Cooking my way around the World, dish by dish: Week Three

Saturday 16 January: Iraq 🇮🇶: Fasoulia – Iraqi white bean stew

This is a very simple recipe taken a while ago from Meera Sodha’s series “The new vegan” in The Guardian.  Cook some chopped onions mixed with pepper, ground cinnamon, ground allspice, cumin and coriander stalks for 20 minutes until soft and dark.  Add chopped tomatoes, 2 tins of cannellini beans and 200ml of water, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve with a dressing of rapeseed oil, coriander leaves, lemon zest and juice.

The effect?  Perfectly nice but a bit bland, especially the beans. The spices are pleasant but it lacks a kick with only the crunchy coriander and lemon dressing lifting it. The onions are still a bit undercooked even after over 20 minutes.

Monday 18 January: Iran 🇮🇷 : Khoresh-e-gheymeh – Persian Dried Lime, Lamb, and Split Pea Stew

Another Middle Eastern stew, but very different and a lot more complicated to cook. I take this from Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour, intrigued by the dried lime and lamb combination.

Again, fry some onions until soft (this time, I take my time…) Sear lamb chunks on a high heat. Coat in turmeric, then saffron, then cinnamon.  Add tomato puree and dried limes and then coat in water. Cook on a low heat for an hour and a half. Then add 200g of yellow split peas for a further hour.  

At this point, I leave overnight in the fridge. When I take it out the following evening, the limes still feel rigid, sitting in the stew like black ping pong balls, though there is an odd limey smell, and the split peas are still pretty dry too.  So I give it all half an hour more with some more water to soften, and serve it all with basmati rice and some fried potato slices.

And finally… the peas are still quite hard – though just about chewy – but the lamb is splendidly soft. The lime… is just odd… The rice soaks it all up nicely. And you can never go wrong with fried potatoes. I chuck some flat leaf parsley on top, which improves it all. The tomato sauce is delicious and works well with the lamb.

All in all, I am glad that I tried it and judging by the few times I have had Persian cooking in the past quite realistic, but not a recipe that I would rush back to.

Wednesday 20 January: Pakistan 🇵🇰: Lahori chicken

This one is the result of a good bit of Googling and comparing of recipes. Many of the classic Pakistani dishes suggested are prevalent throughout the Indian subcontinent but Lahori chicken stands out as defiantly rooted.  One can almost hear the muezzins of Lahore as I cook and eat it.

Give a large amount of skinned and sliced chicken and a small amount of quartered potatoes a quick marinade in turmeric, cayenne pepper and salt. Make a paste of onions, garlic and ginger. Fry some cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, black peppercorns, dried red chiles, coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Add the onion paste and a green chile.  Add some tomatoes and puree for a few minutes, cool, remove and then puree the whole lot.

Then brown the chicken and potatoes in the same pot, slowly add yogurt and then add the tomato masala. Once boiling, add water, and cook for around 30 minutes half-covered before uncovering and reducing the sauce. Finally add coriander and lemon juice.

The effect? After the subtle spices of the Middle East, the sheer heat of the spices makes my tongue tingle. It is gloriously hot, with a lovely lingering after-taste as the different spices play out: sneaky hints of cardamom and cloves, the perk of the cumin and the freshness of the coriander. The chicken is slightly overcooked and dry – I was on a Skype call – but still really chewy. The potatoes again balance it nicely.

The best spicy food continues to ask your mouth questions long after you have swallowed it, flavour after flavour, and especially the hints of cardamom, that most wonderful soft friend.

And the vibrant colours of a vibrant subcontinent: the turmeric-orange of the chicken and masala counterpointed by the lush green of the coriander.

This is a dish that says more. It is a dish that I want to cook again. It is a dish that makes me dream of sweltering nights and sweltering spices. It is fabulous.