Malabij; A Delicious Food from Northern Iran

To prepare this food, local people of Mazandaran use Caspian whitefish, aromatic herbs, walnuts, pomegranate paste, and Persian hogweed.

Originally, the dish should be cooked on direct heat or charcoal, but today it is prepared more quickly in ovens and microwave ovens.

The local people prefer male whitefish for this food because they believe this type of fish has a more delicious meat.

 

Ingredients:

1 Big whitefish (Malabij)

Aromatic herbs

2 tablespoons of pomegranate paste

200 grams of walnuts

Salt, pepper, hogweed as much as needed

 

Recipe

First, mince the walnuts and herbs. Mix them with pomegranate paste, Persian hogweed, salt, and pepper. Remove scales of fish with knife. Cut fins with scissors. Remove the guts of fish. After cleaning, wash it and put it in a basket. Fill the stomach with the mixture of walnuts and herbs.

Then, stitch the stomach with string and needle. Put the fish, in a curved style, inside a pan and pour charcoal under the pan and also on it. Cook it on a medium heat.

These days, the dish can also be cooked in an easier way inside a microwave oven. To do so, after filling the stomach, you must make the tray a little bit greasy, and sprinkle some flour on it and place the fish on one side on the tray. Cook it for 90 minutes in 350-degree heat. At this time, make some sauce with pomegranate juice, butter and saffron and pour it on the fish.