Persian Gorme Sabzi

This is my all time favourite Persian dish. I remember when we first came to the UK, I was just 7 years old when my mum decided to take me out to a Persian restaurant however forgot her purse at our hotel. We went with one of her friends and she only had enough money for 2 main dishes and rice. I clearly remember ordering Gorme Sabzi with rice and they ordered another dish (can’t remember what it was) and they both looked on at me with patience thinking ‘She’s only a tiny girl, she won’t eat all of her food so we can share hers’!! How wrong they were.

I finished the whole plate (and if I could have licked the plate I would have) and since that day, this dish has been my favourite of all Persian dishes.

Of course back in those days, I wasn’t vegan however now I enjoy this dish ‘plant-based’ version and replace meat with Shiitaki mushrooms, which gives it a nice meaty substitute and add black eye beans for protein.

Truly scrumptious.

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 cups parsley fresh
1 cups cilantro fresh
2 tbsp of fresh fenugreek leaves (from frozen) or 1 tsp dried
2 tbsp olive oil or melted coconut oil
4 cups of shiitaki mushrooms (this is used in place of meat) cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp black pepper
Sea salt to taste
1 can of black eye beans or kidney beans, drained
4 dried limes, whole

Method

1. Wash and finely chop the parsley and coriander.

2. Add fenugreek leaves and fry all herbs together in 2 tbsp of olive oil. Fry until the herbs start to turn dark (not burnt). Leave to one side.

3. In a small saucepan, add the dried limes with enough water to cover them and bring to boil, then simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes until the lime has softened.

4. In a large saucepan, add 2 tbsp of olive oil and fry the mushrooms for 10 minutes.

5. Add the salt, pepper and turmeric to the mushrooms and mix.

6. Add the kidney beans and mix.

7. Add the dried limes and mix.

8. Add 2 cups of just boiled water and turn heat down to simmer for 20 minutes.

9. Add the fresh herbs and leave to simmer on low heat for 1 hour. The longer the stew cooks, the tastier it becomes.

10. If the stew needs more water, add little by little. You want a thick stew consistency, not too watery.

11. Once the stew is ready, serve with rice and some sabzi kordan (mixed fresh herbs with radishes and baby cucumbers - see picture below)!

Gorme Sabzi Stew

Sabzi Kordan (mixed fresh herbs with radishes and baby cucumbers)

Want to get your hands on my latest Cookbook: Middle-Eastern Nutritious Cooking ~ Plant-based which includes many of our best loved Persian dishes?