2tspeach of dried parsleydried coriander and dried dill
½tspsaffron powder
Instructions
Wash the rice well, until the water runs clear.
Place the rice in a large saucepan with the salt and pour enough boiling water over the rice to enable the rice to move freely after expansion from cooking.
Bring rice to the boil until it is 3/4 cooked. Still a little hard in the center to bite.
Rinse the rice under running water in a colander until the water runs clear.
Peel the potato and slice.
In the bottom of a Persian rice cooker pan, or a non-stick saucepan, brush half the ghee and then layer the potato over the Ghee totally covering the bottom of the pan.
Gently spoon the on third of the rice over the potato, sprinkle one teaspoon of each of the dried herbs, and some saffron powder over the rice,
Repeat the layers of rice and herbs, the finish with a layer of rice.
Add the remainder of the Ghee to the top of the rice.
Cover the rice cooker lid with a tea towel or cloth and place on the top of the pot.
Run the rice cooker through its cycle, if using a non stick saucepan, initially bring the heat to high until steam is formed in the saucepan, then reduce the temperature to low-med for about 30 minutes.
When the rice is ready, invert the pot onto a flat round serving dish, taking care to retain the tahdig.
Notes
Sabzi Polo is just one version of layered rice, this recipe can be recreated with many other ingredients.
Sabzi Polo Mahi is a very traditional meal served on the Persian New Year (Naw Ruz). This fried fish traditionally accompanies the sabzi polo. But that doesn’t mean that you need to only have it at Naw Ruz
Fried Fish – Mahi
Sabzi Polo Mahi is a very traditional meal served on the Persian New Year. This fried fish traditionally accompanies the sabzi polo.
Yumm. Who doesn’t love grilled chicken. Served with a salad, on a sandwich or wrapped in flat pitta bread. It just tastes good.
Marinating the Chicken
Just add all the ingredients to a food processor or a Nutri-Bullet. The oil will emulsify with the herbs and garlic and look quite green.
Make sure you score the chicken pieces in different places. This has 2 purposes. Firstly to make sure that the marinade penetrates the chicken evenly, and secondly, the chicken pieces are more evenly cooked. Try to leave the chicken marinating for at least 30 minutes, but a couple of hours is optimum.
Grilled Chicken
The best way to server this grilled chicken is with lettuce, tomato and cucumber on flat bread. Some Yoghurt and Cucumber gives it the finishing touches.
Grilled Chicken
A healthy grilled chicken with the delicate flavours of Basil and Garlic. We cook this grilled chicken on the Webber BBQ, making it a very quick and easy meal without having to light the charcoal used for the traditional Persian BBQ.
Grilled vegetables make an excellent accompaniment or vegetarian substitution for Persian Kebab. Again we have used our gas Webber making this a quick and easy meal.
Mixed Grilled Vegetables
Grilled vegetables make an excellent accompaniment or vegetarian substitution for Persian Kebab. Again we have used our gas Webber making this a quick and easy meal.
In a heavy based frying pan, fry the onion, salt and pepper, turmeric and dried lime until the onion is transparent.
Add the lamb and fry until the surface of the lamb is sealed.
Add the tinned tomatoes and tomato paste.
Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to a slow simmer until the lamb is tender, about an hour.
Wash the okra well. Top and tail them as you would a green string bean.
If required, using a potato peeler, peel the hard knobbly edges.
Cut into bite size pieces.
Rinse well.
Add to the stew, khorest, and and continue to simmer until the is tender.
Notes
Okra gives off a gluttonous jelly type liquid. If you are using small, baby size okra there is no need to cut them and the goo stays intact. Otherwise don’t try to wash it all away, rather just rinse the cut okra and toss into the saucepan with the cooking stew. Okra is very high in calcium.
A delicious tomato based lamb stew with eggplant. Great served with either rice or bread. This was one of the first Persian dishes I learnt to cook and would have to be the most popular Iranian dish in our household.
Koresh Ghormeh Sabzi, a Persian herb stew, must be the most well known Persian dish, and is well known for it’s delightful smell. Many times I’ve had guests for dinner and when greeting them at the door they comment on the wafting aromas as they walked down the street.
The delightful smell is from the addition of dried fenugreek leaves, otherwise known as shanbalileh in Farsi or methi in Indian recipes. You can buy the frozen fenugreek in Indian grocery stores, and more recently I have seen fresh fenugreek available.
There are many ways of making ghormeh sabzi, and some recipes are very time consuming, and other methods are quick and easy to use.
When I first started making Ghormeh Sabzi, we lived in out-back Australia, and my husbands parents would post the sabzi to us from Iran. It was always very exciting to receive one of these food packages. Of course the packages had been opened and check by Australian Customs, and they wonderful aroma of the dried Shanbalileh would be seeping out of the box.
As time progressed, we were able to purchase the the pre-packaged Ghormeh Sabzi dried herbs, and now we can purchase the sabzi, already fried and ready to add in a can.
This recipes uses fresh herbs, with dried Shanbalileh (fenugeek leaves) as these fresh herbs are often hard to find. A food processor makes this method much easier and less time consuming.
You can either use canned kidney beans or dried, pre-soaked kidney beans. If you use the canned beans, then you can add them to Ghormeh Sabzi , about 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
Dried Persian limes (Limu Omani) are an integral part of this Persian herb stew. The dried limes are unique to Persian cuisine and are often added whole to dishes such as Gorme Sabzi. You can either add dried limes whole or crushed.
As the Gormeh Sabzi cooks, the mixture becomes quite a dark green and the spinach thickens the stew. This Persian herb stew is not thickened like many of the usual Persian khoresh resulting in a delicious liquid for the rice to soak up.
Serve with steamed basmati rice and thickened yogurt.
Koresht Gorme Sabzi – Persian Lamb & Herbs Stew
This dish is well known in Persian Cuisine. The delicious aroma of the Ghormeh Sabzi Persian herb stew cooking will fill the street. Many times I've had guests for dinner and when greeting them at the door they comment on the wafting aromas as they walked down the street.
Too prepare the fresh herbs including the spinach, wash well, and chop finely. A food processor makes light work of this, processing in batches with the pulse setting. Being very careful not to over process.
In a heavy based large frying pan, heat the oil with the turmeric. Fry the diced lamb on a medium high heat until brown and the juices are sealed.
Add the prepared fresh, finely chopped fresh herbs and the dried fenugreek leaves, and lightly fry.
Lightly crush the dried Persian limes and add to the saucepan.
If using pre-soaked kidney beans add these now.
Add lemon juice and enough water to well cover the ingredients, at least 1 litre.
Bring to boil and then lightly simmer on a low heat for about 2-3 hours. Adding water as required.
About half way though the cooking time, add salt to taste.
If using canned kidney beans, add these about 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
Notes
Traditional Gorme Sabzi can be quite oily. I often miss out on the frying of the meat and finely chopped herbs and add the water directly to the uncooked meat and fresh herbs. This does result in a different taste to the dish, but is much healthier.Both dried and canned ghormeh sabzi persian herb herb mixtures are available in Persian grocers, making this a quick and easy dish.
Fenugreek leaves, otherwise known as Shanbalileh or Methi is widely used in Middle Eastern and Indian cooking. It is one of the herbs used in Gormeh Sabzi and Kookoo Sabzi. Read more about the history of fenugreek.
Although this delicious Cafe Glace is initially imported from France, it is considered to be as much a part of the Persian Culture as Tea, Adjil and Pistachios.
It is enjoyed in the hot afternoons. A firm favourite
Iced Coffee – Cafe Glace
Although this drink is imported from France, it is considered to be as much a part of the Persian Culture as Tea, adjil and Pistachios.
Doogh, a Persian yogurt drink, is very refreshing, and a must with any Persian Kebab. It is surprisingly easy to make, and even more so if you have a Soda Stream to give you soda water on demand.
Any plain natural yogurt can be used for this recipe, but the thicker the yogurt, the more soda water you will need to add.
The amount of salt added is very personal as some people like it a lot saltier than others.
In our family, we always have doogh with Kebab in summer, and it has been the tradition that the kids make the doogh while the Kebab is cooking. The recipe is really that simple.
How to make Doogh – Yogurt Drink
Add natural yogurt to a glass jug, and with a whisk, stir in salt and dried mint.
Very gently pour in soda water. To stop the soda water from bubbling too much wile pouring into the jug, gently tip the jug on the side so the soda water is being poured onto the side of the glass jug rather than into the middle of the jug.
Serve over ice with a sprig of mint for decoration.
This yogurt drink can be made in advance and stored in airtight bottles in the fridge ready to serve. Remember to give it a gentle shake before opening as the yogurt will settle to the bottom of the bottle over time.
Yogurt Drink – Doogh
This refreshing yogurt drink, known as Doogh, is a must with Persian Kebab and rice, Chelow Kebab. Commercial versions of Doogh are becoming more readily available, but it is very easy to make and the ingredients are available in most kitchens. Perhaps an acquired taste to some Westerners but once appreciated it is a must at any Persian BBQ.
