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You all know the joy of receiving, when a friend brings home-grown harvest for you. I have such a friend! She brought me 4 green figs, 4 ripe tomatoes, 4 yellow crookneck zucchinis, plus 3 patties pan squash (who did she give my 4th patty pan squash to?). The extra-large green figs were consumed immediately. And, I knew I was going to make a khorak (what ?) with the vegetables.
By now, you know that in Farsi, we call stews, khoresh. Persian cuisine also has a dish category called khorak.
Since I don’t know of an English equivalent word for it, I will simply translate to ‘main-dish’.
Khoresh – is what you pour over rice/polo to eat and is rarely, if ever, eaten without polo.
Most khoresh have been known by their specific names and ingredients for centuries.
Khorak – may be eaten with polo too. It is meant to be a main-dish but not the kind
poured “over” polo, very appropriate to serve without, and very commonly with nan / bread.
Khorak / main-dish is made of varieties of meats, vegetables or a combination.
Some khoraks I have posted are, spinach narcissus, kotlets, meatloaf, lamb.
Examples of some fabulous international dishes which are called khorak in Farsi:
Poultry by Bam’s Kitchen, Seafood by The Novice Gardner, Tongue by Chef Mimi Blog, Super-food by Superfoodista,
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Braised Squashes with Chicken Khorak • خوراکه کدو با مرغ
Recipe by: Fae’s Twist & Tango (fae-magazine.com)
This is an easy main-dish/khorak to make, with wonderful fragrance and rich flavor.
INGREDIENTS
For Veggies [1]
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 yellow crookneck zucchinis
• 4 patties pan squash (I had only 3)
• 4 pieces chicken meat (I used bone-in, skinless thigh meat)
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 ripe tomatoes
[1] For braised veggies, you may use eggplants, zucchinis/squash, okra, green beans, etc. and add other accent veggies such as peas, carrots, mushrooms, legumes, etc. With any meat of choice or without (vegetarian/vegan). It is definitely tastier to brown the vegetables before adding the sauce / flavoring.
For the sauce / flavoring, for any veggie combination
• 8 large garlic cloves in their skins
• 2 ~ 3 Tbsp caramelized onion
• ½ cup verjuice
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp red hot pepper paste
• smidgen ground saffron, dissolved in 2 Tbsp hot water -or- ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 cup thick chicken broth -or- vegetarian broth
• salt & ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
◊ Cut squashes in half, from stalk end to the other.
◊ In a deep, not-stick pot (to avoid splatter), on medium-high heat, add 1 Tbsp oil and brown cut squashes on both sides. Put them on a plate.
◊ Add the other 1 Tbsp oil to the pot and when heated, add chicken pieces and brown both sides. Add 1 cup water, bay-leaf, some salt & pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
◊ Meanwhile, in a bowl, add verjuce, dilute tomato paste and hot pepper paste. Add dissolved saffron (or turmeric) and mix well.
◊ Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 175°C/350°F.
◊ To assemble: In a large, oven-safe casserole dish with at least 10 cm/4″ depth, place/spread the chicken pieces with their liquid, if any. Put the browned squashes all around. Cut tomatoes in half and place them all around skin side down. Spread garlic cloves, spread caramelized onion, pour verjuice mix and broth all over.
Add a little salt & pepper to taste. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour.
Note: To avoid choking, please remove skins of garlic cloves before serving or tell diners to do so.
~ Noushe jan • نوش جان ~
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So, what’s cooking in your kitchen?
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Loving those veggie and that sauce is just to die for! I think the little smidge of saffron takes this dish over the top. Thanks so much for the mention and next time I am roasting chicken for sure going to be adding tomatoes and your sauce as this looks like the perfectly complete meal.
Hi Bam, Thank you.
Soon, I am going to post another khorak, which is the grandmother of all khoraks! 😀 )))
I always thought Persian stews are eaten with rice only. I’ve never had Khorak, even though I have had Persian food all my life! What a nice surprise, thank you for sharing this
We’ve always prepared assorted vegetables in a stove top braise, Fae, and served them as a side. It never occurred to me to add meat and braise them together in the oven. It really does sound wonderful and is a snap to prepare. Tomorrow is farmers market day. I’ve a feeling that I’ll be coming home with some ingredients destined for my first khorak,
Sounds marvelous. When I return from my trip, I will look for what you have done with them. Hopefully to see Italian flavored khorak.
Braised vegetable looks deli and sooo refreshing Fae. …
Yes, Chitra, they really were so tender and delicious. 😛
Yum this dish must taste so good with all those home grown veggies! Delicious
Yes, and when it melds with the sauce, Mmmmm! 😀
Wonderful recipe I want to try exactly ‘your way’
!! Interesting you use verjuice and actually a fair amount! I wonder how widespread the use of this very historical ingredient is around the world these days? In Australia one of our cooking doyennes, Maggie Beer, began producing it about a decade ago, I suppose, for her Farm Shop. Personally I could no longer do ‘without it’ in much of my cooking, but many people have never heard of the same !!!!
Thank you for the interesting information. I use verjuice in many of my stews and it makes so~ much difference. Well, I guess it is us food bloggers’ privilege to inform the public. 😀 )))
A colleague just told me about a good Persian restaurant in Amsterdam, so I guess I should go try it out and then go to your blog to find out how to replicate dishes at home
Oh, how fantastic! I’d love to see how you would replicate them. I’d love to learn some ingenious tips from you. Believe me Stefan, I mean it sincerely.
Hi Fae, I love when dishes like this allow the vegetables to shine on their own. The sauce sounds delicious. Did you do something different to your site? The heading looks as if it has been changed and new advertisements? I’m not sure if they were there before and I just never noticed. How nice to have a friend who is willing to share the jewels from their garden!
Hi Martine, Thank you for the kind comments. Good observation! Contemplating going self-hosting sooner-or-later, I thought to give WordAd a try and learn a baby-step ins-and-outs of it before I make the big-step. I really don’t know much (if any) how it exactly works. But, I think I will learn something by the time I return from my trip. If you are interested, I will contact you about it then.
oooh, delicious. I was wondering, what do you do with the green figs?
The gree figs were so perfectly ripe that the best way to consume was to just wash and eat. 😀 )))
Wow, what a delectable dish dear Fae! I love braised vegetable – or basically any cooking process that makes vegetables soft and flavorful. This dish must have tasted very flavorful. Also thank you so much for the mentioning! 😉 hugs & have a great rest of the week! Sylvia
I love browned vegetables (if done right and not greasy), just like that or braised with other fantastic, aromatic flavors.
Lovely fresh vegetables are best served simply just like this. Beautiful.
These are vegetables I was talking about. Roasted perfectly ripe but firm tomatoes, and the flavorful squashes in the sauce was so~ good!
I like your recipe, but I have to admit I do love your new website
It feels so much easy to navigate through 
Congrats! 
And, by the way, have a nice time in Japan 
Cheers, Cris
Thank you for your visit and the kind comments. Thank you for mentioning about my blog being easy to navigate. I am a strong believer of blogs being easy to navigate is just as important as the content of the blog.
– Yay to homegrown veggies! This looks fabulous, Fae! I’m harvesting about the same things from my garden at the moment, including the figs (that’s a first for me as I have previously always managed to kill my fig trees before they had a chance to produce any fruit).
And so nice to know I made a khorak. Thanks for the shout-out, darling Fae! <3
– The blog looks seriously professional, Fae. The changes you’ve made have brought it to another level. I should follow your lead!
Lucky you! I do know that it is a ‘work’ to keep a healthy garden. But my friend calls it her joy, as my mother did hers. Thanks for the kind words. <3
Fresh homegrown veggies make any dish taste better
Mmmm, don’t they! 😛