Disney Post 3: Aladdin

This post took a bit of research to put together. Aladdin was originally found in the 1704 publication of "Thousand and One Nights" it was not in the original Arabic manuscript but was added in the French publication after the author was supposedly told the stories by a Syrian story teller (unconfirmed). The original story is very different from the Disney movie I grew up and loved as a child. The city of Agrabah is, unsurprisingly, not a real place, in fact Agrabah was created by Disney for the original cartoon, not the original story, and was based off Baghdad, the Sultans palace was based off the Taj Mahal in India. In decided i needed a mish mash of cultural foods to reflect this movie. So I have an Indian Saffron Rice, a variation on Iraqi Tashreeb, and Iranian flatbread. Unfortunately due to allergies I couldn't made a traditional Tashreeb with chickpeas but i will include that in my Recipe.

Ingredients

*saffron rice

1/4 tsp fresh saffron threads

1/4 cup warm water

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion finely chopped

1 cups basmati white rice

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1/2 tsp salt

1. grind down saffron threads using a mortar and pestle

2. soak saffron in 1/4 cup water for 5 minutes

3. heat oil in pot

4. add onion to pot and saute until it starts to caramalize

5. add onion to pot and saute with onion for 1 minute

6. pour saffron and water over rice then add chicken stock

7. bring water to boil, cover and reduce heat.

8. cook for 15-20 minutes until rice is soft.

* Tashreeb Dajaj (Chicken)

3 tbsp oil

4 chicken thighs

1 medium onion roughly chopped

4 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp tumeric

1 can tomato paste

2 cups chicken stock

2 large potatoes chopped

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1 tsp lime zest, or 2 slices dried lime

salt and pepper to taste

1. heat oil in a large pot and add chicken thighs to oil

2. brown chicken on all sides then remove and set aside

3. add onion and garlic to pot and saute until onion is soft and clear

4. add spices and cook for 1 minute

5. add tomato paste and heat to a simmer

6. add in chicken, stock, potato, chick peas and lime, heat to a simmer and taste

7. add salt and pepper to taste

8. simmer for 20-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through

*Nan-e Barbari (Iranian Flatbread)

2 1/4 tsp dry yeast

1 2/3 cups warm water

510 g all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

*glaze

2 tsp flour

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp olive oil

1/3 cup water

1 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp nigella seeds (or poppy seeds)

1. add yeast and water in a large mixing bowl and let rest for 5-10 minutes until foamy

2. add salt and slowly add flour while mixing together

3. knead dough for 5-8 minutes until dough is elastic

4. rub dough with olive oil and cover, let rise for 1 hour

5. punch down dough and divide into 2 ovals, cover and rise for 1 more hour

6. preheat oven to 450° with an oven safe baking stone on the lowest rack in the oven

7. in a small pan mix flour, sugar, oil and water and reduce until slightly thick

8. take one oval of dough and flatten to a 9x12 rectangle

9. press 5 ridges lengthways down the dough with your fingers

10. spread half the glaze onto dough then sprinkle 1/2 of each seed onto dough.

11. transfer to baking stone and bake for 18 minutes

12. repeat from step 8. with the second oval