lakh lakh

my love for persian food started many years ago after college, when we made the annual pilgrimage to staten island for saied's birthday barbeques. for many years, a bunch of us would take the state island ferry followed by a ten minute car ride to a quiet suburb where saied's parents would welcome us with grilled kebabs, tadig with saffron (traditional persian basmati rice from the bottom of the pot), grilled juicy tomatoes sprinkled with salt, stews, and more. saied always reminded us to use some sumac on the meats, a close relative of poison oak.

more recently, the persian food wave has enveloped us again with our first dinner at ravagh back in october 2014, where saied ordered plate after plate of beef, chicken, and lamb kebabs, various types of eggplant dishes, and stews for us. ravagh's dishes are very flavorful and filling, yet without that unhealthy or greasy feeling afterwards. since then, we have been paying monthly visits to the ravagh location in the east village, which is capable of hosting our large group of friends.

last night, on daisy's suggestion, the four of us went for lakh lakh's pop-up dinner at porsena's extra, next door to porsena in the east village. chef louisa shahia had been hosting monday night pop-up persian dinners since the fall and we were catching the tail end of its run. 

kevin and i arrived early and i'd skipped breakfast and lunch, so we started with drinks and an order of the herbs and cheese with babari bread. the bread was warm and with great crispy texture, and the herbs and cheese were surprisingly simple, yet addictive. when daisy and saied arrived, we decided to order everything on the menu, times two. 

as we made our way down the menu, i enjoyed the dishes more and more. my three favorite dishes were the last three savory ones for sure: khoresht-e narenj chicken (stew), pakistani ground lamb kebabs with ginger and mint, and the balgabag plov, azerbaijani style rice with pumpkin and saffron. all of the dishes were flavorful, yet light, and served tapas style so we could try them all. to top it all off, the bastani, saffron gelato with crushed pistachio was off the charts! subtle hints of saffron topped with crunchy pistachios, all in an almost soft-serve texture.

throughout our dinner, louisa, stopped by to talk with us about her inspiration and travels which led to the development of these dishes. towards the end of the night, her husband, james, who had been sitting quietly to my left, piped in with stories about their iranian trip preparations and the persian tradition of taarof, aka, aggressive etiquette.

it was a fun relaxing night with great food, company, and conversation, a nice way to start off the week.