Recipe-1 › Curries of the world › Ghormeh sabzi
Iran’s best-loved stew, often called its national dish: lamb or beef with kidney beans in a deep green mass of fried herbs, made sour with dried limes. It has no chillies; the flavour comes from the herbs, turmeric and the dried limes.
Same steps, different flavour base MildRecipe-1 is one simple curry recipe in nine steps: fry onions and green chillies, add your vegetables or meat, add chilli powder and turmeric, then water and salt, and boil. With small changes the same nine steps make curries from all over the world.
This page takes those nine steps and shows what to change to make Ghormeh sabzi. You don’t need to read anything else first: every base step is written out below. The changes are worked out on paper from what is typical for this dish; not yet kitchen-tested. Cooked it? Tell others how it went.
Green: the base recipe step (crossed out = do not use it for this dish)Red: what to do instead for Ghormeh sabzi
See the full base recipe (with timers and tips) · See all curries on the world map
The amounts change with the number of people; cooking times stay about the same (use a bigger pot for more). Taste as you go: you can always add more chilli or salt, but you cannot take it out.
Main ingredient: 600 g Lamb or beef, in small cubes.
Where a step has a red line, do the red line and not the crossed-out green base step. Steps with only green are done just as in the base recipe.
Base step: do not useCut onions and chillies.
Ghormeh sabzi: do thisChop the onion and leave out the chillies. Separately, fry the chopped herbs in a little oil for 10–15 minutes until dark green and fragrant.
Base step: do not useFry in some oil for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.
Ghormeh sabzi: do thisFry the onion until golden.
Base step: do not useCut the vegetable(s) of your choice.
Ghormeh sabzi: do thisUse the meat.
Base step: do not useAdd them and fry for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.
Ghormeh sabzi: do thisAdd the meat and fry until browned.
Base step: do not useAdd red chilli powder and turmeric.
Ghormeh sabzi: do thisAdd turmeric and a little black pepper, but no chilli powder.
Keep frying until just before they start browning.
Base step: do not useAdd some water.
Ghormeh sabzi: do thisAdd water to cover, then the fried herbs and the pierced dried limes.
Add salt.
Base step: do not useBoil until the gravy is as thick as you like.
Ghormeh sabzi: do thisSimmer covered for 2–3 hours until the meat is soft and the stew thick, adding the kidney beans for the last 30 minutes.
Serve: With Persian rice (chelow), ideally with the crisp tahdig from the bottom of the pot.
For meat and seafood, make sure it is cooked through: chicken until no pink remains inside; mutton, goat and beef need long, slow cooking.
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