Iranian kebab is one of the most favorite and well known Iranian traditional foods. Kebabs are made based on various recipes. That’s why you see a long list of them in Iranian restaurants’ menus. What you read here is how to grill Kabab Koobideh, which is the ground meat version of it.

There’s a whole range of various types of Kebabs grilled in Iran. People use their oven’s grill at home or a metal short-legged or long-legged barbeque to make this food outdoor on the gentle heat of fiery charcoal. Iranians have referred to Kebab in their literature for centuries. It’s even well known outside of Iran and has its own fans across the world.

Ingredients for Making Iranian Kebab:

• 500 g ground lamb (flank)
• 500 g ground beef (sirloin)
• 2 medium onions, grated
• 1 pinch saffron threads, crushed
• ½ tsp. black pepper powder
• Salt
• Sumac

Directions to Grill Kabab Koobideh:

1. Put grated onion in a sieve and press it to release and discard the juice.

2. Put the crushed saffron in a cup and add two small ice cubes. Set it aside and let the ice cubes melt slowly.

3. Mix ground lamb and ground beef in a large bowl and knead them well. Then add grated onion, soaked saffron, black pepper powder, and salt. Mix them with the meat thoroughly into a smooth paste. When you’re done, cover the bowl with cellophane and refrigerate it for 2-3 hours.

4. Remove the bowl from the fridge and get ready to skewer the Iranian kebab. Take a bowl of cold water next to yourselves. Wet your hands in cold water. Take a handful of the mixture and make a ball. Place a wide metal skewer on it and start spreading the meat ball around the skewer. To do this, use your thumb and index finger. Continue with the rest of mixture and skewers.

Notes:

• Use a little bit more pressure at both ends of your meat spreads. It helps the meat to stick more securely to the skewers while grilling.
• Leave a few inches from the tip and handle of the skewers free for grilling.
• The mixture should be about ½ inch thick around the skewers.
• Put the prepared skewers on a tray with raised sides to avoid meat touching the surface and refrigerate them for a while.

5. Arrange the prepared kebabs on a grill. To avoid the meat falling off the skewers on the heat, start turning the skewers right away in order that you’ve arranged them. Do it for a few minutes until both sides of the kebabs start grilling at the same time. After that you can let one side grill completely and then turn it to the other side.

Note:

It’s necessary to follow this instruction. If you wait for one side to get grilled completely while the other side is raw and then start turning it, the meat can’t stick to the skewers and falls apart.

6. Place the grilled Kabab Koobideh between two sheets of bread and pull out the skewers. It’s time to enjoy your home made Iranian Kebab!

Notable Tips to Make Kabab Koobideh

• Grind your meats two or three times. The more you grind it, the smoother and stickier paste you will have.
• Don’t add turmeric to your mixture ever! It spoils the taste.
• If your skewers are new, you’d better put them on heat for a while and then start using them after getting cold. Otherwise, it would be probable that the meat fall off the skewers.
• Your mixture for this kind of kebab have to be made up of lamb only or a mix of beef and lamb. It’s not possible to use just beef because it’s not fatty enough.

How to Serve Kabab Koobideh

 

 

 

Every culture has got its own way of serving food. Iranian gastronomy is no exception. They have two ways to serve this dish:

• Serve it on a platter with sheets of Lavash or Sangak bread (Iranian traditional breads). Each person can take a kebab on their plates, cut it to small pieces, wrap it in a piece of bread, and eat it.
• Serve it with rice. That’s what Iranians call Chellow kabab. You’ll need a spoon and fork to eat it. In Iran, it’s almost served with a small stick of butter on the side which gets melted slowly by the heat of your dish. You can spread it over the rice or kebabs based on your taste.

Note:

Most of the people use a spoon and a fork to even cut the Kabab Koobideh, not a knife, but you can ask for it if you’re in a restaurant and it’s not already placed in front of you.
You can decorate the kebabs with some sumac and most commonly used table vegetables, parsley and basil. For Iranians, the most favorite side dish with this food is grilled tomato. But there can be some others like Yogurt, table vegetables, lemon (to squeeze it and spread the juice on kebabs), or raw onion (chopped into pieces).

The most favorite beverage with Iranian kebab or Chelow kabab is Doogh (Iranian yogurt drink) seasoned by dried mint powder or some other local herbs.
If you’re in Iran, no matter in which city or area, you can have this food in your menu. So, don’t be in doubt, order it! And if enjoyable, I’m sure it will be, try this recipe to repeat this amazing taste experience for yourselves and share it with your family or friends at home.

 

It’s one of the most popular foods in Iranian gastronomy. A reason for the popularity of Khoresht Gheimeh is that, in most religious occasions and ceremonies in Iran, it’s one of the most common dishes cooked and distributed as a votive food. “Khoresht” is the Persian equivalent for “stew”.

In some areas of Iran, there are slight differences in the recipe of this Persian food. But they all have the basic ingredients (yellow split peas, dried lime, and French fries) in common. However, the following is the main and most common recipe for Khoresht Gheimeh.

Ingredients of Khoresht Gheimeh:

• 500 g stew meat (lamb or veal)
• 1 big onion, finely chopped
• 1 ½ cup yellow split peas, pre-soaked for a about 1-2 hours
• 4 medium sized potato, cut into long thin strips
• 4 dried limes
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• Cooking oil
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• Salt and hot pepper powder
• ¼ tsp. crushed saffron threads (optional)
• ½ tsp. cinnamon powder (optional)

Directions to Cook Khoresht Gheimeh:

1. Put the crushed saffron in a cup and add one small ice cube. Set it aside and let the ice cube melt slowly.

2. Drain the pre-soaked peas and put them in a pot. Add about 3 cups of water and put the pot over high heat. When the water starts boiling, reduce the heat to medium and let the peas simmer with the lid on to get nearly undercooked. Then, remove the pot from heat, drain the peas, and set them aside.

Note:

• Cover the pot with the lid loosely to keep it from boiling over.

3. In a stewpot, fry finely chopped onions with 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat until slightly golden.

4. Add turmeric powder and fry for a few more minutes.

5. Add the meat and increase heat a little bit. Stir until the meat cubes get brown.

Note:

• You can substitute lamb or veal with turkey. But it’ll take more time to get ready and cooked.

6. Add the prepared peas and saffron to the meat. Mix them and continue heating.

7. After about 3-4 minutes, add 3 cups of boiling water to the mixture and stir a bit. Increase heat to bring the mixture to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium and let your stew simmer gently with the lid on for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Notes:

• In case you need to add some more water before the end of the cooking time, use boiling water.
• While the stew is simmering, you have enough time to make the French fries needed for garnishing.

8. Take a frying pan. Put the sliced potatoes into it. Add about 2 tablespoons of oil. Fry them over medium heat until they are golden and crispy. Then, add a little bit salt, stir for a few seconds, and set the pan aside.

Note:

• Instead of homemade French fries, you can use packaged French fries.

9. At the last 30 minutes of simmering, add salt, hot pepper powder, tomato paste, and dried limes. (salt and pepper to your taste)

Notes:

• If you heat the tomato paste with one tablespoon of oil for a few minutes in a frying pan before adding, it’ll give the stew a better color.
• Before adding dried limes, pierce them with a fork. This way, the sour flavor of the lime penetrates your stew while simmering.
• You have to add salt and dried limes when the meat and peas are tender. Otherwise, they don’t get cooked properly, and will take much more time to get ready. Also, if the stew simmer for a long time with dried limes in it, its taste will turn bitter.
• You can substitute dried limes with lemon juice, or use both together if you like your Khoresht Gheimeh to taste sourer.

10. Add the cinnamon powder at the last 15 minutes if you like its flavor.

Note:

• It’ll give a dark color to your food if you add it sooner.

11. After the intended time, get the lid off and check the Persian food you’ve cooked. If you can see a thin layer of oil floating on the top and it’s got the desired consistency (which resembles that of a spaghetti sauce), it’s ready to serve.

How to Serve Khoresht Gheimeh:

This stew is served with rice like other Iranian stews. You can serve it in a big bowl for all or in small ones for each person. Use the French fries to garnish the bowls.

To eat this savory Persian food, take a spoonful of the stew, put it on your rice, and take a mouthful of both using a spoon. A fork can be used to help taking the mixture of stew and rice in the spoon.

Common side dishes to have with your meal can be table vegetables, green salad, yogurt, or various kinds of pickles. And the most favorite drink served with this food is Doogh (Iranian yogurt drink seasoned by dried mint powder or some other local herbs).

You’ll be pleased with the taste of this Persian food, especially the one you yourselves have made it.

It’s one of the ancient Persian foods dating back to Sassanid era. As part of a tradition, Khoresht Fesenjan was cooked in Nowruz ceremonies to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring. This stew is one of the traditional Persian dishes cooked throughout Iran, but it’s originally from Mazandaran province, central north of the country.

In hunting seasons, fall and winter, people in northern parts of Iran sometimes use the meat of hunted birds like duck or goose for this food. At other times, and also most commonly, chicken or turkey is used. People prefer Khoresht Fesenjan more during cold seasons.

Ingredients of Khoresht Fesenjan:

• 500 g chicken thigh or ground veal
• 1 big onion, finely chopped
• 400 g walnut
• 1 tbsp. flour (to thicken the stew)
• 1 cup pomegranate molasses (sour, sweet, or sour-sweet; to your taste)
• 3 tbsp. sugar (optional)
• Cooking oil
• ½ tsp. turmeric powder
• Salt

Directions to Cook Khoresht Fesenjan:

1. Fry finely chopped onions with two tablespoons oil over medium heat until slightly golden.

2. Add turmeric powder and stir for just a few more minutes.

3. Add chicken and continue heating until the meat pieces get golden brown on all sides. Then set them aside.

Notes:

• You can cut chicken into medium size pieces.
• If you wish, bone-in chicken can be used instead.
• If you want substitute chicken with ground veal, there’s no need to fry the onions separately. Mix the veal, onions, turmeric powder, and salt (to your taste) thoroughly. Then, make medium size meat balls, fry them until brown, and set them aside.

4. Toast the flour in a pot over low heat until slightly brown. Remove it from heat and let it cool down.

Note:

• While toasting, stir the flour constantly, otherwise it burns quickly. And don’t make it too brown because it’ll give a bitter taste to your food.

5. Toast the walnuts in a pan for about 2 minutes. Then, let them cool down.

6. Get the toasted walnuts medium or finely chopped in a food processor.

Note:

• You can substitute about ¼ of walnuts with pistachio or almond.

7. Add about 3 cups cold water gradually to the toasted flour and stir simultaneously. In this way, you prevent forming lumps.

8. Add chopped toasted walnuts. Put the pot over high heat and bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, stir the mixture constantly and watch it not to boil over.

9. Add the prepared chicken or meat balls and stir a bit. Then, let the stew simmer gently for about 2 hours over low heat with the lid on. Stir approximately every 30 minutes to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Note:

• Put the lid on loosely to prevent boiling over.

Note:

• You better cook this Persian dish gently over low heat to let the walnuts give off their oil. That’s the only oil needed for this food.

10. At the last 20 minutes, add pomegranate molasses, sugar, and salt (to the taste). Stir for a few minutes and then let it continue simmering.

Notes:

• You can substitute sugar with palm or grape syrup.
• Adding sugar or the amount of it depends on how sour or sweet you prefer your Khoresht Fesenjan to be. So, adjust it to the taste. The amount of pomegranate molasses can also be decreased or increased a little bit if you wish.

11. Take a look at the stew. If it’s as thick as a spaghetti sauce, the meat is tender, and you can see a thin layer of oil floating on the top, your food is ready to serve.

Note:

• If the meat is tender but the mixture does not have the desired thickness, remove the meat from the stew and then continue heating for a few more minutes. Before serving, you can add the meat again.

How to Serve Khoresht Fesenjan:

This Persian dish is served with rice. Have the stew in a bowl and, if available, garnish it with pomegranate seeds. Table vegetables and green salad are more common to have beside this Persian dish. And to drink, Doogh (Iranian yogurt drink) can be the best option.

This Iranian traditional food has a lot of fans, but more specifically, it can be one of your choices if you have a sweet tooth.

It dates back to hundreds of years ago when Iranians made this food called Dizi. The reason for such naming is that people traditionally cooked and served it in small stone dishes called Dizi. It’s actually the name of the container. Iranian traditional restaurants still use these stone dishes for this food.

Iranians also call this traditional Persian dish Abgoosht, which literally means “meat broth”. This high-calorie food, which is a good source of protein, is more common and preferred in winter. It would be originally made with lamb and chickpeas only before tomatoes and potatoes were introduced to Iranian cuisine and developed the recipe.

Meat and beans are the major ingredients of Dizi, but in some areas locals may add different things to the recipe based on their tastes. For example, in northern parts of Iran, garlic, and in Kerman province, people may add caraway for seasoning. In Armenia, people cook a similar food too.

Follow the recipe and cook this popular and nutritious food at your home.

Ingredients to Cook Dizi:

• 500 g bone-in lamb (shank, shoulder, or short ribs), cut into medium-size pieces
• ½ cup chickpeas, pre-soaked overnight
• ½ cup white beans, pre-soaked overnight
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 2 peeled garlic cloves (optional)
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 4 dried lime
• 2 medium tomatoes, halved
• 2 medium potato, cut into four pieces
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 cup sour grapes (optional)
• Salt, black pepper powder, and lime juice, to the taste
• Dried mint leaves, for seasoning (optional)
• Dried tarragon leaves and fresh mint leaves, for garnishing

Directions to Cook This Traditional Persian Dish:

1. Put the lamb, chickpeas, white beans, chopped onions, and garlic cloves in a pot. Sprinkle turmeric and pepper powder. Then add about 6 cups of water and bring them to a boil.

Notes:

• Don’t remove the meat’s fat. It provides the needed oil for cooking this traditional Persian dish.
• Some use beef instead of lamb to cook Dizi, but lamb is much more preferred and common.
• You can substitute white beans with kidney or rose coco beans. Or, you can omit the beans and use chickpeas only. In that case, the amount of chickpeas has to be doubled.

2. While boiling, skim the foam floating on the top. Continue until no more foam is produced. Then, cover the pot and let it simmer over medium heat for about 2 hours until the meat and beans are tender.

3. Add potato, tomato halves, tomato paste, dried limes, and sour grapes. Stir a bit and cover the pot again. Let it simmer for about more 30 minutes.

Notes:

Pierce the dried limes with a fork before adding them to the pot.

• If you like to have sour grapes in your Dizi, make sure you reduce the amount of dried limes and lime juice. Otherwise, your food may taste more sour than desired.
• If you heat the tomato paste with one tablespoon of oil for a few minutes in a frying pan before adding, it’ll give the stew a better color and flavor.

4. In the last 15 minutes, add salt and lime juice.

Note:

• Adding salt from the beginning prevent the meat to cook properly, and thus, it takes more time to get your food ready.

5. Finally, when all ingredients are completely tender, you’re done with the cooking phase.

Note:

• If you feel the food needs more time to be over heat, don’t worry. Let it simmer for more time. Just watch it not to lose too much water.

6. Put a colander over a big bowl and drain the ingredients. Set the broth aside.

7. Remove the bones from the meat. Transfer the ingredients to another bowl and mash them all up into a paste.

Note:

• In case of using shanks, If you like, you can remove the morrow from the bones and add it to the broth or to the mashed up ingredients.

8. Taste the broth and paste for seasoning, and then, get ready to serve.

9. If you’re going to use dried mint for seasoning, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a frying pan over low heat until sizzling. Crumble the mint leaves in your hand and add them to the oil. Stir it continuously and continue heating for just 1 minute. Then, remove it quickly from heat or it can easily burn. Add the sautéed mint to the broth.

How to Serve Dizi:

This traditional Persian dish has to be served hot, otherwise, you spoil the its taste. The other point is that you should serve the broth and the paste in separate dishes – the broth in a bowl with crumbled tarragon leaves sprinkled on the top, and the paste on a plate garnished with fresh mint leaves.

An interesting part of serving this food for guests is to let them mash the ingredients themselves, and it’s what happens in almost all traditional restaurants in Iran. While serving Dizi, the waiters offer guests meat smashers to crush the ingredients if they like to have it in form of a paste. This is only an offer, because some people prefer it unmashed.

You should have the broth first in your preferred way. To get started, tear a sheet of bread into small pieces and soak them in the broth. Then use a spoon to stir it a bit and eat this delectable mixture. What you make with your broth is called Terid in Persian. Afterward, go for the paste. Spoon a small amount onto a piece of bread and put it in your mouth. Bon appetite!

The Kind of bread commonly preferred with Dizi is Sangak, an Iranian traditional bread. Iranians serve table vegetables, sliced raw onion, yogurt, and various kinds of pickles alongside this traditional Persian dish. And to drink, Doogh (Iranian yogurt drink) is the best and most common option.

Table vegetables are the best side dish you can have with this food because they help it get easily digested. You can season table vegetables and sliced onions with a little bit lime juice and salt.

I hope you cook this convenient and nutritious Persian food and enjoy its unforgettable taste.

Travelling to the north part of Iran, specifically Gilan province, Mirza Ghasemi is one of the most popular dishes you hear about. It dates back to Qajar period when Mohammad Ghasem Khan, the governor of Rasht (the capital of Gilan), made this food for the first time. So it was named after him, and gradually, went through across the country. It’s usually served as an appetizer.

It takes you a little time to prepare the ingredients and cook this Iranian appetizer. More importantly, it’s a healthy food mainly consisting of vegetables. What follows is the recipe for popular, time saving, healthy Mirza Ghasemi.

Ingredients to cook Mirza Ghasemi:

• 6 medium eggplants, unpeeled
• 5 garlic cloves, grated or minced
• 2-3 medium tomatoes, grated or diced
• 2-3 eggs
• 1/3 cup Cooking oil
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• Salt and pepper powder
• Fresh parsley and mint leaves, for garnishing

Directions to prepare Mirza Ghasemi:

1. Wash the eggplants under cold water properly.

2. Grill the eggplants over hot coals, on stove, or in oven until the skin is charred and they get tender. Then let them cool down for a few minutes. Take the skin off and dice them. Set side.

3. In a pan, fry the prepared garlic with turmeric powder over medium heat until slightly golden. Then add the prepared eggplants and mix them.

Note:

• You can substitute oil with butter if you like the flavor.

4. Add the prepared tomatoes, salt, and pepper, and mix. Cover the pan and let the mixture simmer for about 15 minutes over medium heat. Stir a few times.

Notes:

• If you like, remove the skin of tomatoes before dicing or grating. To make it easier, score an X at the bottom of each tomato and blanch them for about 1 minutes. This way, the peeling process can happen rather quickly and effortlessly.
• If you’re not satisfied with the color of your Mirza Ghasemi, add some tomato paste to your taste and continue heating for a few more minutes.

5. When the mixture is not watery anymore, it’s time for the eggs.

6. Crack the eggs into a bowl. Season them with salt and pepper, and whisk.

7. Add the prepared eggs to the pan. Stir until the eggs are cooked and well mixed with the eggplant and tomato. Then it’s ready to serve.

Note:

• You can crack the eggs directly on top, sprinkle some salt and pepper, and leave them whole. Or you can mix the egg whites with a knife gently and leave just the yolks intact. Anyway, in this case, cover the pan for a few more minutes to get the eggs cooked.

How to Serve This Iranian Apetizer:

Transfer the food into a bowl or onto a plate and use parsley and mint leaves to garnish. Then serve it with bread or rice. As an appetizer, it would be better to serve Mirza Ghasemi with bread. Sangak (an Iranian traditional bread) is the most preferred kind of bread to have with this Iranian appetizer.

Spoon a small amount of Mirza Ghasemi onto a piece of bread or the rice you have in your plate and enjoy your meal. Table vegetables, yogurt, green salad or Shirazi salad, and thinly sliced cucumbers are the common possible side dishes for this food. And as usual, yogurt is the most favored drink.

This traditional food is included in almost everyone’s list for tasting local foods while travelling to the north of Iran. It can be true about you, too, especially if you’re a vegetarian.