Rice With Currants

The raisin in the picture is one of the most common ingredients that we use in various dishes. We call it kuş üzümü in Turkish. Kuş is for bird, üzüm is for grape. I think it has this name as they are small enough for birds. However, I wasn’t sure how to call them in English. Turkish-English dictionaries say ‘currant’ for it, but when I searched on the net for the visuals of currants, they were totally different from this raisin. Finally Tracey from Tangled Noodle saved me from my confusions and clarified its English translation for me. Thank you Tracey! She says small variety of grapes called ‘champagne grapes‘ are referred to as ‘currants’ when dried. And with the link she suggested, I learnt that “Although it may be confused with common black, red or white currants that grow on bushes, it is similar only in shape and size, but is not the same type of fruit. The dried grape that becomes a currant is often used like raisins as an ingredient when baking cookies and sweets.” So I’ll call them currants from now on.

There are small grapes in a bunch of black grapes and they don’t have seeds as they are not matured enough. These small grapes are picked seperately and dried, then they become currants (kuş üzümü). They give a bit sweet taste to dishes. We use it in cakes, cookies and compotes, but in Turkish cuisine, they are much liked in stuffed vegetables and rice pilaf.

Tip: To clean currants from their straws, coat them with a little flour, put them in a strainer with big holes. When you shake it, the straws will drop with flour.

Kuş Üzümlü Pilav

Ingredients

- 1 cup rice
- 2 cups hot water
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp olive/vegetable oil
- 1 ¾ cup water
- 2 tbsp currants, straws removed and washed
-  2 tsp salt
-1 tsp lemon juice

Before washing, put the rice in a bowl, pour 2 cups hot water into it and add 1 tsp salt. Wait this for about 15 minutes. You’ll see how it turns out whiter within this time. Then wash it well.

Melt the butter in a pan. Add olive oil. When it is heated, add rice and salt to saute. Add 1 tsp juice of lemon. Lemon juice helps rice not to stick each other, which is so important for Turkish pilaf. Stir it continually for about 5 or 7 minutes on medium heat. Sauting the rice in oil is so important in making pilaf. Otherwise, rice will just be boiled and won’t give the desired taste. Then pour 1 ¾ cup water and currants, stir once and cover it. when it starts to boil after about 3 minutes, bring the heat to the lowest and do not open its cover for about 10 minutes until it absorbs all water. When there isn’t any water left in the pan, take it from fire. Put a big piece of paper towel just on top of pilaf and cover it again. Wait it for about 15 minutes so that the paper towel absorbs all the moist in it. Then uncover it and throw the paper towel away. It’s ready to serve.

You see how currants swell in pilaf although they are crinkle before being cooked.  They look so cute that I can put them in any dish.

To serve it in the shape you see here, wet a small bowl. Fill it with rice and turn it upside down carefully on a plate.

Craving For Blue

Here is another cartoon by mom. I think she was inspired by the fascinating sea in front of her house. She loves to have a cup of coffee on her balcony watching and listening that blueness. I missed chatting with her there, I wish we can visit her soon. More words are unnecessary for this cartoon. Just close your eyes, imagine that bluness and feel the gentle breeze licking your face.

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Bulgur Pilaf with Green Lentil

Mercimekli Bulgur Pilavi
This pilaf is another rare recipe even in our country. So many people don’t know this pilaf, they generally cook tehm seperately, bulgur pilaf near green lentil stew. I love them, but I also love them combined in the form of a pilaf. If you have a kind of stew, this pilaf will be a perfect side dish.

Ingredients
•    1 cup bulgur
•    ¼ cup green lentil, boiled
•    2 cups water
•    2 green pepper, 1 onion
•    2 tbsp butter
•    1 tbsp olive oil
•    1 tsp black pepper
•    2 tsp salt
•    ½ tsp cinnamon

Melt the butter in a pan and add olive oil. Saute chopped  green pepper  and onion until soft, then add bulgur and boiled green lentil in it. Saute them for 5 minutes until bulgur gets crispy. Then pour water and sprinkle salt, black pepper and cinnamon in it and stir. Cover the pan and bring the heat to the lowest. When all the water’s gone, let it rest.

To serve it, put some in a small bowl and reverse it on a plate. You can garnish it with fresh dill or parsley. And if you have a bowl of homemade yogurt near it, you enjoy it more.

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Spinach Heads

I wrote a recipe of spinach with eggs two days ago. And in that post I told you to put the heads of spinach aside for another dish on another day. That another day is today. Let me clarify what I mean with spinach heads. The end or the root of spinach stem which is in pinkish color. You see it in the picture. I love its shape and color; it’s like a shy girl/actress greeting her spectators. I used these raw ones both for decoration and to show you what I mean.

I learnt this dish from mom, and I rarely meet another woman cooking spinach heads dish. When I was a child, I used to watch mom with a great admiration as she used to make several kinds of spinach dishes and some days later totally different dish with the heads of spinach used to come out. She doesn’t like wasting anything. This is not a very common dish in Turkish cuisine, but a minority of Turkish women make this pantry friendly dish, which I love much.

Ingredients
•    1 cup green lentil
•    2 cups water
•    1 cup spinach heads (of 1kg spinach)
•    1 onion,diced
•    1 middle size tomato, chopped
•    1 lemon (if you don’t want it to be too sour, ½ lemon is enough)
•    1 tbsp pepper or tomato paste
•    1 tsp salt
•    2 tbsp olive oil

Boil the green lentil in water until tender. If the lentil you use doesn’t soften easily, soak it overnight and then boil the following day.

In another pot, saute the diced onion in olive oil until golden, pepper or tomato paste in it and stir. Then add tomato and let it cook for a few minutes.

Meanwhile wash the spinach heads very well and then cut them into two. Then add these into the pot, stir it. When they lose their color, pour the lentil with its water into this pot. Squeeze the lemon, add salt and put its lid on. I love this dish sour, so I squeeze 1 lemon. Cook it on the lowest heat for 20 or 30 minutes. If you think its water is not enough, add some more.

You can serve it with bulgur pilaf (drinking house pilaf) or rice. And yogurt is also a great companion for spinach heads.

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Ash Plov

This is a special pilaf in Osh city of Kyrgyzstan (Central Asia). And this is not my own recipe, a very kind blog friend of mine,  Jyldyz  Chynybekova sent it to me. In fact, she is so kind that she sent a file of Kyrgyzstan recipes with pictures. I’m always very curious about different Asian dishes, so I’m very pleased to publish her recipes here. And this is just one of those exotic dishes. The rest will come later.

Ingredients
•    1 kg (2.3 lbs) red rice (or any if you can’t find it)
•    1 kg (2.3 lbs) meat – lamb, beef or chicken
•    1 ½ kg (3 1/3 lbs, 5 large carrots) carrots – yellow is the best
•    3 pieces, average sized onion – any type
•    1 cup vegetable oil – sunflower (you can use lamb fat also)
•    1 tbsp cumin seeds
•    About 3 L (3 quarts) water or lamb broth
•    2-3 whole head of garlic

Saute chopped onions in oil until it gets red, then the meat (chopped into many medium pieces) is added. Meat is fried until a tender reddish crust appears.

Add the carrots (shredded) and fry it for about 10 minutes. Pour water and stew it for 20 minutes. Add rice, put heat on high. Bring to a boil and tuck a bunch of unpeeled garlic cloves down into the rice. I use a whole head. Reduce heat a little to prevent burning, add cumin seeds, stir and watch it until the water has evaporated.

Push the rice towards the center. Then poke holes in several places with the handle of a wooden spoon. Cover and simmer until meat, garlic and carrots are tender for 25 minutes and all the water has evaporated. Do not allow the plov to burn.

Serve rice on a plate and put the meat, garlic on top. Pop the garlic out of its skin to enjoy it. Salads with fresh or pickled vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers are good additions for enjoying plov.

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