Arya, A Persian Delight...

Arya, a Persian restaurant is located at the Promenade in Greenhills, San Juan. Besides having an authentic ambiance complete with water pipes, this resto serves an array of delicious Persian cuisine from pita wraps to a wide variety of meat kababs with fluffy basmati rice or warm pita breads. Their special sauce consists of yogurt with garlic and crushed grilled tomatoes and chili complements the meal and they have an assortment of salads to choose from. Price ranges from 280 to 560 pesos, leaving you quite satisfied!

Jambalaya (my version)

Jambalaya is a dish composed of any mixed meats and vegetables. It can be anything from pork, chicken, sausages and vegetables like celery, onions, green or red peppers. And for flavoring...anything goes. Here is my version:

INGREDIENTS
1 kilo cubed pork butt (kasim)
1 Polish sausage (cubed)
1 cup red beans (soaked overnight)
1 red pepper (chopped)
1 large onion (chopped)
1 cup chopped celery
2 medium sized tomatoes (chopped)
2 cups long grain rice
1 tspn. tumeric
1 tspn. celery seeds
1 tspn. ginger powder
1 tspn. cumin
1 tblspn. crushed dried rep pepper
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 small box raisins
4 slices of bacon (diced)
4 cloves garlic
1 tspn. salt & pepper

DIRECTIONS:
In a small pot, boil the red beans and simmer for 2-1/2 hours until soft leaving about 1/2 cup of its juice. In a large pot, brown the garlic, then add the onions, tomato, celery, turmeric, cumin, ginger powder and celery seeds. Then add the pork and sausages along with the raisins and red pepper. Stir until brown and oil comes out of the meats and add the tomato sauce. Add 2 cups water and the rice and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked with the lid on. Mix the remaining red beans along with the juice while adding salt and pepper. Stir and add more salt if needed until you get a balanced flavor and serve on a platter. Total cooking time is around 3 hours so enjoy!