Chelo-Gourmet Magazine December 1972

This is a James Beard recipe that appeared in Gourmet magazine in December of 1972. This would have been a rather fancy, exotic dish to most people as 1/2 a cup of olive oil would have cost a small fortune (assuming you could find it at all). Our pharmacy sold olive oil in tiny bottles for medicinal use, but no one I knew cooked with it.

 

 

You will need to rig up a special pan to cook the rice. It worked, though I must admit I had my doubts. Mine did however need to cook longer, and at a higher temperature than the recipe suggested, so be prepared to adjust accordingly. And watch it, so the towel does not catch fire.

I served the chelo with a tofu dish of onions, garlic, raisins, and saffron cooked with white wine and peas. Somewhat elegant for a Monday evening, but the stack of magazines were calling to me.

Chelo:

Wash two cups basmati rice in boiling water and soak it for 4-5 hours. Drain the rice, rinse it well with cold water, and let it stand 1-2 hours (I did this in a strainer over a pan to catch excess liquid).
In a kettle (I used my enamel Dutch oven) bring 2-3 quarts of water to a boil. Season it with 1 1/2 tablespoons salt (I used 1 tablespoon coarse salt). Add the rice and boil vigourously for about 10 minutes. Drain the rice, rinse again with boiling water, and drain thoroughly.
In a heavy pan with a tight fitting lid (I used the Dutch oven again) melt 1/2 cup butter or heat 1/2 cup olive oil (I used the oil). Add the rice, then pour over it 5-6 tablespoons more butter or oil (I know, I know, it was 1972). Wrap a tea towel around the edge of the kettle, cover with another towel, folded, and put on the lid( this is to absorb the steam from the rice so it will crisp). Cook over low heat (I used medium as mine just wouldn't crisp on low) and heat 15-20 minutes (mine was more like 30 minutes). The butter or oil will have seeped through the rice so that it is nicely coated and there will be a crisp, golden layer of rice on the bottom of the pan. The crusty layer should be carefully removed, and either arranged around the rice as a garnish, or served separately as it sometimes is in Iran.

Tofu Biryani

Well of course it isn't traditional. I also omitted the cashew nuts, so it is a nut-free Biryani as well.

This is a two-day project, but unless you have a particularly greedy bunch to feed, it should provide you with several days of leftovers. That makes the effort seem worth it to my mind. I used tofu because I'm now wild about seitan "meat" replacements. I have no idea how this would work with them, but if you try it, I'd be interested to hear how it turned out. When re-heat this, add a few drop of olive oil to a large pan and give it a blast of heat before reducing it to low. This will help it maintain a crispy bottom layer of rice.

Marinade:
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 small onions, finely minced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 tablespoons (not a misprint) finely chopped fresh ginger (peel it first)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 chicken flavoured (or veggie) soup cubes, crushed and diluted with 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons malt vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces plain yoghurt

Mix it all together really well. Take a package of extra firm tofu, cut it into 4 slices and press it dry under weights. Mix with marinade and layer in a non-reactive pan (glass is good). Chill overnight.

Next day, remove the tofu from the marinade (reserve the marinade) and cut into small cubes. In a heavy, heat proof pan (I used a Dutch oven) bake in a 400 degree f. oven for 30 minutes, stirring a few times to allow for even browning.

Meanwhile, slice 3 onions as thinly as possible. Measure out 1/3 cup of olive oil. Remove 3 tablespoons. You will use this to fry the onions. Set aside 3 tablespoons of raisins, and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom to fry with the onions.

Remove the tofu from the oven and stir in the reserved marinade, and the reserved oil. Cover and let sit until needed. Heat 1/4 cup of milk, 1 teaspoon saffron threads, and 1 teaspoon of sugar just until sugar dissolves. Let steep 5 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, make the rice. Boil 1 1/2 cups long grain while rice in enough water to cover by several inches. Cook 7 minutes, then drain well. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Spoon the rice over the tofu and marinade. Add the milk/saffron and mix well to distribute the yellow colour. Cover dish tightly, and bake 1 hour. Meanwhile, make the onions.

In the reserved 3 tablespoons of oil, fry the onions, cardamom and raisins over very low heat until they begin to soften and colour. This should take about 30 minutes. At the end, turn up the heat to really fry the onions until deeply browned. Remove to a plate covered in absorbent paper (I use paper lunch sacks) . Use this to top the Biryani. Serve with yoghurt,