Monday 15 October 2012

Ghormeh Sabzi (herbs, beans and meat stew)

Every Persian cook has their own way of making ghormeh sabzi. We don't want you to think this is the traditional way to make it but we have seen Persians cook it and this is our version of this delicious stew. It full of greens and protein!

INGREDIENTS:
Oil

1/2 bunch of celery
2 bunches of parsley
A bit of dry mint and fenugreek*

1 medium onion diced
Meat on bone (we used 2 pieces of beef osso buco and diced it)
1-2 cans of red kidney beans
4 dried lemons* slightly broken for the flavours to come out (not too much because the seeds are really bitter)
The juice of 1-2 limes (depending on preference)
Salt and pepper to taste and any other spices you'd like to add (we use turmeric and ground cumin)
Water

1. Chop finely the celery and parsley and put in a frying pan with a bit of oil until it is soft. Remove from heat and save (you can fry it in batches days or even weeks in advance and store in the freezer in an airtight container or freezer bag).
2. Heat a large pot with some oil. Add the diced onion and slightly brown. Add the diced meat and the bone, and brown both sides.
3. Add the celery and parsley to the meat and stir in the mint and fenugreek**. Throw in the drained beans and stir.
4. Add the salt and pepper, the dried lemons and the lime juice. Add some water just to cover the stew. Once boiling, lower the heat, stir and simmer for about 2 hours, stirring every once in a while. Taste and adjust salt if required. Some people like to take the dried lemons out because they can be quite bitter (especially the seeds).

Serve with long grain white rice -we prefer basmati.

*You can find dry fenugreek, mint and dried lemons in middle-eastern stores.
** We added previously fried and frozen herbs without thawing so we reduced the amount of water added at the end. You can also add other herbs. We have added fresh chives when we had them.


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