Yogurt and cucumber (Maast-o-khiar) - vegetarian side dish

Ingredients: (4 servings)

• yogurt, 500 grams
• cucumber, 1/2 small (grated)
• onion, one small (grated)
• mint, 2 teaspoons
• salt
• black pepper

Preparation:

Beat yogurt well until it flows smoothly. If fresh mint is used, it should be finely chopped. Add mint, grated onion and cucumber, salt and pepper to yogurt and mix well. Leave in the refrigerator for two hours, then serve. Maast-o-Khiar makes a delicious side-dish.

courtesy of farhangsara.com

Lintile and rice (Adas-polo) (4 Servings) - vegetarian dish

Ingredients:

• 3 cups (8 Oz) of white long grain rice.
• 4 table spoons of cooking oil.
• 1 cup (8 Oz) of lentils.
• 1 loaf of pita (or other flat middle eastern type) bread.
• 4 oz of water.
• salt

Preparation:

For best results, soak the rice for a few hours in hot water and salt before cooking. Soak the lentils in a separate water (no salt) container a short while before cooking.

In a medium size pot, half-way filled with water, bring the water to a boil. Add the rice (and the water it was soaking in), and let it cook for a few minutes until it starts boiling. Add the lentils. Occasionally pick a few of the rice grains with a spoon and chew on them to see if they have softened.

When the rice is half-crunchy half-soft, take it out and drain it in a kitchen stringer. Run the tab water on it to wash out some of the excess salt.

Pour the oil in the pot, add 4 oz of water, separate the two halves of the pita bread and lay them in the bottom of the pot, add a bit of extra oil if necessary, then pile up the rice losely in the shape of a heap. With the back of a spoon, make five holes, one in the center and four around it so that the rice can breath in the cooking process.

Spread a little water on top and close the lid. Let it cook for a few minutes on high heat. When steam starts to rise, change the setting to medium heat and let it cook for another 15-20 minutes. Then turn the heat to medium-low, sprinkle some cooking oil to prevent drying, and let it cook for about another 10-15 minutes before serving.

courtesy of: Soheila Amiri

Fancy Rice (Chelo / Polo) (5 Servings)

Ingredients:

1- Long grain rice	1 Kg
2- Oil	150 gr
3- Saffron (optional)	1 tea spoon
4- Yogurt (optional)	1/2 cup
5- Egg yolk (optional)	2
6- Salt	3 large table spoons

Preparation:

In order to prepare fancy rice, you need to wash and place the rice in salt water for at least 3 hours prior to cooking. Wash the rice with luke warm water a couple of times until the water runs clear.  Then add water to the rice so that the rice is immersed in the water. Add lots of salt to the water This process makes the rice tastier and the result will be beautiful non sticky rice.

1. Fill a large pot with water and  place on the stove until it come to boil.

2. Then throw out the salt water that covers the rice and pour the rice in the boiling water. Boiling water should cover the rice. Bring the rice back to boiling.

3. Boil the rice for approximately 5 minutes (until it is half cooked).

4. Remove from the stove and drain the rice from the water.

5. Rinse the rice with tab water for a minute or so until all salt is washed away. 

6. Add 3 table spoons of Oil to the bottom of the pot, and let the oil come to boil.

7.(optional) Mix yogurt, saffron and egg yolks with a quarter of a cup water and mix them with a table spoon of oil. Then add the mixture to the bottom of the pot.

8.Then add the rice back to the pot over the hot oil. Place one half of the rice in the pan and then add the other half of rice on top in a mound. Make a hole in the center of the mound. 

9. (optional) Cover the pan with a cloth towel to absorb the moisture and make the rice more fluffy.

10. secure the lid tightly.

11. cook the rice on low-medium heat for around ten minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional 30-35 minutes.

Then remove the pan from the stove and your rice is ready to be served with a nice crust in the bottom.