocoa nibs and with coconut oil instead of the olive oil oh wait i have 3 cups old fashioned oats 1 cup raw hulled pumpkin seeds ¾ cup raw hulled sunflower seeds 1 1 4 cup unsweetened coconut chips 1 1 4 cup slivered almonds whole almonds and pecan pieces 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar 1 teaspoon salt ¾ cup maple syrup preferably grade b ½ cup olive oil preheat the oven to 300 f line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper in a large bowl combine dry ingredients and stir to mix add the olive oil and maple syrup and stir until well combined spread the mixture in an even layer on prepared sheet pan bake stirring every 15 minutes until the granola is golden brown and toasted about 50 minutes remove the granola from the oven cool completely on a wire rack store in an airtight container posted by tannaz sassooni at 09 49 email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest 11 comments labels dining in gift in a jar gluten free vegan vegetarian wednesday november 04 2015 kolompeh in my head masters are the people in old italian paintings the porcelain skin of their faces framed by frilly collars and antiquated hairstyles it s harder to recognize a master in our midst but i ve come to believe that pastry chef fariba nafissi of zozo baking is the real deal fariba is a true master of kolompeh i love a good food mystery i love a good non food mystery too asking people strange questions slowly sleuthing together pieces of the puzzle it s a journey possibly more fun than its destination baking kolompeh with fariba started with a mystery when my sweet friend naomi first asked me about ma amoul an arab cookie filled with a date and nut paste all i could do was look at her blankly but later i remembered that a woman from the city of kermanshah whom i had interviewed for my iranian jewish cookbook mentioned making a type of date and nut filled cookie called koloocheh for purim an itch began to develop in my brain then through the wonderful world of persian food bloggers i discovered fariba a pastry chef from the town of kerman whose specialty is kolompeh yet another cookie filled with a date and nut paste i convinced myself that there was a connection between these three and so chalking it off to cookbook research i signed up to take a persian baking class with fariba so on a crisp sunny day last december i snatched up naomi an enthusiastic accomplice and we made the trek to fariba s home in granada hills naan e berenji rice flour cookies part of fariba s mehregan spread we were greeted with fariba s big smile and a spread of homemade breakfast pastries and hot persian tea to go along a neighbor was taking the class with us and later on another showed up with a gift of fresh eggs from her backyard chickens cozy learning about kolompeh from fariba was a lesson in her family s history she spoke with such love about her own mother from whom she learned this and so many other kermani recipes and she led us through her collection of kolompeh stamps the oldest was a sturdy disc of solid wood and had an intricate pattern depicting birds and flowers this one has been passed down for generations in her family and is over a century old the next is the first to have a rudimentary handle carved into it and to me its paisley pattern was the most beautiful the newest one purchased on a recent trip to iran was machine made with a simple pattern of dots and lines and a glued on handle tricks of the trade we took a few moments to get to know a bit of each other s stories before getting to work together we ground nutmeg steeped saffron and made a dense paste of walnuts and dates mise en place filling and stamping the cookies wasn t so hard but fariba s genius came to light at the next step twisting the edges to seal the cookie s perimeter when fariba lays the the edge of a cookie between two fingers and twists the resulting pattern is so perfect you d think it was made by machine it s no wonder these beautiful cookies are her trademark she paints a dot of golden saffron water on the center of each cookie then sprinkles it with the bright green of ground pistachios you d think a person with this level of expertise would be intimidating but in this case you d be wrong we tried futilely to emulate her perfect twists but even when ours came out gnarly and inconsistent she d give an excited encouraging squeal with every cookie we made we finished off the day learning to make nan e nokhodchi tiny flower shaped sweets made with chickpea flour and cardamom and nan e berenji plump rice flour cookies topped with poppy seeds with the touch of a pastry chef these came out as dainty as dollhouse furniture brewing saffron as beautiful as our cookies were they were even more delicious the kolompeh dough is unsweetened so they re just sweet enough and the warmly spiced filling goes perfectly with the buttery flaky cookie we were proud of our baking accomplishments and had to keep ourselves from gobbling up cooking after cookie the vibe of our day was really special everyone came in with a curious spirit and an open heart including our dear ostad herself we felt her warm hospitality from the moment we walked into her home to the moment she saw us out carrying bags and containers overflowing with delicious sweets and our very own kolompeh stamps there s certainly esteem in mastery but only when it comes with love is there transcendence do check out fariba s business website zozo baking you can learn more about taking classes with her yourself you can buy beautiful kolompeh stamps she brings in from iran or you can leave the baking to her and order boxes of delicate kolompeh and other persian sweets to adorn your table posted by tannaz sassooni at 07 18 email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest 6 comments labels persian vegetarian monday october 12 2015 a taste of the east i feel like i m constantly ranting about how people always equate jewish food with eastern european food matzoh balls and gefilte fish bagel and lox i didn t try matzoh ball soup until college was introduced to lox at a weekend sleepover in elementary school and thought it was really weird i ve come around and have yet to meet a gefilte fish i want to eat so i wanted to share some photos from an event i participated in september having had so many yes i m jewish and no i never tried matzoh ball soup until college conversations i jumped at the chance to demo a traditional iranian jewish recipe at a taste of the east a night welcoming rosh hashana the jewish new year with flavors from the middle east and mediterranean it was a night of dinner music and storytelling all celebrating the culture of sephardic jews lisa grissom i performed one of three demos of sephardic jewish food orly olivier of petit takett made tunisian harissa and deborah gorman of sorbabe made bourekas turkish greek cookies filled with ground walnuts and dipped in a sweet syrup and i made faloodeh sib a refreshing combination of rosewater and shredded apples that is the traditional yom kippur fast breaking food among iranian jews lisa grissom lisa grissom it was a great time i d never done anything like this before but cooking and chatting in an industrial kitchen with these ladies was a treat and an education and sharing my family recipes with a warm interested crowd while being schooled on some foods that were new to me felt wonderful nicole younesi as people milled through the space i stood at a table decorated with black and white photos of my grandparents and shredded apples against a box grater and then added sugar water rosewater and ice to perfectly balance the rosewater s intense aroma with just the right amount of sweet 30 years after i had a couple friends a few cousins and my parents in attendance i was really happy to have these familiar faces in the crowd when we arrived at the storytelling portion of the evening i spoke about my uncle a distinguished physician affectionately known by his grandkids as lulu who would leave yom kippur services at the synagogue early to go home and prepare faloodeh sib for his family i wasn t the only one tearing up as we remembered this sweet man recalling old memories of food and family as we make new ones with new friends more of this please posted by tannaz sassooni at 06 30 email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest 4 comments labels book jewish persian saturday october 10 2015 mom s polo shevid baghali in lucky peach those hands belong to my mom violet she is halving baghali fava beans for one of my favorite dishes of hers polo shevid baghali i am beyond thrill...