Ash-e reshteh
Local name : آش رشته
The Persian New Year soup, thick with beans, herbs and noodles, crowned with fried onions and crisp dried mint.
Photo : AilinParsa · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 75 min
- Total
- 100 min
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
Method
- Fry 2 onions in 4 tbsp oil over medium heat for 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove half for the topping, keep the rest in the pot.
- Add half the garlic and the turmeric, then the chickpeas, beans and water. Cook for 45 minutes (only 10 minutes with tinned pulses).
- Add the lentils and cook for 20 minutes. Then add all the herbs, the spinach and spring onions, season, and cook for 15 minutes.
- Add the noodles and cook for 10 minutes, stirring, the soup should be thick.
- Meanwhile, gently colour the remaining garlic in 2 tbsp oil, take off the heat and add the dried mint, it should sizzle without burning.
- Serve the soup topped with the fried onions, the mint oil and a spoonful of plant yoghurt.
The noodles symbolise the threads of life, which is why this dish is served at Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Kashk is a fermented whey, replaced here by a sharp plant yoghurt.
