![]() Add the pasta and cook for about half the time indicated on the packet. Meanwhile, bring a large heavy-based nonstick pan of water to the boil and season with salt. This sauce will have very little liquid and should not be as saucy as an Italian ragu. Stir in the saffron infusion and salt, then adjust the seasoning to taste. Pour in the hot water, reduce the heat to low and cook with the lid on for 15 minutes. Add the turmeric and cinnamon and cook for another few minutes, then stir in the tomato paste and cook for about five minutes, or until the tomato paste brightens in colour. Next, brown the meat over medium–high heat for about five minutes, until no pink parts are left. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan with the golden onion. It’s an Iranian makaroni, after all.ġ tbsp ghee (or half butter, half vegetable oil)ġ potato, peeled and sliced crossways into 5mm discs, kept in a bowl of water to avoid oxidationīegin with the sauce. ![]() This was a kids’ favourite when I went to school and – brace yourself – we ate it with huge spurts of ketchup. The trick is to undercook the pasta in the first step (the parboiling) so that it won’t be overcooked after the long second stage (the steaming). The typical makaroni sauce is definitely inspired by a classic bolognese, but somewhere along the way it has been tamed and domesticated to fit the Iranian palate, with so much golden onion, a touch of turmeric, cinnamon and saffron, and only just a hint of tomato paste. In Iran, any pasta in general is now called makaroni in domestic use. The same word travelled to Central Asia and Eastern Europe, becoming lapsha in Russia and laska in Hungary, both meaning “noodles”. ![]() In fact, one of the oldest written records of noodles is lakhsha, known in eastern parts of Iran and Afghanistan as lakhshak, supposedly “invented” by the Sasanian king Khosrow. However, it’s a mistake to think that Iranians have been strangers to noodles and pasta in general. Some time in recent history, the modern form of Italian-ish pasta found its way into Iran. ‘This was a kids’ favourite when I went to school, and – brace yourself – we ate it with huge spurts of ketchup’: Setareh’s recipe for Iranian ‘makaroni’.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |