Baked Rice with Golden Crust and Spinach Eggplant Filling

This recipe comes from Azerbaijan’s neighboring country of Iran. Middle Eastern recipes are never truly of one place only, and I am sure these flavors are shared across borders, but I want to give credit to both the original recipe author and country of origin. I found a beautiful cookbook of Persian recipes called Pardiz: A Persian Food Journey by Manuela Darling-Gansse, in it the author shares her history of growing up in Persia and so many beautiful food memories. I might cook from it again soon as there were a number of yummy looking sweets which I was tempted by!

This particular dish has a few of my favorite ingredients popular in this region such as sumac, pomegranate molasses, and barberries. Most I have to find in a smaller Middle Eastern market as they don’t tend to be available in my larger supermarket. It is always worth it to seek out those markets though as I usually find other gems there too like fresh dates, amazingly creamy feta, and rows of spices, lentils, and other ingredients I can’t resist bringing home to cook and taste.  

Baked Rice with Golden Crust and Spinach Eggplant Filling (Tah-chin-e esfanaj) 

Server 8

Note: Requires 2 hours soaking time for the rice, 5 minutes soaking time for barberries and saffron, and a sub-recipe which takes about 10 minutes + cooling time

1 ½ cups (500g) Basmati rice
1 red onion, finely sliced
Olive oil for frying
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (60 g) barberries, soaked for 5 minutes and drained
3 tablespoons Sumac Syrup (recipe below) 
2 eggplants, cut into ¾ in (2 cm) cubes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups (500g) Greek yogurt
4 egg yolks
½ teaspoon ground saffron, dissolved for at least 5 minutes in 3 tablespoons boiled water
3 ½ oz (100g) butter, melted
3 ½ oz (100g) baby spinach leaves, any large stems removed

1. Wash the rice in multiple changes of water, until the water runs clear. Cover with salted water and let sit for 2-3 hours. 

2. When ready to cook the dish, add the rice to a large saucepan, cover with plenty of water and bring to a boil. Cook at a boil for 5 minutes, until the rice is ‘al dente’, then strain and rinse to stop the cooking process. Set aside. 

3. Preheat the oven to 400° F (200° C). 

4. Heat some oil in a large frying pan, add onion and fry on medium to soften. Add the spice and ¾ of the barberries and fry for another 2 minutes, then add the sumac syrup and eggplant. Stir to combine, add some salt and pepper and stir again. Cover with a lid and leave to cook gently for 15 minutes, until eggplant is soft. Set aside. 

5. Line an ovenproof 9x11 inch (or larger) dish with parchment paper. 

6. Mix the yogurt, egg yolks, saffron and water, and melted butter in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper and add the cooked rice. Use a fork to mix everything well. 

7. Spoon half the rice mixture into the prepared pan, pressing down gently to spread into all the corners. Top with all the eggplant mixture, then layer the spinach leaves on top. Add the remaining rice mixture and spread evenly to cover the vegetables. Dot the surface with some butter, cover with foil, and bake for 50 minutes. 

8. To serve, leave the dish to stand for a few minutes, then invert onto a large tray. Garnish with remaining barberries. 

Sumac Syrup

Makes about ½ cup

2 ½ oz (75 ml) pomegranate molasses
Grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon
1 tablespoon sumac
4 tablespoons (50 g) sugar

1. Gently heat the pomegranate molasses in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer on low for 10 minutes or until it forms a thick syrup, keeping in mind that it will continue to thicken as it cools.

2. Once cool, transfer to a glass jar with a lid, it can be stored in the fridge for up to 6 months. 

Adapted from Pardiz by Manuela Darling-Gansser