Khatoon Boodhi – Rice and Meat Patties: A Recipe from Araksi Dinkjian

Doug and I know a thing or two Dikranagerdsi recipes, but when we saw Anahid Dinkjian’s post for a Dikranagerdsi dish called Khatoon Boodhi on FB, we looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders because we’d never heard of it.

Could it be a recipe from the land of our ancestors? We set out to find the answer.

This recipe pictured above was made by Anahid’s mother, Araksi who received the recipe from her husband Onnik’s mother, from Dikranagerd.

Therefore, the assumption we made is that this is a Dikranagerdsi dish.

To further establish the recipe’s origin, I checked on Charles Kasbarian’s (C.K.) Armeniapedia page to see if he had it listed in the index of his ‘The Dikranagerd Mystique Armenian Cookbook (In Process)’- and- he does! His recipe for ‘Kadin Boudi’ can be found under ‘Main Dishes’.

(A word to all: Spellings vary greatly in Armenian recipes names.)

C.K. points out the following explanation of the recipe’s name:

“Also known as Khanum Boudi = Lady’s Thighs.
Khatoun is lady in Arabic, and Khanum is lady in Persian.

The difference is:
Khatoun is a lady of inferior rank, and Khanum is a lady of superior rank.”

Given these two sources, I feel safe in saying that this recipe is of Dikrangerdsi origin, although I’m certain other regions have similar dishes.