Dopiaza ( fa, دوپیازه, meaning "two onions", is the name of two separate dishes, one in the

Greater Iran Greater Iran ( fa, ایران بزرگ, translit=Irān-e Bozorg) refers to a region covering parts of Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Xinjiang, and the Caucasus, where both Iranian culture and Iranian languages have had a s ...

region and one in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

. It refers to a family of recipes, typically meat-based, that contain onions as a major ingredient. There are two alternative etymological explanations for its name. # Onions are added at two stages of cooking: chopped or ground in the marinade/gravy, and as a garnish/topping, either pickled or crisply fried. # The recipe uses onions and meat in a 2:1 ratio. The dish usually contains a

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

, usually

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

mutton Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...

, or

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are ref ...

; however, it can also be prepared in a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

style, e.g., with okra.

History

This dish originated in

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

(present-day Iran and Afghanistan). It was introduced to South Asia by the Mughals (1526-1857) and has spread to countries with a South Asian diaspora. Regional variants have evolved in locales such as

Hyderabad, India Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the '' de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Ind ...

and several regions of Pakistan. According to an alternative Mughal legend, the dish was created when Mullah Do-Piyaza—a courtier of Mughal Emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

— accidentally added a large quantity of

onions An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...

to a dish. This the legend is considered to be fictitious, as no Mughal-era records mention any courtier by this name, and humorous anecdotes about his life and jokes were published only in the late 19th century.

Iranian dopiaza

Dopiazeh Dopiazeh recipe. https://turmericsaffron.blogspot.com/2009/10/dopiazeh.html. Accessed Dec 1, 2021. is a traditional dish from Shiraz and it can be made with cubed or ground lamb/beef, chicken, shrimp, potatoes, and a copious amount of sliced onions. ''Aloo'' in standard Persian means ''plum'' and it is also a term used in Shirazi Persian to mean ''potatoes''.

Ingredients

As many other

Hyderabadi Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. ...

dishes, the addition of a sour agent is a key part of dopiaza. Most often, raw

mangoes A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South ...

are used; however, lemon juice or

cranberries Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry m ...

can be used as well. Basic ingredients for dopiaza are chicken or other meats, onions, ginger and garlic paste, whole hot spices (

black cardamom ''Amomum subulatum'', also known as Black cardamom, hill cardamom, Bengal cardamom, greater cardamom, Indian cardamom, Nepal cardamom, winged cardamom, big cardamon, or brown cardamom, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Zingiberaceae. ...

s, cloves and peppercorns), salt and chili powder. Iranian Dopiaza may be prepared using potatoes, onion, turmeric powder, tomato paste, dried fenugreek leaves, and spices.

Notes

References

External links