Quince Khoresh – an Iranian savoury dish

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I have been absent from my blog now for far too long. Marketing my book has been my priority, and whilst it is very time consuming, I have been enjoying the process immensely. For those who have been hibernating in a cave for the past year my book –  ‘Chilli & Mint: Indian Home Cooking from a British Kitchen’ was published almost a year ago and has now been gracing the shelves of many a bookshop and online. I’ve just had a second print run released, which is great news (whoop for joy), so please do think about buying one if you haven’t already or to gift it to friends or family. It is available from all good bookshops  here in the UK, and the usual places online. For those in Oz, the best place to purchase is from Book Topia here, worldwide more generally – then either Book Depositary here , or of course Amazon.

Alongside my bookshop events and marketing the book in general, I am continuing to run my ‘spice tour and Indian cooking class’. The other day, one client noticed some quince sitting in my fruit bowl and asked me what I planned to do with them. Interestingly it had been on my mind as I did not want to go down the quince jam/jelly route. My client – who is of Iranian decent – suggested ‘Quince Khoresh’,  which is a meat and quince dish with sour, sweet and salty notes. Everything fell into place and she kindly sent me a recipe to follow.

In short, I adored the dish but the measurements of sugar, for me, were way too sweet, so I have adjusted here to what I think will be better. In the food notes of the actual recipe (whose recipe it does not say sadly) it talks about how quince was valued for its aphrodisiac powers and how it was customarily given to brides on their wedding nights. The seeds apparently are used in herbal teas to sooth coughs.

I’d love to hear how you get on with the dish and let me know what you think of the sugar balance. Do you need more than I suggest, which sugar do you use? Pop your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.

Quince Khoresh

Serves 6

3 onions, peeled and thinly sliced

1kg stewing lamb (you can also use chicken, beef or veal if you prefer)

6 tbsp rapeseed oil (or oil of your choice)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

3 large quinces, peeled, core removed and quartered

50g sugar (I used caster but use what you have to hand – the original recipe asked for 150g of sugar but for me this was way too much – adjust according to your taste)

50ml balsamic vinegar

50ml fresh lime juice

1/4 tsp saffron dissolved in two tablespoons of hot water

100g yellow split peas (but you could also: toor or chana dal use jarred/tinned chickpeas)

1-2 potatoes, diced into bite sized (optional – I only added these as I had peeled ones which needed using up in the fridge. The original recipe does not mention potatoes

 

  1. Use a large deep caste iron pot, add 3 tbsp of the oil and then bronze the onions over the course of 8-10 minutes.
  2. Next add the lamb, salt, pepper and cinnamon and allow to brown on all sides. This will take around 10 minutes. Then add 800ml of water and simmer covered for an hour (30 mins if using chicken).  IF you are using yellow split peas, toor or chana, soak first for a few hours- or overnight if you are that organised – then add them to the pan at this early stage. If using jarred or tinned then add them at stage 4.
  3. Meanwhile, core and peel the quince and then quarter then. Using a skillet, add a couple of tablespoons of oil and allow then to brown on both sides, which will take around 10 minutes. Place to one side.
  4. After the meat has been cooking for an hour (30 mins if using chicken), add the sugar, vinegar, lime juice, saffron water and tinned/jarred lentils and potatoes (if using – not a prerequisite for this recipe – see notes above). Allow to simmer for a further 45 minutes and add a little more water if required.
  5. Taste test and adjust the seasons as required.
  6. Serve alongside some steamed rice.

 

 

 

 

Membrillo – A Labour of Love

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Ok, I am going to come straight out with it. THIS IS A LABOUR OF LOVE. It’s my first time making membrillo – Spanish quince paste – you know the one often found on a cheese board that tastes delicious with a slice of manchego cheese. They are found in great abundance in the autumn/fall. My lovely neighbour had a huge glut of quinces from her tree so said would I like a bag. Naturally I said ‘yes’ and after showing me all the glorious creations that she was making in her kitchen – membrillo, as well as quince jelly, I was truly inspired. Her passing words to me was that it was a labour of love, which I didn’t quite fully register.

Look I don’t want to put you off, just to simply say there are a few steps and therefore involves effort to seek a reward. The children’s book about the hen who made bread and asked for help from the other farmyard animals, came to mind when I spent a considerable amount of time sieving the quince through a sieve.

So a few things of importance to note. Quince are not like apples or pears, other than in appearance. Their bitter flesh means they are almost exclusively for cooking instead of eaten raw. To core them is super hard, even with a sharp knife and after grazing my finger I thought that the best way to deal with them was to simply peel them and quarter or half them and then put them in water to boil – along with the lemon rind and vanilla pod. After 45 minutes I turned off the heat and in fact left them overnight to rest until morning. If you do this earlier in the day then you can simply removed the vanilla pod and then blend them, pips and all. What comes out of the sieve – with a bit of hard work with the back of a spoon –  is a very smooth paste, that resembles baby puree. At this stage the colour is a mellow yellow.

Then you need to weigh the amount of pureed quince and then whatever the amount is, you place the same amount of granulated sugar in a large pan. Keeping on a low heat you stir at intervals for an 1h 15 mins. The quince changes from yellow to more of a red hue. Then the final stage is to put it into an ovenproof dish, which you line with parchment paper, greased with a very little coating of butter. Pour the contents of the pan into the dish and place into a low oven 125 degrees F for a further hour, by this time it will be a deep blood red colour.  Leave to cool completely before removing the greaseproof paper and the now hard membrillo from the dish. Cut it up into the sizes you wish to portion up. I cut mine into 9 large cubes, which I wrapped in foil and placed in the fridge. According to my neighbour, they can last for a year in the fridge. If any mould appears in time, it’s simply a case of removing the top layer and continuing to eat. Waste not want not springs to mind. I will give these out as some of my edible Christmas gifts, maybe accompanied with some Manchego cheese.

 

Membrillo – Spanish Quince Paste

best eaten with a hard cheese such as Manchego, or game or pate.

1 bag of quince (mine weighed in at this stage to 2.5kg)

1 vanilla pod, sliced in two

juice of one lemon

2 strips of lemon peel (yellow part only)

granulated sugar (the same amount exactly as your pureed quince – mine came to 1.254kg)

 

  1. Peel the quince and cut them in half or quarters if you can. Place in a large pan and cover with water and add the vanilla pod and lemon peel. Boil away gently for 45 minutes, or until they are soft.
  2. Strain the water, remove the vanilla pod and discard, but keep the lemon peel with the quince and then blitz in batches in your blender.
  3. Take the blended quince and put into a sieve and using the back of a spoon sieve through the contents. The pips and cores will remain, but what comes through the sieve is a really smooth paste, similar to baby puree. This part takes effort to do persist and don’t give up.
  4. Once it has all being sieved (congratulations the hard bit is over), weigh it out and then place in a large sauce pan. Place the same amount of granulated sugar as quince puree into the pan along with the juice of a whole lemon. Simmer, stirring at intervals, for the next 1h 15 mins, by which time the quince puree will have gone a reddish colour – but not the colour of the final membrillo, that only comes when it goes in the oven.
  5. Using an ovenproof dish – I used a large square baking dish 25cmx25cm – line it with greaseproof parchment paper and coat with a little butter. Place the quince paste into the dish and then place in a low oven at 125 degrees F for a further 1 hour.
  6. Remove from the oven to cool completely before removing from the tin and sectioning up into large squares or rectangles. Cover individually with foil and place in the fridge.
  7. Perfect as gifts and eaten with some delicious hard cheese such as Manchego.