So here goes my first real Persian-y blog post... one of the most wonderful things about any
culture is the food. Persian cuisine, like many of Asia, is heavily laden with spices, and has its own
unusual combinations. Some ingredients in this recipe are easy to come by in
your local stores, but some you will have to trek out to a Middle Eastern market.
My personal favorites in Boise are Ishtar* (off Overland in the Overland Park Shopping Mall),
and Kabul Market (off Overland and Curtis area)**. For my Utah friends, the Pars Market in SLC is amazing... and the owners are also very special to me. I will make a note if the ingredients need to
be sought after below. The great thing is that these markets are so cheap, and you can get a
variety of things you wouldnt normally see! I love foreign markets.
Okay, now for the fun part... the cooking!
First, let me describe koo koo sabzhi... literally translated its means green (sabzhi) eggs (koo koo),
and that is basically what it is. I guess you can liken it to a baked herb frittata, but
with spices that you would never thing to combine... and a lot more herbs than eggs.
koo koo sabzi is eaten by many Persians in the morning for breakfast as a
healthy source of protein and veggies, and its also eaten on or around Persian New Year (nowruz)
because sabzhi is supposed to stand for new life, and growth.
Usually its eaten with a bread called lavash, and a spiced yogurt mixture... yum!
Now for the ingredient list, pictured below (and no, I am no food photographer, so bear with me)
12 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp advieh (Persian Spice Mix, Recipe Below)
2 c. finely chopped coriander (cilantro)
2 c. finely chopped parsley
2 c. finely chopped scallion or garlic greens
2 c. finely chopped dill (you may be better off in the winter to use dried dill)
1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves**
2 tbsp all purpose flour
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 c. olive oil for baking
parchment or baking paper
Now, as my lovely friend Mozghan pointed out, you should probably use a
food processor to chop all your herbs.. which I did not... I chopped by hand for like 20 minutes.
I will just say that it was very satisfying, and my grandmother probably did it by hand... ha.
Thats what we call justifying rationale... which is mostly BS.
Sadaf is a great brand of spices from the Middle East, and the dried Fenugreek below is
both delicious and potent... use sparingly. Now for the advieh recipe... its a spice blend...
advieh means spices, so you cant go into a Middle Eastern store and ask for advieh, because
they will just point you in the direction of all spices (yes, I made that mistake).
Advieh
(Persian Spice Mix)
(blend in a spice grinder, I use our coffee grinder)
1 whole cinnamon stick (broken into pieces)
4 tbsp cumin seeds
4 tbsp dried rose petals
2 tbsp whole green cardamon pods
After you combine your egg mixture (in blue), add it to your green herb mixture (in purple), mix,
but not too thoroughly, you dont want to overmix.
Spread the 1/2 cup of oil over a baking sheet, and layer in the koo koo mix
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and bake for 30-40 minutes.
Now for the yogurt! This has a recipe, but its more of a sight thing with me... so I will
try to give you some vague guidelines, and you can go from there. Traditionally, this yogurt has
finely chopped cucumber added, but I left it out because cucumbers are no good in the winter.
Yogurt (Maast O Khiar)
2 c. labneh (plain greek yogurt)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper or to taste
1-2 tsp dried mint
rose petals for garnish
Pictured below is everything assembled.. I cut it up into triangles, and serve with the yogurt mix,
and some delicious bread from Ishtar Market, they were out of lavash at Kabul Market.
I am currently working on getting Mike to make some lavash bread.
You can serve this cold or hot, eat in anytime of day and be satisfied. I love koo koo sabzhi,
and not just because I like to say the name (which I do, alot). Mike likes to say that
he is "coo coo for koo koo sabzhi." Corn ball.
Yum.
