Borani Esfenaj Recipe

There is a lot of vegetable recipe that they are called “Borani” (برانی). The term “Borani”`s history dates back to the Sassanid dynasty. There was a queen named “Purandokht”. She was interested in yoghurt a lot. So she ordered the chef to cook various dishes with drained yoghurt and vegetable. So these dishes called “Purani”. During the decades that have passed, “Purani”`s pronunciation has been changed to “Borani”. Different kinds of vegetable Borani got their name from the main vegetable used in cooking that meal like Borani Bademjan (eggplant), Borani Kadu (zucchini), Borani Karafs (celery), Borani Laboo (red beet) and Borani Esfenaj. All meals named Boranis are a kind of classic food.

In this article, I am going to talk about Borani Esfenaj (برانی اسفناج). It is a vegetarian dish that is popular all over the Mediterranean. It can be served both as an appetizer and as a main meal for lunch or dinner.

Borani Esfenaj is also a very healthy and beneficial meal. It is good to be mentioned here to emphasize that almost all Boranis are based on yoghurt or served by yoghurt.

Different types of Borani Esfenaj:

We can prepare Borani Esfenaj with a different recipe. One of the famous ones is that yoghurt is mixed into the meal. In other methods, its water is absorbed completely, and combination gets flatten with a spoon, and mixed egg is added on top of it. It is covered with “Damkoni” until the eggs to be cooked. In this recipe, the yoghurt is served as a side dish, not mix in the meal.

So it depends on your taste and preference to choose which recipe to cook.

Important nutrition facts of Borani Esfenaj:

Borani Esfenaj is entirely a vegetarian dish. It has high value and quality nutrition. It is an essential source of vitamins, minerals, and fibre since a large amount of spinach is used in cooking this meal. Its vitamins include A, C, K, B1, and B2. Also, its essential minerals include Manganese, Zinc, selenium, Iron, and Iodine. The amount of fibre in spinach is twice more than other herbs and vegetables.

So the antioxidants and fibre, vitamins, and minerals properties of spinach used in Borani Esfenaj provide mire health to our body and reduce ageing and risk of most diseases. The diseases that Borani Esfenaj is useful and beneficial to them include Hyperthyroidism (Goiter), Cancers, Hearth diseases, Osteoporosis, Hypertension, Anemia, and inflammation skin, and so on. Spinach also influences and strengthens the nervous system, vision system, and skeleton.

Spinach also contains a substance called “Oxalate” which is harmful to Arthritis and kidney and bladder stone disease. This meal has low calorie and low carbohydrate source. So it is an excellent choice for the person who is on a losing weight diet. So people should not forget to eat Borani Esfenaj but in Arthritis and kidney and bladder stone disease.

Serving style of Borani Esfenaj:

Borani Esfenaj can be served as an appetizer or as a main meal for lunch, dinner, or snack. If you want to serve it as a main meal, you should have some pieces of bread along with it. Topping and decorating it with walnut and fried onion makes it look more delicious.

Vegetarian tips:

Borani-e-Esfenaj is an entirely vegetarian dish. All ingredients used in cooking it are vegetable base. It needs only a small change that a vegan can tastes it, too. This change is removing the yoghurt. This change inevitably affects its taste, but it makes it easy for every vegetarians and vegan to taste and enjoy it.

What are the ingredients of Borani Esfenaj?

The main ingredient is spinach. You need yoghurt as the second main ingredient. Some people add cream instead of yoghurt. Like all Persian foods, you need a sliced onion. You would add some spices such as salt and pepper. You also need oil and garlic. Garlic and yoghurt are essential to change the spinaches taste. Finally, you need ground or chopped walnuts.

How to cook Borani Esfenaj?

This Borani has an easy recipe to cook. To cook Borani-e-Esfenaj, you need to clean up the spinach and pour them in a pot. You should cover the pot and let them cook. Meanwhile, it would be best if you sauteed chopped garlic and sliced onion. After sauteing them, add cooked spinach and flavourings like salt, turmeric, and pepper. You should stir them and let it cook for some more minutes with no cover on it until its water completely absorbed and evaporated. Finely you should make it cool down at room temperature, and in the end step, you should mix drained yoghurt and walnut to combination and mix them well. You must refrigerate prepared meals for at least 1 hour until it chills.

If you pure it in the serving bowl and decorate the top with fried onion and walnut, it would be more pleasant.

Recipe:

This recipe is adequate for four people. The preparation time is 10 minutes, and cooking time is 30 minutes plus chilling time. You can have this delicious meal in 60 minutes.