Author: The Persian Cook

Limoo Amani, or dried lime is used extensively in Persian recipes as a souring agent. Used either whole, or crushed, these dried limes are available from Persian or Afghani grocery stores. They are easily dried at home with details in the Hints and Tips pages.

A salted pickled cucumber in brine and herb. These range in size from small, gherkin size to as big as a dill cucumber. Specifically, these do not have any sugar added in the pickling process.

A thick buttermilk. Available as a dried powder or bottled. kashk can be found in Persian or Afgani grocery stores. Substitute kashk with thickened fresh buttermilk, sour cream or thick yoghurt.

Ghee or clarified butter is butter that has been slowly boiled to remove excess water. Ghee has a higher boiling point than butter making it a fair better choice for cooking with high temperatures. Ghee is available from the supermarket, or Indian, Persian and Afghani grocery stores. Also know as Clarified Butter

Okra is a green vegetable that is eaten widely in the Middle East and Northern Africa. It is well known for its slimy goo that the seed pod produces once cut. The green okra seed pods are a tapered, oblong shape with ridged skin.Look for fresh okra smaller than about 10-12cm long otherwise if they…

Almonds are widely used in Persian Cooking. They are used in a variety of forms from salted almonds in adjil to slivered almonds in the Shireen Polow and ground almonds in the delightful Almond Macaroons.

Adjil is a mix of nuts, seeds and dried fruits. The mix is totally a personal thing with some families preferring more seeds (tokhmeh), pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc, while some families will add more nuts. There are two types of Adjil, sweet or salty. The sweet mixture lending heavily towards a variety of dried…