Persian Delight!

I had the opportunity to stay with a Persian friend of mine in Toronto one weekend. It was at this point that my eyes opened up to Persian food! I never really took the time to think about their cuisine, making the assumption that it is full of meat, and very fewfor vegetarians. My friend made me the most sumptuous, well balanced meal for dinner, I had to make it for my friends!

A staple food in Persian cooking is rice. Their process of cooking rice involves creating a yummy crusty, crunchy bottom to enjoy with the rest of your meal. I loved it! My friend had this special bread that she covered with the bottom of her pan. I didn't have that special thin bread so I decided to crustify the rice itself.

My friend also made a yummy raita that was also very tasty. The rice dish can be a little bit dry, so the raita is a perfect accompaniment with this dish. I will warn you now, it is somewhat laborious, so you have to be in the mood for cooking if you want to make this dish. But it is so worth the effort!

I have slightly modified her recipe with a couple of additions that work very well with this dish.

Ingredients

The Rice
1.5 cups basmati rice
1 cup french green lentils (the round, flat ones)
salt to taste
2 tbsp cumin powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1 whole onion, cut in half and sliced thin to make long strips
2 tbsp margerine or butter

The Raita
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tomato, finely diced
1/3 English cucumber, finely diced
2 tbsp fresh mint, minced or 2 tsp dried mint
1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Boil rice in 3 cups salted water. Once water starts to boil, reduce to low heat and keep covered.
2. Boil lentils in a different pot in 2 cups salted water. Once water starts to boil, reduce to medium low heat and keep half covered.
3. Sautee the onions in a shallow frying pan with olive oil and a dash of salt on medium heat. Mix around and once the onions have softened, reduce to low heat. Let them sit around until brown and crispy (about 45 minutes). You will need to toss them around every so often.
4. For the raita, mix all ingredients together and allow them to meld and the flavors to blend together. Keep the raita outside for about 1 hour for melding.
5. The rice should only cook until it is 3/4 of the way cooked through. You can tell by tasting a grain of rice, and it should be a little hard on the inside, but the outside should be cooked. This should take about 10-12 minutes of low heat cooking time.
6. The lentils need to fully cook and this should take about 20 minutes.
7. Once the rice is 3/4 cooked, drain any leftover water, empty into a bowl, and smear margerine all over the bottom of the rice pot.
8. Lightly press down some of the rice until the bottom of the pot is covered.
9. Mix together the cooked lentils and the rest of the rice. Mix in the cumin powder, then add back into the pot.
10. Cover the pot and simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes. Then, increase to medium heat for about 6-7 minutes until the rice at the bottom of the pot has browned.
11. Serve the rice with some of the crusty rice bottom, the shriveled, sweet, crispy onions on top, and the raita on the side, yum!!!!!