Lured by the aroma of kebabs on the grill, TAN BEE HONG finds Iranian delights at reasonable prices
WHEN it comes to Iranian cuisine, who would know better than Ali Amini Fard, who served as a chef with the Iranian Foreign Service for 17 years? He spent the last seven years in the Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.The friendly Amini, 42, loved being here so much that he decided to stay and open Taktaz Restaurant to introduce the cuisine of his country to Malaysians. “My decision is based on a need to cater to the many Iranian students here,” he says. “Serdang Perdana has such a huge number of Iranians that I call it Iranian Perdana,” he says, laughing.
But despite this, Taktaz is the only Iranian restaurant here as other restaurateurs prefer to operate in more profitable, high tourist traffic district of Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur city centre.
Amini’s 17-year-old daughter, Ghazal, a student, makes a quick check of a local magazine published for Iranians. “There are actually 13 Iranian restaurants here,” she says. “But they all are very expensive. We cannot afford to do that as many of our customers are students. So my father has kept prices low.”
Happily for the rest of the customers, Amini has refused to compromise on taste. “Whatever ingredients I cannot find here or are very expensive, I import directly. This way, I can cut down on costs,” he explains in halting English.
Amini is also quick to point out that Malaysians often mistake Iranian food for Arabic food. While he admits that the two can often look similar, he explains that it’s the ingredients that make the difference. “We use very little salt and not too many spices either. Everything is natural. We also prefer to barbecue our meats while Arabs prefer stews.”
He keeps a keen eye on the kitchen despite having brought in Iranian cooks to dish out a veritable spread of salads, stews, kebabs, dessert and even burgers.
Most of the dishes involve lamb, the meat of choice in Iran but there are plenty of fish, chicken and vegetables to choose from. All are best eaten with Iranian rice. “Even our rice is different,” says Amini. “We throw out the starchy water after cooking, so our rice is especially fluffy, with each grain separate. We use a little saffron to flavour the rice too.”
Iranians don’t use butter to cook the rice. Instead, cubes of butter are offered at the table, which diners add according to preference. Even without the butter, the rice tastes great. There are three types of rice. There one tinged with saffron, a Persian style rice with chopped red barberry (a kind of berry) and chopped pistachio with saffron. The third is a really excellent mixed vegetables rice with beans and dill. This is recommended with lamb shank and fish kebab.
Rice servings are big. Amini laughs. “Iranians can finish a whole serving at one go but Malaysians always share.”
Fresh salads and dips are a big deal in Taktaz. Kashk O Bademjan (RM5) is a gorgeous dip of sauteed eggplant topped with garlic, mint and kaskh (yoghurt). Children would love Olivieh, made with mashed potato, minced chicken, eggs, pickled cucumber with a sweet, creamy sauce drizzled over. Eat these with bread.
Kebabs are another national favourite. Taktaz offers a few types, from chicken and fish to cubed lamb and minced lamb. You can also order Bakhtiari Kebab a combination skewer of cubes of chicken and lamb, which I find a tad on the dry side.
I love the lamb Koobide Kebab (RM9.50) best. The skewer of ground lean lamb is so juicy and well marinated. So is the fish. All you need is a squeeze of lime juice. Kebabs are served with sliced raw onions, grilled tomatoes and green chili.
Amini also recommends the lamb shank stew and chicken stew, served with mixed vegetables rice, pickled vegetables and olives. Though the lamb shank stew comes with an almost clear soup, the meat is extremely tender and full of flavour, far better than the chicken. Finish the meal with a cup of Iranian tea (RM5.90). Ghazal shows me how Iranians drink the strong tea. She places a sugar cube on her tongue and then sips the tea, letting the hot tea come into contact with and melt the sugar. Taktaz also offers fruity hookah smokes (RM8) with strawberry, mint, apple, watermelon and grape flavours.
For Ramadan, Taktaz will offer a berbuka puasa self-service spread with rice, bread, salads, stews and kebabs. Customers make their selections and then pay for only what they take.
TAKTAZ RESTAURANT
B-G-3 Block B
Persiaran Serdang Perdana
Taman Serdang Perdana
Seri Kembangan, Selangor
Tel: 03-8941 3364