Bahar: Spicy spinach and yogurt dip. For those who like it hot and spicy. Feel free to reduce the amount of spices for a milder taste. I found the original recipe in Najaf Darya-Bandari's cook book in Persian (Ketab-e mostatab-e ashpazi, az sir ta piaz).
Main Ingredients:
Spinach: 1 package frozen (about 1 pound) Yogurt: 3 cups Ground cumin: 3 tsp Cayenne pepper: 1 tsp Ground fenugreek seed: 1 tsp* Mustard seed: 1/2 tsp (use the paste if you can't find the seeds)** Salt: 1/4 tsp (or to taste) Vegetable oil: 1 tbsp
Directions:
1. Cook the frozen spinach according to the package instruciton. Drain the excess water completely.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low. Add ground cumin, cayenne pepper,
ground fenugreek seed and mustard seed, swril and mix for 10 seconds.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the spinach, fried spices, yogurt and salt.
4. Chill until serving.
*,**: You can leave one or both of these spices out if you don't have them in your kitchen. You won't get exactly the same dish at the end though.
Thank you so much for mentioning different iranian dishes and recipes. Especially, thankyou for mentioning your reference (Ketab-e mostatab-e ashpazi, az sir ta piaz). I respect Mr.Najaf Darya-Bandari and his wife has they really did best to Iranian culture by making best reference of Iranian cuisine and even showing the influence of it on indian, turkish, arabic , etc cuisines too. I just wish to know the recipe of cooking different Iranian nuns like barbari. if you know pls write about it
