Ghormeh sabzi, at least according to Wikipedia, is the national dish of Iran. I’m pretty sure a culture is doing something right when their national dish is a stew full of greens. I studied Persian for two years in college and although I love the language, literature, poetry, and history of Iran, I have very little knowledge of the food. This is something that has to change, though. Tomorrow I am going to swing by a Middle Eastern grocery and stock up on ingredients and spend the next couple weeks cooking up lots of Persian dishes (this means you have to as well, Sakina!).
Ghormeh sabzi
(adapted from Gastronomie SF)
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1 large red onion, chopped
1 t turmeric
1/2 t cinnamon*
dash cayenne pepper*
1 lb stewing meat – lamb, beef, or veal
1 bunch spinach
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 bunch fresh dill
1/2 bunch cilantro (I used a whole bunch and it overwhelmed the dish), chopped
1/2 c chives, chopped
1/4 fenugreek leaves, chopped (I couldn’t find fenugreek, so I added a teaspoon of curry powder, as it contains fenugreek… among other things. Definitely not the same!)
1-1.5 c water or beef stock
juice of one lemon
4-5 dried Persian limes (I substituted with the juice of two limes)
1 15-oz can red kidney beans
salt & pepper to taste
Serves 4
* Cinnamon and cayenne pepper are not traditional to this dish. I added those two spices and some curry powder for a flavor boost because I left out the fenugreek.
- Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. When hot, add onion and cook until brown.
- Add the spices and incorporate them with the onion. Cook for about a minute. Add the meat to the pot and cook until browned.
- Heat a dollop of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add all of the greens to the pan. Saute them until they are vibrant in color and fragrant. This should only take a few minutes, so keep your eye on them and don’t let them burn.
- Drain herbs in a colander and let some of the oil drain out. Add the greens to the large stockpot with the meat and onions.
- Add lemon juice and about 1-1.5 c beef stock or water to the stockpot. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover the pot and let it simmer for about an hour. Add the dried Persian limes or lime juice to the pot. Simmer for another hour.
- Add kidney beans, simmer for about another 15 minutes. Take a taste test and add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice, if necessary.
Serve with basmati rice or lavash bread. If you can’t find lavash in your area, pita bread will suffice.
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Howdy,
I discovered your blog via tastespotting! Today I made your spinach soup. YUM! I will post my pics on my blog soon and will credit you with the recipe. But I wanted to say that this particular post / recipe “ghormeh sabzi” sounds intriguing and I may make this someday. I’ll let you know how it turns out if I do.
But here’s the reason for my comment: Fenugreek makes a lactating (nursing) mom produce MORE breastmilk! And it’s not just an old wives’ tale. It’s true. When I was nursing my now 2-yr old (almost) son, and my milk supply ran low, I popped a few Fenugreek capsules (purchased at a local health food store) my supply came back and then some! Just thought you might like to know. If you have any friends who are concerned nursing moms, they can cook up a batch of this recipe and see for themselves!
And by the way, I’m going to break open a few capsules to use in this recipe when the time comes to make it. So….. I am hoping the powder will suffice in flavor and taste!
Thanks for your great recipes!
andrea
PS. your site was down for a brief time today!
Just when I need the spinach soup recipe. Good thing for Google cache! 
Thanks so much for the comment, Andrea! It made my day.
I’m a sucker for cream-based soups. And do let me know if you make ghormeh sabzi. I don’t know any nursing moms, but I’ll keep that mind, haha.
Thanks for letting me know my site was down. Unfortunately, that’s the second time it’s happened this week. I’m not even exactly sure what the problem is, so that just adds to the frustration.
By the way, the curried potato soup on your blog looks soo good. I may have to make that this week!
- Rose
Hey there,
A buddy of mine (EJH3K) came across your site and your twitter and was telling me about it. So I took a gander today and saw you had ghormeh sabzi on your list. My mom is Iranian and I grew up eating many sorts of Iranian dishes. Ghormeh sabzi is actually my favorite.
The only thing I would say about it that, I have never eaten this other than serving it on top of white rice. (Dill rice is acceptable as well, but I’m not a fan) Your picture also looks like there’s to much water in it. While this dish is considered a stew, it usually isn’t eaten like one. That’s all.
A dish that I bet you would like (but I hate) is called “hush budum jun” (no idea on spelling from Farsi to English.) It’s a dish like ghormeh sabzi where your putting a stew like dish on top of rice. This dish in particular is an eggplant dish with beef or lamb.
Thanks! I’ll be checking your stuff out again.
-Amir
Hey Amir,
Thanks for the comment and advice. I actually let this simmer a half hour or so after taking the pic. It was getting dark and I can only ever manage to get decent pics in natural lighting and it was indeed, served with rice. I’m always on the lookout for Iranian dishes, but I’ve gotta admit – I almost always avoid eggplant. It’s one of the few vegetables I don’t really care much for.
Gormeh saabzi is the most delicious food in the entire world. Just saying. My mom used to make it for special occasions, which meant that I had to sit at our kitchen table for hours (HOURS, I am not exaggerating) removing every single last bit of stem from the mountains of herbs required. No Stems Allowed. And this from my mother who does not use measuring utensils. Ever.
So I have a lot of feelings about this most delicious food…2 suggestions:
1. There is no substitute for fenugreek, but there is an easy solution = you can buy dried fenugreek at most indian grocery stores – it is called Kasoori Methi. It comes in powder and leaf form, and I would stick to the leaves. SO DELICIOUS!
2. There is also no substitute for dried limes. Many people eat around them but they are my favorite part – when you break them open, all of the delicious gormeh sabzi lemony juice squirts out of them onto your rice. Oh man. The joy. This particular tip is not to taunt you, but rather to say that the search for dried limes may just end up being totally worth it