Ghormeh sabzi

Ingredients

Herbs (sabzi)

• 500 gflat-leaf parsley, leaves and fine stalks, very finely chopped
• 300 gcoriander, finely chopped
• 200 gchives or Persian tareh, finely chopped
• 100 gfenugreek leaves (shanbalileh), fresh, or 3 tbsp dried
• 6 tbspneutral oil, for frying the herbs

Stew

• 800 glamb shoulder or shank, cut into 4 cm pieces
• 3 tbspoil or butter
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 1 tspground turmeric
• 250 gdried red kidney beans, soaked overnight, or 400 g cooked
• 6limoo amani (dried Persian limes), pierced twice each
• 1.2 litreswater
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• juice of ½ lemon, if needed

To serve

• chelow with tahdig
• torshi and sabzi khordan

Directions

1. Chop the herbs as finely as you can by hand or in short pulses in a processor; they must be fine but not pureed, and completely dry before frying.
2. Fry the herbs in the oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat for 20–30 minutes, stirring often. They will go from bright green to dark, almost black-green, and smell deeply savoury rather than grassy. This is the single most important step and cannot be shortened.
3. In a separate heavy pot, soften the onion in oil for 10 minutes, add the turmeric, then the lamb, and brown it well on all sides.
4. Add the water, the soaked beans and the salt and simmer covered for 1 hour.
5. Stir in the fried herbs with all their oil, add the pierced dried limes, and simmer very gently uncovered for a further 1 hour 30 minutes.
6. Press the limes against the side of the pot occasionally to release their sourness, but taste as you go; if they split completely the stew turns bitter.
7. The stew is ready when a dark green oil floats on the surface, the meat falls apart at the touch of a spoon and the beans are creamy but whole.
8. Correct the sour with lemon juice and the salt at the very end, then rest 15 minutes so the oil rises.
9. Serve in a shallow bowl beside chelow, with the golden tahdig broken over the table.

Technique

• The ratio is roughly 4 parts parsley to 2 parts coriander to 2 parts chives to a small amount of fenugreek. Fenugreek is powerful and bitter; more than the stated amount ruins the pot.
• Frying the herbs long and slow is what makes ghormeh sabzi black-green and profound rather than a soupy green stew. Home cooks who skip it wonder why theirs tastes thin.
• Dried limes are pierced so they take up liquid and release sourness slowly. Left whole and unpierced they float uselessly; broken open early they release bitter pith.
• Iranians judge the stew by the layer of green oil on the surface, and by whether it is better the next day. It always is.

Substitutions

• No fresh fenugreek: 3 tbsp dried is standard even in Iran, added with the other herbs at the frying stage.
• No limoo amani: 2 tbsp fresh lime juice plus the zest of a lime, added at the end, gives sourness but not the fermented, musty depth.
• Kidney beans can be replaced by pinto beans or black-eyed peas.

Variations

• Some Tehran families add a handful of dried fenugreek only, no fresh, and use chopped leek instead of chives.
• A version with no meat, built on more beans and a little extra oil, is cooked during religious fasts.
• Shirazi cooks sometimes add a spoon of pomegranate molasses in the last 20 minutes.

History

Herb stew with dried limes and kidney beans simmered for hours, often named as the country’s favourite dish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ghormeh sabzi?

Ghormeh sabzi is a soup & stew from Iran: deep-green herb stew with lamb, kidney beans and dried limes. Herb stew with dried limes and kidney beans simmered for hours, often named as the country’s favourite dish.

How long does Ghormeh sabzi take to make?

Ghormeh sabzi takes 40 min of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Ghormeh sabzi?

Yes, within limits. No fresh fenugreek: 3 tbsp dried is standard even in Iran, added with the other herbs at the frying stage. No limoo amani: 2 tbsp fresh lime juice plus the zest of a lime, added at the end, gives sourness but not the fermented, musty depth. Kidney beans can be replaced by pinto beans or black-eyed peas.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ghormeh sabzi?

Chop the herbs as finely as you can by hand or in short pulses in a processor; they must be fine but not pureed, and completely dry before frying.