Piti

It is baked in sealed individual crocks under a lump of tail fat.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

800 g mutton, in 4 large pieces, on the bone
200 g lamb tail fat, in 4 pieces
200 g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
4 potatoes, peeled and halved
2 onions, quartered
16 dried cherry plums, or 12 dried sour plums
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, ground and steeped in 4 tablespoons hot water
2 teaspoons salt
sumac, to serve
flatbread, to serve

Method

IT IS BAKED IN SEALED INDIVIDUAL CROCKS UNDER A LUMP OF TAIL FAT. Its article is precise on all three points and they are what make it a different dish from the stew it is a variety of. One glazed earthenware crock per person; the meat and soaked chickpeas in the bottom; a piece of tail fat laid on top to cover everything; the crock sealed and put in the oven. The fat melts downwards through the whole cooking time and bastes the meat from above, and the seal means nothing evaporates, so the broth is concentrated rather than reduced. A pan on the hob cannot do either of those things.
THE CROCK IS SEALED AND THE OVEN IS LOW. A tight lid, or foil crimped hard over the rim, and 150C for three hours. There is no browning step and no stirring: it goes in raw and comes out done.
THE MEAT AND CHICKPEAS GO IN TOGETHER AT THE START. Its article says the meat is gradually simmered with already-soaked chickpeas in the pots. Both want the full three hours, and the chickpeas thicken the broth as they break down.
THE POTATO, ONION, PLUMS AND SAFFRON GO IN THIRTY MINUTES BEFORE THE END. Its article gives that timing exactly. Lift the lid, slide them in around the meat, pour in the saffron infusion, reseal. Added at the start the plums dissolve and the potato collapses.
THE DRIED CHERRY PLUMS ARE THE SOUR NOTE AND THEY ARE NOT OPTIONAL. Its article names dried alycha or another cherry plum. They go in whole, soften, and give a fruity sourness quite unlike the dried-lime sharpness of the related stews. Sour prunes are the nearest thing if you cannot get them.
IT IS SERVED IN THE CROCK AND TAKEN APART ON A SECOND PLATE. Its article describes it going to the table in the pot it cooked in, with an extra plate for disassembling the meat from the liquid and vegetables, so the soup is a first course and the meat a second.
BREAD IS CRUMBLED INTO THE BOWL BEFORE THE BROTH GOES ON. Its article records this as the usual way: bread crumpled onto the plate and spiced, the broth poured over, then more bread and the meat, fat and vegetables on top, mixed and eaten. The bread is the thickener.
SUMAC IS SERVED SEPARATELY AND SO IS THE CHESTNUT VERSION. Its article has sumac powder offered at the table rather than cooked in, and a version from Shaki that uses boiled chestnuts and is cooked in a single pot rather than individual crocks.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Iran · All recipes