Saffron Tales cookbook: Recipes from bandari fishcakes to Persian love cake

British-Iranian cook Yasmin Khan traversed Iran in search of the country’s most delicious recipes, adding her own twist for a modern take

With scents from a Persian floral garden in spring, the cake is decorated in pistachios and rose petals (recipe below)

Yasmin Khan has weaved together stories and Iranian recipes from home kitchens and united them with modern recipes that are firmly rooted in traditional Persian cooking.

Her recipes range from the inimitable fesenjoon (chicken with walnuts and pomegranates) to kofte berenji (lamb meatballs stuffed with prunes and barberries) and ghalyieh maygoo (prawn, coriander and tamarind stew). She also offers a wealth of vegetarian dishes, including tahcheen (baked saffron and aubergine rice) and domaj (mixed herb, flatbread and feta salad), as well as sumptuous desserts such as rose and almond cake, and sour cherry and dark chocolate cookies.

As a food writer from London, the culinary artist also runs cooking classes and pop-up supper clubs.

Fragrant mixed herb and flatbread salad – domaaj

I first sampled this fragrant salad at a small party at the home of Azadeh Sadeghzadeh, a vivacious young fashion designer from Tehran, and it is now one of my staple dishes whenever I am entertaining. I simply place a big bowl of it in the middle of the table and then let my guests help themselves to bowlfuls as we have a few rounds of drinks. It goes down a treat every time.

The salad works best with strips of Persian flatbread (page 60), but if you don’t have time to make your own, and can’t find any in the shops, then plain tortillas work just as well. The addition of golpar (see page 24), with its citrusy aroma, really lifts this dish, accentuating the sweetness of the pomegranates and adding a wonderful depth of flavour, so try and track some down if you can.

100g Persian flatbread (or toasted tortillas or pitta bread)
50g walnuts, roughly chopped
100g feta, crumbled
25g bunch mint, roughly chopped
25g bunch basil, roughly chopped
25g bunch tarragon, roughly chopped
3 tbsp pomegranate seeds, to garnish

For the dressing:

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
¼ tsp golpar (optional)
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp black pepper

Using a pair of scissors, cut the flatbread into small jagged pieces and place them in a large bowl. Toast the walnuts in a small pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes. Add them to the bowl, along with the crumbled cheese and chopped herbs.

To make the dressing, whisk the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and golpar (if you are using it) with the salt and pepper. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and then get your hands in there, giving the whole thing a good stir to evenly distribute it. Leave the salad for 10 minutes for the flavours to soak into the bread, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Garnish with a generous sprinkling of pomegranate seeds just before serving.

Persian love cake

This enchanting cake reminds me of a Persian garden in the late spring, adorned with the floral scent of rose water and citrus, and decorated with bright green pistachios. If it is not devoured in one sitting, the oil in the ground almond base ensures a moist, densely textured cake that will keep well for a couple of days, covered in foil. A sprinkling of dried rose petals looks ever so pretty for special occasions, but don’t worry if you can’t get hold of any. It’s still a cake to win hearts.

Serves 6–8

200g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
12 cardamom pods
100g plain flour, sifted
275g ground almonds
Zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
1 tbsp rose water
1 tsp baking powder
A generous pinch of fine sea salt

For the drizzle topping:

2 tbsp caster sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
½ tbsp rose water

For the icing:

150g icing sugar
Juice of ¾ lemon
2 tsp cold water

To decorate:

2 tsp sliced pistachios
2 tsp dried rose petals (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C/Gas 3. Grease a 22cm cake tin (one with a removable base) and line it with baking parchment. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. When the mixture is thoroughly combined, beat in the eggs.

Place the cardamom pods in a mortar and work with a pestle to get the seeds out of the pods. Discard the pods and grind the seeds to a fine powder. Add them to the cake mixture, along with the flour, ground almonds, lemon zest and juice, rose water, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. To check if it is ready, stick a fork in the middle of the cake – it should come out dry.

Towards the end of the cooking time, make your drizzle topping. Place the caster sugar, lemon juice and rose water in a small pan over a low heat and heat until the sugar melts. Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a wire rack. Poke holes all over the top of the warm cake and drizzle over the syrup. When the cake is completely cool, make the icing by combining the icing sugar, lemon juice and a few teaspoons of water until you have a smooth, thick icing. Spoon the icing over the cake and finish with a sprinkling of sliced pistachios and, if you like, rose petals.

Bandari fishcakes with a tamarind and date sauce - Kuku-ye mahi

These fragrant fishcakes are packed full of fresh herbs and fluffy mash, making them soft and pillowy on the inside with a wonderfully crisp crust. They are the result of a morning spent cooking with Goli Heydari, an exuberant primary school teacher from Bandar Abbas. Fish is part of the staple diet in southern Iran and, as Goli showed me, these spicy little parcels are a delicious way to spruce up any cheap white fish. The sweet and spicy tamarind and date sauce adds a lovely piquancy here, and is fun to present in separate little bowls for dunking. Serve the fishcakes with a crisp salad.

Serves 4

300g potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
Sea salt and black pepper
200g white fish fillet (such as cod, haddock or pollock), skinless and boneless, chopped into 5mm dice
¼ tsp cumin seeds
50g bunch coriander, finely chopped
25g bunch parsley, finely chopped, plus extra to garnish
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaf (see page 24)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
A pinch of cayenne pepper
¼ tsp turmeric
Zest of ½ unwaxed lemon
1 medium egg
Plain flour, for dusting
3 tbsp sunflower olive oil
For the tamarind and date sauce:
50g tamarind pulp (see page 28), soaked in 100ml freshly boiled water for 10 minutes
75g Iranian or Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1 tbsp light brown sugar
A pinch of cayenne pepper
A pinch of cinnamon
Sea salt
150ml hot water

Put the potatoes into a large pan and cover with cold water. Add a generous pinch of salt and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until tender. Drain, mash the potatoes with a fork or potato masher, and place them in a large mixing bowl.

Add the fish to the potatoes. Dry fry the cumin seeds in a small pan for a minute or so, until their aroma is released. Grind the seeds with a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder and then add them to the bowl, along with the fresh herbs, the fenugreek leaf, garlic, cayenne, turmeric, lemon zest, egg, 1¼ teaspoons of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper.

Using your hands, mix well, then mould into eight round patties. Dust with a little flour and place on a plate, then cover with cling film and chill. To make your sauce, meanwhile, place the tamarind and its soaking liquid, the dates, brown sugar, cayenne, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan. Add the hot water and cook for 10 minutes over a low heat until the dates are very soft. Take the sauce off the heat and sieve into a bowl, using the back of a spoon to rub as much of it through as you can.

To finish the fishcakes, heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the fishcakes on a medium-high heat for 6–8 minutes, turning every few minutes, until golden brown and well crusted. Garnish with parsley, and serve with the sauce in separate bowls, for everyone to dip into.

Saffron Tales, published by Bloomsbury, £26, Hardback. Photography © Shahrzad Darafsheh & Matt Russell