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AI-generated photograph: A deep hand thrown earthenware bowl of very dark green herb stew with tender pieces of lamb and red kidney beans, a whole black dried lime sitting in the glossy sauce, seen from a low side angle

Home · Recipes · Ghormeh sabzi, lamb and herb stew with dried lime

Persian · Dinner

Ghormeh sabzi, lamb and herb stew with dried lime

slow fried herbs · lamb and kidney beans · dried lime

AI-generated photograph

Ghormeh sabzi is the stew many Persian families call their national dish: lamb and kidney beans slow cooked with a mountain of herbs that are fried until dark and fragrant, and whole dried limes that make it gently sour. Serve it with chelow, Persian steamed rice.

Contains: none of the 14 allergens, as written. None of the 14 allergens is in this recipe as written. The lamb, herbs, fenugreek, dried limes, kidney beans and spices contain none of them. Frozen herb mixes and some dried limes are packed where other foods are handled, so check the packets.

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 700g boneless lamb shoulder or neck fillet, cut into 3cm pieces
  • 1 teaspoon fine salt
  • Half a teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 100g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • 100g coriander, finely chopped
  • 30g chives, finely chopped (or the green tops of 6 spring onions)
  • 2 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves (also sold as kasuri methi in Indian and Persian shops)
  • 4 dried limes (limoo amani: small limes dried until hard and dark, sold in Persian and Middle Eastern shops)
  • 1 tin (400g) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 lemon

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Let's cook

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large heavy pan or casserole on a medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and golden.
  2. Stir in the turmeric, then add the lamb. Turn the heat up a little and cook for 5 minutes, turning the pieces, until they are lightly browned on all sides. Season with the salt and pepper.
  3. Pour in 900ml boiling water, bring it back to the boil, then turn the heat down, cover and simmer gently for 1 hour.
  4. Meanwhile, fry the herbs. Heat the other 2 tablespoons of oil in a wide frying pan on a medium low heat. Add the parsley, coriander and chives and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until they shrink right down and turn a very dark green and smell deep and savoury. Do not let them blacken.
  5. Stir the fenugreek into the herbs for the last minute only. Too much fenugreek, or burnt fenugreek, makes the stew bitter.
  6. Pierce each dried lime 2 or 3 times with the tip of a sharp knife so the stew can get inside. Add the fried herbs, the limes and the kidney beans to the lamb and stir well.
  7. Cover and simmer gently for another 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring now and then and adding a splash of water if it gets too thick. It is ready when the lamb is very tender and falls apart when pressed with a spoon, with no pink left inside, the sauce is thick and dark and a little oil has risen to the top.
  8. Squeeze in the juice of half the lemon, taste and add more lemon or salt if needed. Press the limes against the side of the pan with a spoon to release more sourness, then serve with chelow.

Tips

  • Like most stews it is even better the next day. Cool it within 2 hours, keep it covered in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to 3 months, and reheat until it is steaming hot all the way through.
  • The dried limes are for flavour; most people leave them on the side of the plate, though some like to squeeze the soft insides into their rice.
  • Fresh herbs are worth the chopping, but many Persian shops sell frozen ghormeh sabzi herb mix; fry 300g of it straight from frozen until dark.

Swaps

  • Cheaper: use diced beef chuck in place of the lamb and simmer it for 30 minutes longer in the first step.
  • No meat: leave out the lamb, use 2 tins of kidney beans and 400g chestnut mushrooms browned hard in the oil, and simmer for 45 minutes in all after the herbs go in. Then it is vegan.

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

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