Four recipes from Sabrina Ghayour's new cookbook Persiana Everyday (2024)

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Iranian-born London chef and cookbook author Sabrina Ghayour is known for her vibrant Persian and Middle Eastern-inspired recipes, making her name with her best-selling debut Persiana.

Her latest collection, Persiana Everyday, has all the colour and flavour of her first book, with the added practicality of no-cook, quick-prep and one-pot dishes to suit busy day-to-day family life.

Recipes cover all the essentials (small plates, salads, meat, poultry, vegies, carbs and sweets) and embrace pantry items such as garlic granules and curry powder to add depth and complexity to the food.

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"My life has changed since my previous book – I have become a wife and step-mum to two boys – and this has been the greatest driving force behind this collection of recipes, as well as my ongoing desire to create flavourful, colourful feasts for my loved ones," she writes in the book.

Here are four versatile recipes to try any day of the week.

Lamb chops with yoghurt and fenugreek

Lamb is my favourite meat, and chops my favourite cut (I can happily consume a platter of these by myself!) With the choice of every kind of seasoning, from the exotic to basic salt and pepper, this particular marinade is one I turn to regularly at home for both indoor grilling and barbecues. If you don't have time to make any accompaniments, this is a perfect dish for devouring on its own.

INGREDIENTS

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• 8 trimmed lamb chops
• sea salt flakes

For the marinade

• 100g Greek yoghurt, plus extra to serve
• 1 small packet (about 30g) of fresh coriander
• 3 fat garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• 2 heaped tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
• zest of 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated, and juice of ½
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• generous amount of sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

1. Put all the marinade ingredients into a blender and blitz until evenly combined and smooth.
2. Place the lamb chops in a wide, shallow non-reactive dish, add the marinade and turn the chops until well-coated in the mixture. Cover the dish with cling film and leave the chops to marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or overnight if preferred.
3. Remove the chops from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before cooking to allow them to come to room temperature.
4. Preheat a non-stick frypan over the highest possible heat. Once super-hot, shake any excess marinade from the chops, sprinkle a little salt on one side and lay salt-side down on the griddle pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, depending on thickness, until nicely charred. If you need to cook them in batches, keep one batch warm under a layer of kitchen foil while you cook the rest.
5. Remove from the pan and leave to rest on a plate for 5 minutes or so. Serve alongside a bowl of Greek yoghurt seasoned with black pepper.

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Makes 8

Harissa and lemon roasted chicken thighs

This is such a simple recipe that I confess I have been making it for years and never thought to put it in one of my books. It's so handy and versatile, as it can be sliced and stuffed into pita bread or wraps and sandwiches for lunchboxes, shredded and added to salads, or used in stir-fries or rice noodle dishes. But it also pairs perfectly with steamed rice or naan in the same way tandoori chicken does. You can also marinate the chicken up to 48 hours in advance, or freeze the marinated raw chicken for use at a later date or for batch cooking.

INGREDIENTS

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• 1kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 heaped tbsp rose harissa
• 150g Greek yoghurt
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
• sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

To serve (optional)

• flatbreads
• coriander leaves
• thinly sliced spring onions
• lemon wedges

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 220C fan-forced (240C conventional). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Put the chicken thighs into a mixing bowl, add the other ingredients with a generous amount of salt and pepper and turn the chicken to coat well in the mixture, preferably using your hands.
3. Lay the chicken thighs on the lined tray and roast for 40 minutes or until sticky and charred around the edges and cooked through.
4. To serve, slice the chicken and serve in warmed flatbreads with Greek yoghurt, coriander leaves, sliced spring onions and alongside lemon wedges for squeezing over.

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Serves 4-6

Broccolini with tahini garlic sauce and preserved lemon

Quick, delicious, easy to make and eaten in minutes. That's what you hope all vegetable dishes turn out to be, and I usually find that when something is so easy to put together, I end up making it more often. This is particularly good because it can be eaten on its own, but you can also add pasta or grains to it for a more substantial dish.

INGREDIENTS

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• 200g broccolini
• 1 heaped tbsp tahini
• 2-3 tbsp lukewarm water
• 2 preserved lemons, finely chopped
• 1 fat garlic clove, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

1. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the broccoli and cook for 5-6 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, mix the tahini with the lukewarm water in a small bowl to loosen it to a sauce consistency.
3. Add the preserved lemons, garlic and a generous amount of pepper and mix well.
4. Drain the broccoli and tip into a bowl. Drizzle over the olive oil, then pour in the sauce and stir until the broccoli is well-coated. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

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Tahini cinnamon swirls

I love cinnamon in pastry and desserts. There is no sweet treat that doesn't work with a little cinnamon in it, and these swirls have always been a favourite of mine. The tahini really enriches them, giving them a lovely nutty flavour that is something quite different and pleasing. They are great with coffee or served with vanilla ice-cream. You can also freeze a whole roll of prepared pastry for later use, then cut and bake from frozen for an extra couple of minutes.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 x 320g ready-rolled puff pastry sheet
• 4-5 tbsp tahini (make sure it's not too thin, and avoid using excess oil)
• 3 tbsp raw sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

METHOD

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1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
2. Lay the pastry sheet on your work surface.
3. Mix the tahini with the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Spread the mixture evenly all over the pastry sheet, leaving a 2cm clear border along one long edge. Starting from the opposite long edge, roll up the pastry tightly.
4. Cut the roll into 4, then cut each section into 3 equal slices. Lay the slices with the swirl facing up on the lined tray, spaced slightly apart, and flatten each one gently.
5. Bake for 20-22 minutes until nicely browned on top. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray before serving.

Makes 12

This is an edited extract from Persiana Everyday by Sabrina Ghayour, published by Aster, an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group Ltd. Photography by Kris Kirkham. RRP $39.99. Buy now

Appears in these collections

• Best new cookbooks of 2022

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