Gormeh Sabzi (Persian Green Herb Stew)

This is the weekend of cooking Persian while the flavours of Jila's delicious Iranian dinner last weekend are fresh in our minds.  Gormeh Sabzi is a popular dish in Iran and the word sabzi means green.

Gormeh Sabzi consists of a mixture of sauteed herbs – a combination of parsley, leeks, chives, cilantro, spinach and fenugreek leaves.  The meat is lamb and kidney beans are added at the end.  Dried limes give it a very pleasant flavour.

Dried limes are not something I have on hand so I made a trip to the Iranian grocery store.  While I was there I noticed the sangak (whole wheat sourdough flatbread), and in the freezer section there were packages of "green legume".  

Frozen, prepared green herbs and dried limes

I had anticipated also going to the vegetable market and picking up parsley, cilantro and other green herbs so I was pleasantly surprised to find them pre-cleaned, pre-chopped and pre-packaged.  I had to read the packages carefully because each pack of green legume had different herb combinations.  After only one stop, I was ready to head home and start the prep.

I already had some fenugreek from some Indian recipes I'd made, so I took the dried leaves and rehydrated them in water before using. Then I drained the excess water.  I don't actually know what fenugreek is but Krista thought it smelled like fresh grass clippings.

Rehydrating the fenugreek

Dried limes

You must have the dried limes.  You add them in the last hour of cooking and the smell and flavour imparted by these very ugly things is unbelievably good!  

Just remember to remove them before serving because they taste as good as they look.





The recipe follows but I'll just make a couple of comments to start.  This dish takes a couple of hours to simmer in order for the meat to get fall apart tender.  Don't rush it.  I didn't cook it long enough and the lamb just wasn't as tender as Jila's.  Live and learn.


You'll also notice in the photos that I used a variety of beans.   The various recipes I looked at suggested that some Iranians use black beans in place of kidney beans.  I had a package of beans in the freezer, so I just used what I had and it included black, kidney and white beans as well as some chickpeas.  I wouldn't get too hung up on the type of beans you use.  I'm equally sure that good Iranian mothers use only kidney beans and I've probably just done something really bad by not using them exclusively.

Gormeh Sabzi

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. turmeric

1-1/2 lbs of lamb stew (or beef)
1 cup green onions, green parts only, finely chopped
1-1/2 cups spinach, finely chopped
1/2 cup italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup chives, finely chopped
1/4 c. fenugreek leaves, finely chopped
juice from one lemon
4-5 dried persian limes (leemoo-amonee)
1 can red kidney beans, drained

Start cooking:

Saute the onion over medium-high heat in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until  golden brown. 

Add the turmeric, frying another minute or two.

Add the meat,  tossing well to coat in turmeric, and cook until the meat is browned on all sides.

Meanwhile, fry the herbs in a good glug of oil (canola or olive) until they are fragrant and turn dark green. Watch them carefully because if the burn and turn black, they will be bitter.

Add the fried greens to the meat & onion mixture, stirring well. Add 1-1/2 to 2 cups of water (you want it to be like stew, not like soup). Season with salt & pepper to taste. 

Add the lemon juice, turn the heat down, and let the whole thing simmer, covered, for 1-1/2 hours.

Add the dried limes (but not sooner - they will turn the stew bitter), pushing them down into the liquid and covering with a few pieces of meat to keep them submerged. Cook another 30 minutes.

Finally, add the drained kidney beans, and cook another 30 minutes. Press down on the dried limes to release any liquid they may be hiding.   Then taste and adjust seasoning.  Add lemon juice if you need to.

Serve it with rice.

I like it with sangak (bread).  It comes in a long sheet which I cut up up into manageable pieces.  

I bought this sangak at Costco.

Then I brush lightly with a bit of butter and put under the broiler until it's nice and warm but not crispy and burnt.  

Any leftover sangak can be put in the toaster the next day and eaten as toast.