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Vegetarian ghormeh sabzi
Herb and kidney bean stew
Khoresh ghormeh sabzi: slow-cooked Persian herb stew with kidney beans and dried lime
Ghormeh sabzi is often called Iran's national dish: a dark green stew of slowly fried herbs, kidney beans and whole dried limes that perfumes Iranian kitchens on Friday mornings and turns up at nearly every family gathering. The original is made with lamb; this vegetarian version uses mushrooms and plenty of beans for body, and keeps the deep, sour, almost smoky herb flavour that makes the dish. It is spooned over chelow with its crust on the side. Chef's tip: fry the herbs in oil until they turn very dark green and smell nutty; that long frying is the flavour of the stew.
- Total time
- 90 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the herbs
- 7 oz flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped
- 3 ½ oz fresh corianderfinely chopped
- 3 ½ oz chivesor leek greens, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
For the stew
- 6 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 onionsfinely chopped
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 10 ½ oz chestnut mushroomsquartered
- 1 lb cooked kidney beanstwo 400 g tins, drained
- 4 dried limespierced twice with a knife
- 3 ¾ cups water
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp lime juiceto taste
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Heat 4 tablespoons of 3 ⅝ tbsp sunflower oil in a large heavy pot over a medium heat. Add 7 oz flat-leaf parsley, 3 ½ oz fresh coriander and 3 ½ oz chives and fry, stirring every minute or two, for 15–20 minutes. They will collapse, darken from bright to deep bottle green and smell toasty rather than fresh.
20 minStep 2: Stir in 2 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves for the last minute. A common mistake is adding too much fenugreek or frying it from the start: it burns and turns the whole stew bitter.
1 minStep 3: Tip the herbs into a bowl. Add the rest of 2 ⅜ tbsp sunflower oil to the pot and fry 2 onions over a medium heat for 8–10 minutes, until golden. Stir in 1 tsp ground turmeric for 30 seconds.
10 minStep 4: Add 10 ½ oz chestnut mushrooms and fry over a medium-high heat for 6–8 minutes, until they have given off their water and started to brown.
8 minStep 5: Return the herbs, add 1 lb cooked kidney beans, 4 dried limes, 3 ¾ cups water, 1 ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer over a low heat for 40 minutes, stirring now and then. Press the limes against the pot halfway through so they fill with sauce and sink.
40 minStep 6: Taste. The stew should be thick, glossy with a little oil on the surface, and sour in a deep, rounded way. Add 2 tbsp lime juice if it needs more sharpness, and more salt if needed.
Step 7: Rest for 10 minutes off the heat; like most khoresh it tastes even better the next day. Serve over chelow, warning guests that the limes are for squeezing, not eating whole.
10 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 400 kcal
- Protein
- 14 g
- Carbs
- 34 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 13 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does vegetarian ghormeh sabzi take?
- About 90 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 65 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of flat-leaf parsley?
- Curly parsley or coriander, same amount.
- What can I use instead of fresh coriander?
- Flat-leaf parsley with a little mint (for people who dislike coriander too).
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