Stunning Persian-style Beef Stroganoff

You may already be familiar with beef Stroganoff, the classic Russian beef and mushroom stew often served with noodles. But this one is different: it’s the Persian version. It’s also my mom’s. And it’s amazing and quite stunning when served up on a dinner table. What makes it unique – apart from the fact it is prepared with love – is that she tops it with sour cream and match stick-thin French fries. And then serves it with steamed basmati rice.

Potaotes, rice, meat and mushrooms with cream. Right, that sounds rich and very uncharacteristc of what I usually post. But it’s damn good. And anyway, what typically ends up happening is that the kids polish off the French fries and we’re left with the rice and sauce – which are still absolutely delish.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 kg sirloin beef, cut into thin 2cm strips
• 2 tbsp cornstarch, gluten free or regular flour
• 250g button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 pinch of saffron
• 1 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
• French fries (I make them myself – you can use one of these recipes from Food Network because you ain’t ever gonna find a French fry recipe on my blog 🙂 ) – optional

Instructions

1. Heat the butter over medium heat in a big saucepan or pot
2. Throw in the onion and toss for a few minutes until slightly translucent. Add mushrooms and keep stirring for another 2 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place the meat in a bowl, add salt, pepper and sprinkle the cornstarch all over. Combine well. Then add it to the onion-mushroom mixure and toss well over medium heat, making sure all the meat gets browned. This should take around 5 minutes.
4. Using a small mortar, crush the saffron until it becomes like a powder. If you don’t have a mortar, simply put the saffron on a plate and crush it with the back of a spoon and a few grains of coarse salt.
5. Add the paprika, crushed saffron, tomato paste and water. Let simmer on low/medium heat for 7-10 minutes.
6. Once the liquid has reduced by half, add 1/2 cup of the sour cream and stir well. Simmer for 2 more minutes.
7. Remove from heat, pour in a large serving dish, spread the remaining sour cream on top, throw on the French fries and serve immediately.