Valerie can be passive aggressive with Goli Joon, sometimes refusing to eat what she puts on the table. When she’s like that, Goli Joon knows how to break her: with potato chops.

Serve this with Mast-o-khiar (cucumber sauce), or be an American and serve it with ketchup and it’s like having a burger and fries in one. It’s tastiest to encase the meat filling in the potato mixture and deep-fry it, but easier and less fattening to make it as a casserole.

To make the casserole, layer half the potato mixture in an oilled glass lasagne pan, put the cooked meat mixture on that, top with the rest of the potato and coat in melted butter or oil. Bake until golden.

Makes 10 chops, serving 3-4 as a main course.

Potato mixture
8 medium potatoes
2 eggs, separated
1 tbsp. salt

Filling:
2 tbsp. oil 1 large yellow onion, minced
1 lb. ground beef or lamb
1/2 c. fresh parsley, chopped and packed firmly
1/2 c. chopped green onions
Juice of two limes or 2 tbsp. dried lime powder
2 tbsp. advieh (Persian spice mix like curry powder. Buy it or make your own — make sure you include angelica in the mix)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, or to taste

2 c. vegetable oil (if deepfrying) or 2 tbsp. oil to drizzle over top if making the casserole version
lime wedges

Boil the potatoes in their jackets about 20 minutes. Remove skins under cold water and grate potatoes into a large bowl. Add the two egg yolks and salt and mix well. Set aside.
Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet, add the minced onion and fry for a few minutes until translucent. Add the beef and brown thoroughly, using the edge of a spatula to break up the meat to a fine crumble as it browns. Add the parsley, green onions, limes or lime powder, tomato paste, curry powder, salt and crushed red pepper and cook until the green onions and parsley are slightly wilted and all ingredients are combined well.
If you are making the casserole version, preheat the over to 350 degrees and grease a pan this is approximately 9- by 13-inches or slightly smaller. Place half of the potato mixture over the bottom of the pan. Next, drop the filling by spoonfuls over the potato layer and smooth out. Add the remaining half of the potato mix. Smooth the egg white into the top layer of potato. Drizzle the 2 tablespoons of oil over the top.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
If you are making deep-fried potato chops, place the two egg whites in a small bowl. Dip your hands into the egg whites, then take about 1/4 cup of the potato mixture in one hand, and make a dent in it with the other hand.
Place 1 to 2 tablespoons of the filling in the dent and smooth the potato over the filling, adding more potato mixture if necessary to get the casing all the way covering the meat.
Coat the chop with more of the egg white and shape into a fat disk. Make about 10 of these. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until a small piece of the potato mixture sizzled when dropped into the oil. Carefully lower the chops into the hot oil and fry several minutes on each side until golden brown. Lift out and drain on paper towels before serving.

Any leftover filling can be refrigerated, reheated, and served as a pita bread sandwich filling.