Ingredients
The parts
- 1sheep’s head, split and cleaned
- 4sheep’s trotters, cleaned
- cold water, for soaking
- coarse salt and flour, for scrubbing
The pot
- 4 litreswater
- 2onions, halved
- 1 headof garlic
- 1 tablespoonground turmeric
- 1 tablespoonsalt
- 1 teaspoonblack peppercorns
- 2bay leaves
- 2dried limes, loomi, pierced, optional
To serve
- sangak or barbari bread
- lemon wedges
- ground cinnamon
- salt and black pepper
- sliced raw onion
- fresh herbs
Directions
- Keep the raw parts cold until you cook them. Wash hands and surfaces thoroughly afterwards. Cook it long enough to be genuinely safe. Discard anything that smells wrong. Preparing the parts takes real work. Repeat that until no hair remains at all.
- Rub flour through it as an abrasive. Rinse it in many changes of cold water. Cover the parts with cold water. Add a spoonful of salt to the water. Soak them overnight in the refrigerator.
- Put the parts in a large pot of cold water. Bring the whole pot up to a boil. Let it boil hard for ten minutes. Drain it and discard that water. Rinse the parts under running water. Return the parts to a clean pot. Cover them with fresh cold water. Bring it up slowly to a simmer.
- Skim off any foam that still rises. Add the halved onions and the garlic. Add the turmeric and the salt. Add the peppercorns and bay leaves. Add the pierced dried limes if using them. Simmering it takes most of a night.
- Cover the pot and simmer very gently. Give it at least eight full hours. Top up with hot water as it reduces. Judging when it is done takes a test. Lift the parts out of the broth. Let them cool enough to handle. Pick all the meat off the bones. Take the cheek, tongue and jaw meat.
- Peel the tongue skin off while hot. Pick the trotters clean as well. Strain it through a fine sieve. Skim the fat from the surface. Cooking the brain is done separately. Rinse the brain very thoroughly. Poach it gently for ten minutes. It cooks in minutes rather than hours. Return the picked meat to the broth. Warm it all through very gently.
- Ladle it out into deep warm bowls. Set lemon wedges on the table. Set out cinnamon, salt and pepper. Serve sliced onion and herbs alongside. It keeps two days refrigerated. Warm it gently through to loosen it.
Technique
- Kaleh means head and pacheh means trotters, so the name lists exactly what goes in; kaleh pazi shops make only this, cooking overnight, opening before dawn and often closing by mid morning as people come in on their way to work.
- Heads and trotters are almost all connective tissue, largely collagen, which long moist heat turns to gelatine; that gelatine gives the broth its body and sets it to jelly when cold, and there is no shortcut around the eight hours.
- The cleaning is the most demanding part: singe off any remaining hair, scrape, scrub with salt and flour, soak overnight with changes of water, then blanch and discard that first water, since skipping it gives a murky heavy soup.
Substitutions
- Trotters alone make a workable version where a head is hard to obtain.
- Butchers usually clean heads and trotters on request, which saves considerable work.
Variations
- The brain is poached separately and served alongside as a delicacy.
- Some cooks skim most of the fat and others leave it all in.
- Kallapocha in Tajikistan is the same dish under a related name.
History
Sheep’s head and trotters simmered overnight and eaten at dawn in specialist shops before work.
Frequently asked questions
What is Kaleh pacheh?
Kaleh pacheh is a soup & stew from Iran: sheep’s head-and-trotter soup traditionally eaten at dawn. Sheep’s head and trotters simmered overnight and eaten at dawn in specialist shops before work.
How long does Kaleh pacheh take to make?
Kaleh pacheh takes 1 hour plus overnight soaking of preparation and 8 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Kaleh pacheh?
Yes, within limits. Trotters alone make a workable version where a head is hard to obtain. Butchers usually clean heads and trotters on request, which saves considerable work.
What is the most important thing to get right in Kaleh pacheh?
Put the parts in a large pot of cold water. Bring the whole pot up to a boil. Let it boil hard for ten minutes. Drain it and discard that water. Rinse the parts under running water. Return the parts to a clean pot. Cover them with fresh cold water. Bring it up slowly to a simmer.
