So I'm going to go ahead and say that I know that this post won't be my most popular. I might be bold enough to say that it might be my LEAST popular post. This is a recipe probably none of my regular readers would have heard of but I'm doing a post on it because it is my number one favorite food of all time.
I've mentioned this in random posts and in books that I used to be a slightly picky eater and that I feel like I blossomed out of that when I met Arrmon (my husband). His dad is from the Iran and they like to eat traditional Persian dishes. The first time I met his dad, his dad's best friend had made Ghormeh Sabzi, which is one of the most popular Persian dishes.
Ghormeh Sabzi literally means "herb stew" in Persian. It is a dark green stew made with kidney beans, onions, lamb or beef, and herbs (usually parsley, leeks, fenugreek, and cilantro - but different variations exist) and served over tahdig, this amazingly crunchy rice crust that I will go into more detail on in a bit.
When I first saw this stew, I thought "there is no way in H I'm eating that". But his dad is SUPER persistent about getting me to try foods....... some that I've loved and some that I've hated (ghormeh sabzi - love, vegetables fermented in a pickle jar beside his deep freezer - hate). Thankfully, he forced me to try Ghormeh Sabzi and I was in love from the first bite.
It takes a while to make and it really isn't that simple -- which pretty much goes against my philosophy of quick and simple cooking. However, I have simplified it as much as I possibly can, so it isn't too tedious and doesn't take a whole day to cook it. By saying that, I must also say...... this probably wouldn't be considered traditional Ghormeh Sabzi. I would never feel comfortable feeding this to a legit Persian chef but I think it’s amazing and so does my family - including my father-in-law!
Many recipes that I've found online use fresh herbs. I tried that once and failed miserably. I don't know where I went wrong but I'm not ever trying that again. Anytime my father-in-law's friend comes to visit, he brings me bags of the dried Ghormeh Sabzi herbs. I've also bought them on Amazon or from Sadaf's website. Also, traditional recipes use dried limes. I've never used dried limes, I just use fresh lime juice. Once again, I wouldn't serve his to a Persian chef (haha).
This amazing stew is served over something equally amazing. Tahdig. It's really just rice with a crispy crust but OMG. It is such a treat. It's the part of the dish that gets eaten the fastest. I've had lots of trial and error with tahdig - this is a picture of the most beautiful tahdig I've ever made. It is always a nice surprise to flip it out of the pan and see if it worked! I'm doing a separate recipe for the rice because it kind of takes some effort too.
So here is the recipe! If you ever try this, PLEASE comment or email me and tell me how it turns out and how you liked it. It really is my absolute favorite dish of all time!
Ghormeh Sabzi
Ingredients:
- 1 6-oz bag of dried Ghormeh Sabzi herbs
- 2.5 lb beef chuck roast, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Salt, to taste
- 1 quart beef broth
- 2 cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 1 tbsp sumac
Directions:
- Place the herbs in a fine mesh colander and place the colander in a large bowl. Pour 6 cups of water over the herbs and let them rehydrate for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion for 5 minutes.
- Add the rehydrated herbs to the pan and sauté for about 8 minutes, stirring often, until very dark green. Set the pan aside.
- In a large, deep saucepan, cook the meat until it is browned on all sides, but not cooked through.
- Add the herbs to the pan with the meat and add salt and 1 quart of broth.
- Simmer for 1 hour.
- Pour in the drained kidney beans, lime juice, sumac, and season with extra salt if needed.
- Serve over rice.
Rice with Tahdig
Ingredients:
- long grain white basmati rice
- 2 tbsp butter
- Salt
- Water
Directions:
- Place the rice in a fine mesh colander and rinse it several times until the water runs clear.
- Place a large bowl under the colander and soak the rice in 10 cups of cold water with 1 tbsp of salt for at least 2 hours.
- In a large pot that has a tight-fitting lid, bring 10 cups of water to a rapid boil.
- Drain the rice and pour it into the boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes. Drain the rice in the fine mesh colander and rinse with cold water.
- Rinse out and dry the rice pot and return it to heat. Add the butter to the bottom and melt it and make sure it evenly covers the bottom of the pot.
- Return the rice to the pot and poke 4-5 holes into the rice using the end of a wooden spoon to help release steam.
- Place the pot over low to medium low heat. Tightly wrap a large kitchen towel over the lid that goes on the pot and place it on the pot. Make sure the towel isn't hanging down. I always secure mine with a rubber band.
- Let the rice cook on low or medium low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Flip the rice onto a large serving platter then serve!