Homa Dashtaki

Aug 25, 2023 | epicurious.com | Dan Clapson |Pierce Abernathy |Homa Dashtaki |Hana Asbrink

Raspberries have acquired a sentimental meaning to me, and I have raspberries tattooed on my shoulder as an ode to both my late mother and late grandmother. I also think of them every time I wind up with some in my kitchen. The dramatic red color these raspberry-macerated onions yield is really something. Like, stop-you-dead-in- your-tracks something. Here, I use them with grilled zucchini and Swiss chard, but you can serve them with everything from grilled chicken to charcuterie.

Aug 8, 2023 | epicurious.com | JJ Johnson |Homa Dashtaki |Rick Martinez |Hana Asbrink

If you often find yourself in a rut of steaming plain white rice to complement your weeknight dinners, this fragrant rice pilaf recipe is an easy upgrade. Toasting a warming mixture of spices-cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves-in butter awakens a range of flavors you wouldn't get without blooming them first.

Aug 8, 2023 | epicurious.com | JJ Johnson |Homa Dashtaki |Sachi Statz |Shilpa Uskokovic

Achiote (also known as annatto) gives the spice blend that flavors, and colors, this pilaf a beautiful ochre hue and a distinctive earthy taste. Make sure to buy it powdered, as the whole seeds are very hard and can be difficult to break down at home. Paired with garlic and onion powders, dried oregano, and just a hit of crushed chili powder or flakes, the mix yields a seasoned rice that goes well with just about everything.

Jun 23, 2023 | saveur.com | Homa Dashtaki

Salty, crunchy potato chips are absolutely drenched with yogurt in this Iranian snack that couldn’t be easier to make. Homa Dashtaki, author of Yogurt and Whey: Recipes of an Iranian Immigrant Life and founder of Brooklyn-based yogurt company White Moustache, calls it “indecently delicious,” suggesting that it's equally at home served as an appetizer at a dinner party as it is consumed in front of the TV.

May 31, 2023 | bonappetit.com | Homa Dashtaki

It’s easy to think of yogurt as one-note. I’ve seen it treated as a morning grab-and-go afterthought, an obligatory partner for granola parfait—something common, boring, uninspiring. I too have made the mistake of taking yogurt for granted. When I was growing up in Iran, my family always made yogurt from scratch. We ate it every lunch and dinner (never breakfast) because it was as essential to our meals as table wine.