Persian Macaroni recipe , 'Makaroni' - with Potato Tahdig
Persian Macaroni recipe - 'Makaroni' as it's known, is a mince ragu with spaghetti and has a tahdig, beloved in Persia. The ragu is similar to a bolognese sauce but is thicker, and the style of cooking and flavouring is Iranian. Makaroni is served inverted with a crusted tahdig consisting of crunchy and delicious potatoes or pasta on top. This dish is easy to make, once you have the hang of it, and makes a great change from our loved spag bol.
A 'tahdig' actually means 'bottom of the pot' and is a crunchy, golden, caramelized crust made out of potato, rice, flat bread or pasta. Tahdig is a speciality of Persia, probably as historically food was cooked over a fire in a pot and the tahdig prevented the food such as rice sticking and burning. You'll find quite a few tahdig recipes in this blog. Tahdig is a family of crust making techniques.
Beef mince
Onions/shallots
Red pepper
Tin toms
Garlic
Chilli, optional
Potatoes
Salt, pepper 1/2tsp each
Turmeric 1/2tsp
Cumin 1/2tsp
Oregano 1/2tsp
Saffron, a few strands soaked in a 1/4 mug of boiling water
Chicken stock cube
Butter/oil
Make your sauce
So make your ragu, as if you are making bolognese fry onions till clear, adding a red pepper cut into tiny pieces, add chopped garlic, then add the mince and fry for five minutes till browned then add the spices and then some water, stock cube, toms, oregano, add half the saffron water, simmer for half an hour and keep the sauce fairly thick.
Cook your spaghetti
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, then use a lot more pasta than you would for a bolognese for your family, break it in half and add to the water. If it has a time of 10 mins cook it for five minutes, break up the strands so they dont stick, then shock the spaghetti to cool it so put it in a seive and run it under a cold water tap.
Tahdig
Slice your potatoes to about 5mm thick, enough to cover your pans bottom.
In a large pan heat a Tblsp of butter until it melts add a tsp of oil then add a tblsp of saffron water, return to heat and swirl around and slightly up the sides of the pan then in a single layer add sliced pots, add half the spaghetti and push down a bit, then add the ragu, then the rest of the pasta and any remaining saffron water. Then push a handle of a wooden spoon in a couple of places, this helps steam come out.
Cook it
Put a glass lid on your pan and put the pan on medium heat, when condensation happens inside the lid, put a piece of kitchen roll to cover the pan and put the lid back on. Turn the heat down to the very minimum and leave for around forty five mins. Depending on how it comes out will help you for your timings/heat next time, a golden tahdig may take a few attempts but it doesn't matter your potatoes will taste amazing even if they've caught a bit..
To serve
Either spoon out the pasta ragu mixture on to your plates and then add the caramelised potatoes, which may have stuck a bit, to the top.
Or if you are confident, run a knife around the edges and then invert the pan over a large plate and hope it comes out in a golden dome. Then place the dish on the table and enjoy admiration.
Persian people joke that tahdig is the best part of the meal... it's what everybody wants.
