I previously mentioned in Taste of the Desert, Musicians Cook Favorite
Dishes at Womad Abu Dhabi, April 22-24 that Womad artists bring more than music to the table.
Surej Madhavan on the festival team was kind enough to send me some of the recipes served under the Taste the World tent at Womad Abu Dhabi 2010.
Not all are from the middle east actually.
Today, I share 2 recipes offered by The Chemiranis (an Iranian French ensemble).
First, Mast o Khiar (Iranian cucumber and mint yogurt)
Ingredients:
500ml Greek-style yogurt
1 peeled cucumber
1 tablespoon of raisins
1 tablespoon of lightly crushed walnuts
1 tablespoon of dried powdered mint
salt
A handful of chopped fresh mint
Preparation:
Put the yogurt in a bowl, grate the peeled cucumber
into it, add the other ingredients, mix well and salt to taste.
Second, Kolech Badenjun
Ingredients:
2 large aubergines
(eggplant)
2 onions
500 ml tomato sauce (passata)
Shoulder or leg of lamb (cut into cubes)
Juice of 2 lemons
3 teaspoons
1 tspn Turmeric
Salt and pepper
Preparation:
Peel the aubergines, slice quite finely lengthwise,
salt them – leave them to sit for at least half hour so that salt can draw out
some of the moisture.
Pat the aubergines dry, fry them in a pan, (then set
aside).
In a deep pan with a lid – (preferable cast iron) chop
the onions finely, fry them and add the turmeric, salt and pepper, tomato sauce
and the meat. Cook in the pan for a good hour then add the lemon juice and the
aubergines and leave to simmer for another half hour.
Serve with steamed white rice (Thai or Basmati)
I might share other dishes over the week-end.
(* my illustration is from the Womad Abu Dhabi 2009 edition, not sure who the artist is)