When it comes to cooking, my mom is a superhero. She can do it all: cook big meals, bake, create her own recipes, throw a meal together from leftovers (all without a food processor, stand mixer, or any of the fancy gadgets in my kitchen.) She can also cook Persian food better than my father's relatives — even though she's not Iranian. (She's actually a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned native of New Jersey who towers over my Iranian relatives as she stands 5'9" tall.) I never questioned how my mom learned to cook all the Persian recipes that we ate growing up. It was just part of her superpowers, along with making the best German potato salad (one of her family's recipes) and chocolate chip banana bread.
Recently when I was visiting my mom, we started talking about how I'd love to learn some of our family recipes. Then my mom pulled out this Persian cookbook, and she revealed it's been her reference for our favorite Persian dishes. This little blue book is the blueprint for all these meals — all these dishes that I grew to love. The cookbook is now at the top of my cookbook stack. The recipes are intense — not something for a weekday meal (at least not for this new cook.) But one of these weekends, I want to strum up the nerve to try my all-time favorite Persian dish: Qormeh sabzi. It's a lamb stew with spinach, kidney beans, and some really unique spices (some of which I think I may have a hard time finding.)
For now, I'm reveling in another old favorite: Persian yogurt. So I thought I'd share this recipe with you today. It's super simple and complements most any meat as a side dish. I also like to eat it straight with a spoon. And if you like Greek tzatziki, this yogurt dish is similar. This recipe brings back memories of so many meals at our round dining table with a bowl of cucumber yogurt that got passed around. And thanks to my mom, I now have one of her superhero secrets.
yogurt with cucumbers (mast va khiar)
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1 cucumber
1 tablespoon fresh dill
salt and pepper
*I like to add in one clove of garlic.
Put the yogurt in the bowl. Peel and chop the cucumber finely and add it to the yogurt. Add finely chopped dill and salt and pepper (and minced garlic if you're adding). Mix well. Let this stay in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour before serving.
