Persian Upside Down Rice With Eggplans And Meat

Tahchin (Rice with eggplant and meat) is one of favorite foods in Iran that usually is been made in parties and formal gatherings.

Making Tahchin takes a little bit of time and lots of dirty dishes but, I think it worth it!

Layers of fried eggplants and meat with those saffron rice and barberries make a delicious combination in your mouth!

Ingredients:

2 small Eggplants sliced width wise

300 grams stew beef

1 onion sliced

4 cups Persian rice

4-5 egg yolks

1 cup plain yogurt

1/3 cup oil

Salt & Pepper

1 teaspoon each Turmeric, Cinnamon, Saffron

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Barberries, sliced pistachio, sliced almonds

How to prepare:

In 2 separate cups soak pistachio and almond slices.

Add some salt to eggplants and set aside till the bitter juice of eggplants comes out and it helps eggplants absorb less oil and be less oily.

In a glass cup add 1/2 cup hot water and 2 teaspoons of saffron. cover the cup and let sit for a few minutes until the water is beautiful golden yellow (I explain Persian style saffron in another post)

In a medium sauce pan add olive oil and sliced onions add some turmeric. when the onions changed their color and are a little bit light add the stew beef . add more turmeric, 1 teaspoons of saffron with water that we made earlier , 1 teaspoon cinnamon, pepper and a cup water. put the lid and wait till the meat is well cooked and the pan has 1/3 cup water. when the meat is cooked add salt. * Always add salt add the end this prevents meat from being hard.

add some salt

Wipe the eggplants with paper towels and fry them.

Make the rice Persian style. (I explain Persian style rice in another post)

Mix egg yolks, yogurt, saffron, lemon juice, oil, salt & pepper together to create a beautiful mixture.

Add half of rice to egg mixture and stir.

Grease a big sauce pan or a Pyrex generously with butter. add the egg mixture and press the top with spoon. layer eggplants then meat on top of egg and saffron rice mixture. add the other half of rice on top and press with spoon again. add some cubes of butter on top and bake in the oven with 350 degree for 45 to 50 minutes. you can bake it on oven top as well.

Wash the barberries and let stand in the water for a few minutes.

In a small pan add butter add barberries, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon saffron and 2 tablespoon water. let cook for 5 minutes.

In a separate pan add butter and pistachio slices and 1 table spoon water cook for 2 minutes.

add the same thing for almond slices.

When the rice is cooked turn it over on your serving dish and decorate with barberries, pistachio and almonds.

Enjoy!