Appetizers

Recipes: Yogurt and Cucumber Dip or Soup | Yogurt and Eggplant Dip

Traditionally, Iranian meals are served on the sofreh, a cotton cover embroidered with prayers and poems, which is spread over a Persian carpet or a table. The main dishes are surrounded with bread and a number of small bowls and relish dishes filled with appetizers and condiments. These are called mokhalafat. Among them might be:

• a plate of raw vegetables and fresh herbs (radishes, scallions, mint, basil, coriander or cilantro, tarragon, watercress) with feta cheese
  
• all kinds of flat bread (sangak, lavash, and barbari)
  
• peeled, sliced cucumbers
  
• sweetened melon slices
  
• peeled steamed beets
  
• a basket of grapes
  
• shelled nuts and raisins
  
• butter with a bowl of confectioners’ sugar and a bowl of honey
  
• yogurt
  
• Persian pickles and relishes (torshi)
  
• yogurt with spinach or other vegetables
  
• lentil dip, red kidney bean dip, yogurt and Persian shallots (musir)
  
• cucumber salad with mint and vinegar
  
• cucumber, tomato, and onion salad
  
• lemon juice, olive oil, and wine vinegar
  

Credits: All photos and recipes from New Food of Life: Ancient Persian & Modern Iranian Cooking & Ceremonies or Silk Road Cooking: a Vegetarian Journey, copyright Najmieh Batmanglij 1986-2004. Courtesy of Mage Publishers, 1032 29th St. NW, Washington, DC 20007.