He ruled during the Abbasid dynasty, specifically the fifth Abbasid caliph. The tagine, or tajine, originated in modern-day Iran during Harun al-Rashid’s rule in the 9th century. Here’s one you can try out! History of the Tajine Tajine is also the name of a delicious recipe, often prepared with chicken or beef. Today tajines are used in the Middle East and North Africa.

Cast iron retains heat well so this innovation made cooking a little easier. Tagines were popular across North Africa in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.Ĭenturies later, European companies manufactured tajines with cast iron bottoms. The food was covered over a cone or dome-shaped lid. Traditionally, tajines were clay pots cooked over hot coals to make stew. You probably don’t recognize this cast iron pot, as it’s not used widely in modern American cooking. Karahi also refers to a delicious traditional chicken dish: chicken karahi. The karahi is used to shallow fry, deep fry, or make stews. Manufacturers today make karahi in cast iron, stainless steel, and copper. The karahi is a thick pan with steep sides. Like a wok, a karahi was adopted by the people of India and other South Asia countries. They’re also used for braising, roasting, steaming, and deep-frying. Stir frying is the most popular use for cast iron woks today. In the mid 14th century during the Ming dynasty, the Chinese started to use woks for stir frying. The cast iron wok was first used to dry grains. The first woks were made of cast iron around 200 BC during the Han dynasty in China. You can use a flat bottomed wok on an electric or induction stove. But flat bottomed woks are popular today too. Traditional woks have a round bottom, supported by a wok ring. A cast iron wok is a steep pan with a handle (sometimes two), a small circular bottom and wide sloped edges.

Who invented the flat iron