Xinjiang (Chinese) Meal

As there are no country names with the letter X this meal comes from a province with that letter. Xinjiang is a western province of China adjoining the middle east. The food here is influenced largely by the middle east. The ethnic people of this region are the Uyghur or Hui.

For my the meal I was looking for noodles as the main dish. I found a very detailed laghman noodles recipe with embedded videos to help make them. Then I found a really nice pulao (pilaf) recipe. The Uyghur polo is not vegetarian but could be easily converted using paneer. I will make the noodles some day but for this meal my main dish is Uyghur (ee-gur) polo. I read here that samsa, a street food similar to the Indian samosa, is served with polo. So samsa served as the side dish. For dessert I made a sweet rice called mifirfan. 'Fan' is rice in the local language. In this dish the rice is sweetened with apricots and raisins along with a little sugar.

I did not use any new ingredients in this meal. This meal was not spicy at all. If you like spicy food you could add a whole range of spices to the polo as well as the filling for the samsa. We do not eat spicy food in our house so we enjoyed the original recipes.


Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Uyghur Polo 
• Samsa 

And for dessert

• Mifirfan

Samsa

Samosas are popular all over the world. The flavorful filling and the crispy crust is what makes the samosa so popular. The big drawback of a samosa is that it is deep fried. Samsa is a variation of the popular samosa and is widely popular in the middle east.

In the Xinjiang province of China, where the food is heavily influenced by Arabic cuisine, samsa is a popular street food. It is cooked in a tandoor like oven and can be baked in a home oven. The filling is usually not vegetarian. I converted the original recipe by using potatoes and cheese.

Like its cousin the samosa, the dough used for the samsa is not leavened. A strong flour is used and rolled out thinly to ensure it is cooked through. I used whole wheat flour that we use for chapatis. 

You will need for 8-10 samsa

For the filling

1 large potato

2 tbsp. onion, diced

1/4 cup feta cheese

2 tbsp. romano, cotija or any cooking cheese

1 tbsp. cumin seeds

1 tsp. paprika

salt to taste

For the dough

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (chapati flour or bread flour)

water as needed

1 egg as egg wash

Boil the potato in the pressure cooker or in the microwave. I cooked it in the microwave. Prick the potato at 1 inch intervals with a fork. Leave the skin on and place it in the microwave along with a cup of water. In 5-6 minutes the potato should be cooked. Let it cool for 15 minutes before peeling the skin off to avoid the hardening of the outer layer.  Dice the potato and combine with the other ingredients. Keep aside.

In a separate bowl sift the flour and using water form a soft dough. Knead it for a couple minutes. Cover in plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 F. To prepare the samsa divide the dough into 8-10 portions. Roll out one portion on a work surface using a little flour to prevent sticking. The rolled disc should be 1/8th of an inch or thinner. 

Place filling in the center and fold in the dough from one side.

Now fold in the opposite side. Next fold in from the third side.

Complete the package by folding in the remaining side.

Place on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat for the remaining portions of dough. Break the egg in a bowl and add 1 tbsp. water. Whisk together. Apply egg wash over the prepared samsa. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are brown. Let it cool on a cooling rack for a couple minutes. 

Samsa is best eaten hot.

Mifirfan (Chinese Sticky Rice Dessert)

Mifirfan is a dessert from the Xinjiang province of China. It is a mildly sweet dessert that reminded me of narali bhaat. It is made of rice that is sweetened with apricots and raisins.

Mifirfan is a simple and quick dessert. It is made with Chinese sticky white rice. I got a handful of this rice from the bulk section at Whole Foods. The process is very simple, cook the rice with apricots, raisins and a little sugar.

You will need
a handful white sticky rice
10-12 dried apricots
1/4 cup raisins
2 tbsp. sugar
1 cup water

Wash the rice and soak it for half an hour. Chop the apricots and keep aside. These are the apricots I used.

Drain the water from the soaking rice and add the rice to a pan. Add a cup of fresh water to the pan and bring it to a boil. Add the apricots, raisins and sugar.

Let the rice cook in the boiling water.

When the water level drops below the rice, lower heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let it sit for another 10 minutes.

Mifirfan is ready. It is best eaten the day it is cooked. As it is made with rice day old mifirfan tastes a lot like stale rice.

Uyghur Polo (Paneer Carrot Pilaf)

Uyghur polo is pulao or pilaf from the Xinjiang province of China home to the Uyghur or Hiu. This dish is not originally vegetarian. I converted it by using paneer. The paneer is cooked with carrots and onion. Spices are then added to the mixture along with water. The rice is added to the top and cooked in the flavored water.

The process of cooking this dish is very similar to other pilaf. The different is the sparingly used spices.

You will need
7 oz. paneer, cut into cubes
2 tbsp. oil (I used olive oil)
1 onion, diced
3 slender carrots, cut into 1 inch strips
1 tbsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. paprika or cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
1 cup rice (I used brown basmati rice)
1/4 cup raisins
salt to taste

Wash and soak the rice. Keep aside until needed. Heat oil in a pan and add the paneer cubes. Brown the cubes on all sides then add the onions. Saute until the onions are tender. Add the carrots and saute until the carrots are cooked but not mushy.

Add salt, cumin seeds and 2 cups of water to the pan. Turn up the heat to high, bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes. This allows all the flavors to blend. Uncover the pan and add the rice. Spread the rice over the top but do not mix with the other ingredients. Turn up the heat until the water is boiling again. Let it boil until the water level drops below the rice. Lower the heat and add the raisins. Cover and let the rice cook for about 20-25 minutes. Do not open the lid during this time.

After 25 minutes open the lid. Mix the rice with the other ingredients.

The polo is ready.

It tastes best hot. Leftovers can be reheated.