Featured recipe

Langosta estilo Puerto Nuevo

In the fishing village of Puerto Nuevo, south of Rosarito on the Baja coast, dozens of family restaurants serve lobster the same way: split in half, fried in hot pork lard until the shell blisters and the flesh is sweet and just firm, then brought to the table with refried beans, red rice, salsa, melted butter, lime and stacks of soft flour tortillas for making lobster tacos. The local lobster is the clawless spiny kind, but any lobster or raw lobster tails work; frozen raw tails are an easy route. Live lobsters should be bought from a reputable fishmonger, kept cold in the fridge under a damp cloth and cooked the same day. Chef's tip: fry the halves flesh-side down first and don't move them, so the meat gets a light golden crust.

What to eat today?

Spin the randomizer, search with what's already in your fridge, or browse recipes from our chefs.

Pick a recipe for me Cook with what I have Ask in plain words Tonight's pick

Latest recipes

Kal kabab

Kal kabab comes from the rice-growing plains around Rasht, where late-summer aubergines are charred straight on the embers and mashed with a green, sour mixture of herbs, walnuts, garlic and sour pomegranate paste. Unlike Tehran's creamy kashk-e bademjan it has no dairy and is eaten cool, as a starter or side with kateh and grilled food, scooped up with bread. Golpar, ground Persian hogweed seed, adds a resinous edge. A common mistake is pulling the aubergines off the flame too early: they must collapse completely and the skin must blacken all over, or the flesh is bitter and the dish lacks smoke. Chef's tip: pound the walnuts, garlic and herbs to a paste before adding the aubergine, so the sour green flavour runs through every bite.

45 min

Persian Chutneys & Dips

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Zeytoon parvardeh

Rudbar, in the olive valleys of southern Gilan, is famous for zeytoon parvardeh, 'nurtured olives': plump green olives tossed in a thick paste of ground walnuts, sour pomegranate molasses, garlic, fresh mint and golpar, then left to mellow for a day or two. Gilanis serve them as a starter or a side with rice and fish, and every visitor to the north brings jars home. The common mistake is using pitted olives in brine straight from the jar without rinsing, which makes the dressing salty and harsh. Chef's tip: rinse the olives and leave them to soak in fresh water for 30 minutes first; they drink up the marinade much better.

20 min

Persian Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sir ghelyeh

In early spring, when the rice fields of Gilan are still wet and the markets of Rasht fill with bundles of green garlic, families make sir ghelyeh: young garlic stems and leaves fried slowly with herbs and turmeric, then set with eggs. It is a quick lunch with kateh rice, eaten with a pickle on the side, and it smells of the whole season. The common mistake is frying the green garlic on a high heat, which burns the edges and leaves it bitter instead of sweet. Out of season, use the swap in the ingredients. Chef's tip: a small splash of verjuice or lemon juice just before the eggs go in lifts the whole pan.

30 min

Persian Vegetarian

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Koloocheh Fuman

On the road from Rasht up to the hill village of Masuleh, the little town of Fuman is lined with bakeries selling koloocheh: thick round cookies, crisp outside and cake-like inside, filled with ground walnut, sugar and cardamom and stamped with a pattern on top. Travellers buy them by the box for tea, and they are a favourite gift at Nowruz. A common mistake is overworking the dough, which makes them tough rather than tender and crumbly. Chef's tip: chill the filled discs for 15 minutes before stamping and baking, so the pattern stays sharp and the walnut filling does not burst through.

65 min

Persian Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Eshkeneh

Eshkeneh is the soup of the cold north-west, cooked in Tabriz kitchens on winter evenings when there is little in the house but onions, eggs and dried fenugreek. The onions are fried very slowly until sweet and brown, a spoon of flour and turmeric thickens the broth, and eggs are dropped in to poach at the end; a little sour from lemon or dried sour cherries balances it. Azerbaijani families crumble barbari or lavash into their bowls so the bread soaks up the broth. A common mistake is rushing the onions, which leaves the soup thin and harsh rather than mellow and golden. Chef's tip: add the dried fenugreek with the flour, not before, because it scorches quickly and turns bitter.

30 min

Persian Soups

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kaleh joosh

Kaleh joosh is the fast, frugal soup of the Azerbaijani villages around Tabriz and of central Iran, cooked when the cupboard holds kashk, walnuts and onions. Kashk, the tangy fermented whey that gives so many Persian dishes their savoury depth, is simmered with deeply fried onions and ground walnuts, then crowned with sizzling dried mint and turmeric oil. It is eaten from a shared bowl, scooped up with torn bread rather than spoons, often on cold evenings. A common mistake is boiling the kashk hard, which can make it split and grainy; keep it at a gentle bubble. Chef's tip: taste your kashk before salting, as brands vary wildly in saltiness.

30 min

Persian Soups

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lighvan-style brined cheese

The village of Lighvan, on the slopes of Mount Sahand south of Tabriz, gives its name to Iran's most loved breakfast cheese: a white, holey, tangy sheep's milk cheese matured in brine, traditionally in goatskins or tins in mountain caves. Across Azerbaijan province it is eaten every morning with warm bread, walnuts, fresh herbs and sweet tea. This home version uses pasteurised sheep's milk (or a mix with goat's milk) so it is safe to make in your kitchen. Village Lighvan is set with animal rennet; use a vegetarian (microbial) rennet to keep it vegetarian. The commonest mistake is cutting the curd before it gives a clean break, which loses yield and makes a crumbly cheese. Chef's tip: let the cheese firm in the fridge for a full week in the brine; it develops its classic tang and little holes as it matures.

1500 min

Persian Basics

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ghorabieh Tabrizi

Every traveller to Tabriz is expected to bring back a box of ghorabieh from the bazaar confectioners: pale, domed almond cookies with a thin crackled shell and a soft, chewy middle, scented with vanilla and sometimes topped with a sliver of pistachio. They are a Nowruz favourite in Azerbaijan province and keep well, so families bake them a week ahead. A common mistake is baking them too hot, which browns the outside before the inside sets and leaves them hollow. Chef's tip: let the piped cookies sit for 20 minutes before baking so a skin forms; that skin gives the classic crackled top.

55 min

Persian Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Baslogh

Baslogh is one of the soft confections that fill the sweet shops of Tabriz's covered bazaar, especially before Nowruz and at Ramadan: a pale, wobbly slab of starch cooked in rose-scented syrup, studded with walnuts, cut into squares and dusted so it does not stick. It is related to Turkish lokum but softer and less sweet, eaten with tea in the afternoon. A common mistake is stopping the cooking too early; undercooked baslogh never sets and weeps syrup. Chef's tip: cook until the paste turns translucent and pulls away from the pan in one mass, which takes longer than you expect.

60 min

Persian Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 9 of 6,261 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 388 of 696