A Mosaic of Flavors: Iraq
At the end of January, we hosted the fifth Mosaic of Flavors cooking class, turning for the first time in the series to the flavors of a Middle Eastern country, Iraq. Fragrant with cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, turmeric, and curry powder, the biryani we made evoked the spice trade along the Silk Road.
Spices in an Egyptian marketplace
The instructor, Suhad Murad, came to Vermont with her husband and three young children two years ago. Her husband works for the family business of Nadia Market (an international halal market in Winooski specializing in Middle Eastern foods). Suhad had been up early in the morning that day, cooking biryani for a party earlier in the day. Biryani, she told us, is a festive food, cooked on Sundays and for special occasions.
Suhad Murat
Biryani originated in Persia (present-day Iran) and also made its way via trade routes to other parts of the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia. Topped in this version with sweet raisins, crunchy almonds, and toasted vermicelli pasta, it can be a meal in itself, or topped with meat, fish, or vegetables that have been roasted or cooked in a rich curry.
Biryani
Suhad followed the biryani with a semolina cake that had a light sesame flavor from tahini.
Mixing the dough for semolina cake
Semolina cake with crunchy almond topping
Speaking of the Silk Road, if you haven’t seen our new, larger Bulk Education brochure rack, just to the left of the spices, it now has two new brochures on Herbs & Spices and Nuts & Seeds.
The Herbs & Spices brochure answers questions like:
When do you add herbs and spices during cooking?
How often do you need to replace them?
What are the ingredients in many of the herb and spice blends we carry?
...and what the heck is allspice?? (Hint, it's not a spice blend)
Enjoy!
Biryani
3 cups white rice
½ cup canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped?
2 ½ cups water?
1 Tbs. salt?
1 Tbs. curry powder
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. cardamom powder?
½ tsp. black pepper?
½ Tbs. ground cinnamon???
For the topping:
½ cup canola oil
½ cup slivered almonds?
½ cup raisins
2 cups vermicelli pasta, broken into 2-inch sized pieces**
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp. cardamom powder
For the rice:
Wash and soak the rice for 10 minutes. In a medium sized pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for about 10 minutes. Add salt and spices.?
Add water, and bring to a boil; then add rice. Cover and let simmer until the rice is done, stirring occasionally. Then, place in a large dish or serving platter.??
For the topping:
In a medium-sized frying pan, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add almonds and toast them lightly for about a minute. Once toasted, remove almonds, but leave the oil in the pan.?
Add raisins to the pan of oil and sauté for less than 30 seconds. Then remove them and add them to the almonds.?
Add the peas to the pan; sauté them and add them to the raisins and almonds.?
Now, put the pasta pieces in the pan and sauté them until they're light brown, stirring occasionally; then add 1 cup of water to the pasta and let it sit for about 2 minutes, or until it's soft and the water has been absorbed. Then add the topping mixture into the pan, add cardamom, and cook at medium heat for about 5 minutes while continuing to stir. Pour the topping over the rice in the casserole dish and serve hot.
**available at the Nadia Market
Semolina Cake (“Basbusa”)
Cake:
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups coarse semolina flour
1 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp. baking powder
½ Tbsp. vanilla
Tahini
Syrup:
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
1 tsp. lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with tahini. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix the sugar and butter on medium speed. Once it is light and fluffy add the eggs. Add the milk and mix. Add the semolina and continue to mix. Fold in the coconut. Mix in the baking powder and vanilla.
Pour the batter into the greased baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes (or until the top is lightly brown).
While cake is baking, make the syrup. Mix the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small pan. Cook until the mixture becomes sticky. Let cool. Pour the cold syrup over the basbusa (cake) immediately after you take it out of the oven.