Today, I'm cooking a traditional Gorgani dish. Gorgan is a small mountainous city in Northern Iran. It is the capital of Golestan, which includes other smaller towns around the area. Gorgan is surrounded by mountains and vast forests. One of the most popular forests is called "Alang Darreh". During the weekends, it is packed with tourists and locals camping or picnicing--all year round! During the early mornings, locals hike around the area--wow there's so much beautiful hiking trails in there and also another popular spot is "Nahar Khoran" which leads to "Ziyarat", a traditional small town which is located in the mountains. Ok I'm getting way off topic here. Remind me to dedicate a post just about the beauties of Gorgan. You see, I was originally born in Gorgan. I lived in Gorgan for about a year when I was 5 years old--I went to Kindergarten there actually. That's it. Other than that, I haven't lived there but have taken every vacation while I was in Iran..there! In a way, even though I haven't lived there that long, I truly consider Gorgan as my home. Its trees and its people are home to me. I have many homes, as I have lived in three different countries in the span of 28 years, in 7 different cities and two different states in the U.S. alone. But when it comes to Iran, Gorgan is my home.
Back to the dish--Torshak. In Persian, "torsh" means sour so "torshak" is little sour basically, its literal translation. However, "Torshak" is a traditional Gorgani dish as I mentioned earlier. It is in fact so traditional that many Gorganis don't even know about it! My own husband who was born and raised in Gorgan had no idea what it was before he learned it from my family! Anyway, it's a delicious fall-y dish. You can have it just by itself, as a dip, or with rice! It's garlicy goodness all the way!
Oh and another thing, I have a thing about recipes, I usually am an "eye person" when it comes to how much the portion of each ingredient should be so what you see are all approximates. Here is the run-down of the recipe:
Ingredients:
Garlic (minced, 2 tablespoons)
Butternut Squash (I used two small ones, could be one big one)
Lentils (I want to say 2 cups?!)
Salt/Pepper to taste
Citrus juice to taste (I used Narenj, a really sour orange known as "bitter orange" that can only be found in California and Northern Iran! But you can substitute lemon/lime juice for that)
Sugar (I used half a tablespoon but this one is also really to taste. You have to taste it at the end to get a TANGY flavor)
Water
Vegetable oil (the oil is for frying the garlic. You need to put enough oil so that the garlic is buried inside the oil. It helps with frying the garlic without burning them.)
1. Cut butternut squash into small cubes.
2. Cook lentils with minimum water.
3. When lentils are cooked through, add the squash. Add salt & pepper to taste. On a separate pan, fry garlic with the vegetable oil. Remember, you need to put enough oil to really have the garlic buried in the oil. Fry until the aroma of garlic fills your kitchen!
4. When both lentils and squash are cooked through fully and mixed well, and all the water is gone, add the fried garlic.
5. At the end, add citrus juice & sugar. Make sure to taste to get a tangy taste.
6. Turn off the heat, and serve! (Final pic will be posted tomorrow)
Back to the dish--Torshak. In Persian, "torsh" means sour so "torshak" is little sour basically, its literal translation. However, "Torshak" is a traditional Gorgani dish as I mentioned earlier. It is in fact so traditional that many Gorganis don't even know about it! My own husband who was born and raised in Gorgan had no idea what it was before he learned it from my family! Anyway, it's a delicious fall-y dish. You can have it just by itself, as a dip, or with rice! It's garlicy goodness all the way!
Oh and another thing, I have a thing about recipes, I usually am an "eye person" when it comes to how much the portion of each ingredient should be so what you see are all approximates. Here is the run-down of the recipe:
Ingredients:
Garlic (minced, 2 tablespoons)
Butternut Squash (I used two small ones, could be one big one)
Lentils (I want to say 2 cups?!)
Salt/Pepper to taste
Citrus juice to taste (I used Narenj, a really sour orange known as "bitter orange" that can only be found in California and Northern Iran! But you can substitute lemon/lime juice for that)
Sugar (I used half a tablespoon but this one is also really to taste. You have to taste it at the end to get a TANGY flavor)
Water
Vegetable oil (the oil is for frying the garlic. You need to put enough oil so that the garlic is buried inside the oil. It helps with frying the garlic without burning them.)
1. Cut butternut squash into small cubes.
2. Cook lentils with minimum water.
3. When lentils are cooked through, add the squash. Add salt & pepper to taste. On a separate pan, fry garlic with the vegetable oil. Remember, you need to put enough oil to really have the garlic buried in the oil. Fry until the aroma of garlic fills your kitchen!
5. At the end, add citrus juice & sugar. Make sure to taste to get a tangy taste.
6. Turn off the heat, and serve! (Final pic will be posted tomorrow)
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