Shared by Nicole Enayati
Shared by Nicole Enayati
When an Expert Guest Finally Hosts Her First Persian Shabbat Dinner
When an Expert Guest Finally Hosts Her First Persian Shabbat Dinner
Family Journey
Tehran
Los Angeles
5 recipes
Homemade Verjus
Ingredients
- 5 lbs fresh sour grapes, which can be found at Persian markets between April and June, or on an online Persian grocer like Persian Basket
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Polo ba Tahdig (Persian Rice with a Crispy Crust)
Ingredients
- 3 cups long grain, basmati rice
- 10 cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon saffron, crushed and bloomed in 2 tablespoons cold water
- 4 tablespoons grapeseed oil
Shirazi Salad
Ingredients
- 3 persian cucumbers, peeled & diced
- 2 roma tomatoes, deseeded & diced
- ¼-½ red onion, diced
- 2-3 tablespoons verjus, (can be substituted with lime juice or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Saffron Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoons good quality saffron, freshly ground
- 2 chickens (4-6 lbs each), patted dry with paper towels
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil
- Juice of 3 limes
- Juice and zest of 2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon salt per pound of chicken
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
Khoresh Gheymeh (Persian Split Pea Stew)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 pound stew beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 cups water
- ¼ teaspoon saffron, ground in a glass or porcelain mortar and pestle
- 3 limoo omani (Persian dried limes), pierced and steeped in hot water for 10-15 minutes
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- ¾ cup yellow split peas
Recipes
1
Homemade Verjus
Ingredients
- 5 lbs fresh sour grapes, which can be found at Persian markets between April and June, or on an online Persian grocer like Persian Basket
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
2
Polo ba Tahdig (Persian Rice with a Crispy Crust)
Ingredients
- 3 cups long grain, basmati rice
- 10 cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon saffron, crushed and bloomed in 2 tablespoons cold water
- 4 tablespoons grapeseed oil
3
Shirazi Salad
Ingredients
- 3 persian cucumbers, peeled & diced
- 2 roma tomatoes, deseeded & diced
- ¼-½ red onion, diced
- 2-3 tablespoons verjus, (can be substituted with lime juice or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
4
Saffron Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoons good quality saffron, freshly ground
- 2 chickens (4-6 lbs each), patted dry with paper towels
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil
- Juice of 3 limes
- Juice and zest of 2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon salt per pound of chicken
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
5
Khoresh Gheymeh (Persian Split Pea Stew)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 pound stew beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 cups water
- ¼ teaspoon saffron, ground in a glass or porcelain mortar and pestle
- 3 limoo omani (Persian dried limes), pierced and steeped in hot water for 10-15 minutes
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- ¾ cup yellow split peas
“I have always loved attending Shabbat,” Nicole Enayati says at the start of her story on the “Schmaltzy” podcast. “Notice how I said, attending Shabbat, not necessarily hosting Shabbat,” she quickly clarifies.
Recently, she went to a Friday night dinner put on by “my husband’s mom’s best friend’s daughter — and I was still invited. That happens a lot in our community,” Nicole shares. She’s talking about the strong Persian Jewish community in Los Angeles where her parents moved after leaving Tehran in 1990.
“They made sure I was very connected to my Persian roots as well as my Jewish roots,” she adds. Shabbat dinner when she was little was sometimes celebrated with just a few people and other times with as many as 45 — there was “tons of food, tons of family, tons of good times.”
Despite being deeply involved in the food space — she’s the senior culinary producer of the YouTube show “Mythical Kitchen” and co-host of the popular podcast "A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich" — Nicole had never hosted a Shabbat dinner of her own until about a year ago.
A few months after their wedding, her husband David suggested they invite their families over for Friday night. Nicole instantly froze. When she attended culinary school, she says, “they didn’t teach things like the genesis of ghormeh sabzi or proper Persian rice cookery.” Both her mother and David’s are masters of Persian cooking and Nicole was terrified of what they would think of her attempt.
She managed to delay for a few months, but David persisted, and she relented, finally ordering a dining table that could fit their siblings and parents — 13 people in all. She and David made a menu of Persian rice with tahdig, saffron roast chicken, and khoresh gheymeh, a stew with beef and yellow split peas flavored with tangy and bitter Persian limes.
On the day of the dinner, Nicole realized she had bought quick-cooking split peas, not the traditional variety her mom uses. She panicked, but kept cooking, praying “to the stew Gods and the matriarchs of my family,” that the dish would turn out alright, she remembers. The stakes were high. “My whole entire worth was based off of this spread.”
When the meal finally started, Nicole saw her family beaming with joy, pride, and excitement. She realized in that moment that “Even if I put a bucket of KFC in front of everyone for Shabbat dinner, it wouldn’t even matter,” Nicole explains. “At the end of the day, the food is rather insignificant. What’s most important about Shabbat is the family.”
