TAHDIG WITH POTATO - CRUSTY RICE WITH POTATO

Bahrain officially  called as the Kingdom of Bahrain,  is an island country situated near the western shores of the Persian Gulf in the Middle East. Bahrain has more expats which are outnumbering the locals. Bahrain is modern and cosmopolitan. Hence the cuisine of Baharain is mix of Persian, Arabic and Asian. This month in Mena Cooking club we are exploring the cuisine of Baharain. I choose to make a savory and a sweet dish.

Tahdeek or TAHDIG is an Iranian / Persian traditional dish, which is a crispy / crusty rice. Tah means "bottom" + Dīg means "pot" There are many different version of making this recipe. Some make with yogurt and saffron or with lavash bread or with potato. Here I, have made this recipe, with an addition of my own by adding a pinch of spices to the traditional Tahdig which is actually without any spices.

Ingredients
1  Large Potato
1 Cup Basmati Rice
1/8 Teaspoon  Saffron

2 Tablespoons Water 

1 Clove Garlic

1/8 Teaspoon Black Pepper Powder

1/8 Teaspoon Chilly Flakes
1 Tablespoon Oil

1 Tablespoon Butter

Salt to Taste

Method

Slice potatoes as evenly as possible in about 1/4″ rounds and immerse them in  water with a pinch of salt till further use.

Mix the saffron in 2 tablespoons warm water and a pinch of salt, keep aside.

In the meantime let's cook the rice.  Boil the rice in 4 -5 cups water and a teaspoon of salt, cook the rice till done.  Strain the rice and cool it.  

In a flat round pot add oil and a teaspoon of butter and grease it well.   Then pour the saffron water.

Arrange the slices of potato as seen in the pic.  

Grate the clove of garlic, sprinkle a pinch of chilly flakes and pepper powder.  

Now place the rice on top of the potato and lighlty press.  

Again sprinkle a pinch of black pepper powder and chilly flakes, dot it with remaing butter.  Cover the pot with a aluminum foil and keep it on high flame for 5 to 7 minutes.  Then reduce the flame to very low and let it cook for an hour. 

After an hour switch of the flame and let it cool.  When you open the pot, you will see that it has left the sides that means it's done perfectly. 

  
Overturn it on to a plate and enjoy .... yum ... 
tahdig... crusty potatoes and soft rice ... hmmmm delicious. 

Labels : Rice, Potato, Bahrain, Mena Cooking Club, Continental Cuisine

KHABEES AL NIKHI

Khabees is a traditional sweet found throughout the Arabic country that is made with different types flours  like :- all purpose flour, semolina , chickpea flour and brown flour. When Chickpea is used it's called as Khabees Al Nikhi. Khabees is made with all purpose flour or brown flour and   Al Khabees is made with semolina flour.  This is a simple and easy sweet from Bahrain.   

I took  a dozen of these for my friends, they were so thrilled and enjoyed it... for them these were tasty and healthy balls. My hubby too liked these dates balls though he is not a fan of dates.  

Makes around 18 to 20

Ingredients

2 Cups Chickpea flour  / Besan
5 Tablespoons Level Tea Sugar
1/2 Cup Water
1/3 Cup  Butter
1  Teaspoon Cardamom powder

2 Tablespoon Rose water
16  Dates -  deseeded and chopped
1/3 - 1/2  Cup  Sesame seeds - toasted

Method

In a microwave proof plate add chickpea flour and microwave on high for 2 minutes.  Mix it well,   then microwave for a minute and again mix it well, like wise keep it for  another 3 after every minutes mix it well.  If you find that the flour is not roasted and not giving a nutty flavor then microwave it for every 30 seconds and give it a mix.  This is what I did for another 2 minutes pausing every 30 seconds and mix it well.   It took about 7  minutes to roast the flour in the microwave. 

  

After the chickpea flour is nicely roasted add the butter and stir it when its hot.  Then again microwave it for 2 minutes, pausing every 15  seconds to give it a quick stir. When its hot add the dates and stir it well.  The dates will soften.   Keep this aside.

 In a saucepan, add sugar and water. Bring to a rolling boil, then take it off flame. Add cardamom powder, and rose water mix well.  

Add the sugar water to the chickpea flour until a soft dough has formed. I used all the sugar water. 

Divide the dough into marble size balls, then roll  each in sesame seeds. Place on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes in a  preheated oven at 150 degrees.

Look at these pretty balls studded with small white pearls... hmm... beauties..  

These have a natural color because I, used medjool dates. 

My Notes

The flour is traditionally  roasted in a pan and butter is added to sugar water.  But I used the microwave and added the butter to the flour and roasted it in butter for 2 to 3 minutes. 

I found that the microwave is quick and requires less effort and roasted  the flour  to perfection.   

When I was surfacing the net and watching videos they all followed the pan method.    They also kept the flour after adding the sugar water again in the oven to steam it.  This can all be eliminated if you use the microwave method.

Do not keep the sugar water boiling, since this not require any thread consistency.  Soon as it come to a boil, switch off the flame.

Labels :  Sweets & Desserts, Healthy, Mena Cooking Club, Bahrain, Continental Cuisine

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