Ghormeh Sabzi, or Persian Green Herb Stew

Persian food, by and large, is not what you'd call "pretty". The stews, in particular, range from dark green and gloopy to dark, dark brown and gloopy. Regardless, if I had to choose one culture whose food I would have to eat for the rest of my life, it would be Persian.

As I've gotten older, I've perfected a few dishes while still striving for my mother's touch in others. Ghormeh Sabzi, or "Green Herb Stew" is one of the few I've nearly perfected.

Ghormeh Sabzi is deliciously savory and loaded with the flavors of several different green herbs. It's traditionally served atop Polow, but this past weekend, C and I just ate it with lavash bread. Very peasant, very comforting.

A note about the recipe - I buy my herbs from Nick Market, already washed and chopped. My mom does the same thing. In this day and age, there is no reason on earth to do all that cleaning, stripping and chopping oneself.

Ghormeh Sabzi

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. turmeric
1 boneless chuck roast* or 1.5 lbs of lamb stew
1 c. green onions, green parts only, finely chopped
1.5 c. spinach, finely chopped
1/2 c. italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/4 c. cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1/4 c. chives or scallion tops, finely chopped
1/4 c. fenugreek leaves, finely chopped
juice from one lemon
4-5 dried persian limes, leemoo-amonee
1 can red kidney beans

1. Saute the onion over medium-high heat in a couple of tablespoons of canola oil until it is a deep golden brown. We call this piaz-daagh. Add the turmeric, frying another minute or two, then add the stew meat. Toss well to coat in turmeric, and cook until the meat is browned well on all sides.
2. Meanwhile, fry the herbs in a health splash of canola oil until they are fragrant and deepening in color. Watch them carefully as they will go bitter if burned. You want them to be a deep, dark green without blackening.
3. Add the fried greens to the meat & onion mixture, stirring well. Add 1.5 - 2 cups of water (you want a "slurry", but not "soupy" mixture). Season with salt & pepper to taste (easy on the pepper). Add the lemon juice, turn the heat down, and let the whole thing simmer, covered, for 1.5-2 hours, or until the greens are mostly softened. (Note: if you are using dried beans, you will want to add them at this point)
4. About an hour into the simmer, add the leemoo-amonee (any sooner and they will turn the stew bitter), pushing them down into the liquid. They will want to pop back up, so try to cover them with a few pieces of meat to keep them submerged.
5. Finally, add the drained kidney beans, and cook another 30 minutes. Check your seasoning level, adding more lemon juice if needed (before you do, though, press down on the dried limes to get them to release the liquid they've absorbed)

Serve with Polow or, if you're slumming it, with lavash bread.

If you're the type to like weird flavors, taste a tiny bit of the leemoo amonee, but know that it's pungent and bitter. Thus, don't dish it up for guests, or you'll have hell to pay when they bit into what they think is a nice hunk of meat.

*I don't use beef stew meat for this dish, as I've found that sinews and connective tissue add a richness to the final product. If using lamb, it should be fatty enough that it doesn't matter. But for beef, get the roast and cut it up yourself, retaining the sinews but discarding the big chunks of fat.

Comments

[San Francisco Culinaire]

oooh yeah...

This one was always the most fun to try and explain to friends. "Well, it kind of tastes like grass and beans."

Ghormeh Sabzi is definitely the most interesting Persian dish I have had. Well, that and ice cream with noodles in it :P

Thanks for the recipe! more More!
Miro

[David]

Iranian cusine is very fine and complex. Ghormeh Sabzi is a delicious dish.

[Patricia]

I am a big fan of ghormeh sabzi and would love to make it myself someday - however, I wonder if it's okay to just buy the ready-made, dried sabzi I can find around here or if that just doesn't taste good?

[Mark Fowlkes]

Your recipe is very similar to mine, excepting that I usually add 1/2 cup dill to the herbs, and 1 tsp.cinnamon, and about 7 cloves of garlic. I'm American, but I have a half-Iranian nephew, who visits Tehran and eats his grandmothers Gormeh Sabzi. He claims mine is superior to hers, a real compliment. The dill and cinnamon can be found in many Persian families versions of GS, but the garlic is my own touch, I find that it adds a welcome pungeancy and depth to the dish. I think this is my favorite Iranian dish.

[Ardashir]

The big mistake is to fry the sabzi too much. The azeris who are famous for their cooking in Iran only simmer the sabzi lightly and let the stew boil very slowly. This preserves the amazing flavour of the sabzi instead of resulting in "khoresht-e kah" which my mom calls the Tehrani ghormeh sabzi.

[Diane Kallgren]

My friend, whose husband is Persian, taught me to make Ghormeh Sabzi from a recipe in "The New Food of Life" cookbook (it is available in English at Barnes and Noble). I add my own twist to the Ghormeh Sabzi recipes using 1 cup (dry) Sadaf brand dried herb mix and an additional cup of water along with 2 cups (cooked) Kale or Collard greens (Kale works best). I bash my dried limes before I add them, and I serve the Sabzi over brown basmati and with Sadaf herb mix in/for yogurt. Yum, yum! If you can't find an Persian food store in your area, look for a Mediterranean (sp) store. They often stock Persian foods. Enjoy!

[Sornik]

A link to Limoo Omani (dried lime) is here:
http://www.kalamala.com/dried-limes-p-891.html

You can find Ghormeh Sabzi herbs here:
http://www.kalamala.com/ghormehsabzi-herb-mixture-p-461.html

[Fred]

I had forgotten the name of this dish. It has been a long time since I lived in Iran. This is one of my favorites. I love it over partly crispy rice cooked with a bit of saffron. Most of the people I know take one look at it and won't even try a taste. No problem -more for me... While I was in graduate school; some Iranian friends dropped in while I was cooking this stew and some rice. They were really surprised. I ended up cooking it fairly often.
My recipe probably isn't exactly right. I don't use any beans. I don't use cilantro (my big sister used to make me eat cilantro salad - I can't stand the taste...) I'm also liable to add whatever greens (mustard, collard, etc.) that are available from the garden to the spinach and parsley. Venison or goat meat works in a pinch; but I prefer beef. I guess I'm not much of a gourmet. What matters is that the meal tastes good and provides strength and health. I modify recipes according to what's available and affordable.

[Sonja]

Thank you! I have been looking for a good ghormeh sabzi recipe for awhile. Persian cookbooks don't seem to have it...We have a great Persian restaurant called Darya ("ocean") in my area and it is my favorite restaurant adventure. Chicken barg and salad shirazi top off my list of favorites!!

[Fatemeh]

Sonja - you must live in Orange County. Darya is one of my favorite stops when I'm in the area. I hope you enjoy the recipe!

[Fredrik Farhadian]

If there is anything like a Persian national dish, Ghormeh Sabzi is definetely it. In fact it´s so good you can eat it everyday without getting tired of it. If I want to cook something for my friends that gives them a hint of what Persian cuisine is all about then there is no better choice than Ghormeh Sabzi.

[zahra]

This is a good recipe. I think Shirazi people cook ghorme sabzi and better to say most of the persian dishes better than others in Iran. Azari people are well known for their good cooking too. PERSIAN FOOD IS THE BEST!

[Rein Keener-Lakpour]

I love this stew. My hubby, who is born and raised in Iran introduced it to me. I bought a wonderful Iranian cookbook which gives history behind each dish and holiday information.

Anyhow, I make this dish and my mother in law told me I make it better than any Iranian woman she knows. (I am a Ca. girl born and raised!) Now THAT's a compliment.

In fact, I have some on my stove right now simmering for our Vday dinner. Nush e Jan!

[ellie]

thanks for this recipe!! I appreciate the exact instructions as I have been trying to improve the way I cook this so I can cook it for my relative from Iran.

Our family doesn't eat meat so I make this using paneer (Indian style) which I cube and brown on all sides in a seperate pan before adding. I think it makes a good substitute because it is quite rich and high in fat like meat, and of course it tastes great.

People might also be interested to know that tareh are available from Chinese stores as they use them a lot. They call them 'jiucai'.