This very fragrant and hearty soup is perfect on these cool days
Aash-e (soup) is an important traditional Persian food culture. Every occasion has its special aashe-e, including weddings, religious celebrations and even when a baby gets its first tooth.
I saw a menu for a lunch Empress Farah gave in 1976 where she served an ache-e. I loved the idea of serving a peasant dish at the palace.
This recipe is from my book 'Pardiz'
The chickpeas and cannellini beans have to soak over night
Serves 6
- Ingredients
- 120 gr dried chickpeas ( soaked over night)
- 120 gr dried cannellini beans ( soaked over night)
- 120 gr Persian or basmati rice, rinsed in cold water 3-4 times
- 1 large Spanish onion, chopped
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 2-3 limou -amani ( dried limes) pricked all over with fork
- 2 1/2 litres of very good chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 bunch each of fresh Italian parsley, coriander and dill all chopped
- 1/2 bunch of fresh mint chopped
- 1 bunch of spring onions chopped
- 1 organic egg yolk
- 300 gr plain Greek yoghurt
- Garnish:
- 1 large Spanish onion finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon of plain flower
- 4-5 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons fry mint
in a large saucepan gently fry the onion, turmeric and chilli flakes in a little butter and olive oil
when the onion is soft, add cannellini beans, chickpeas and rice
mix well and add the chicken or vegetable stock and the limou-amani
bring to a gentle boil and cook covered until the pulses are soft ( 20 minutes)
now add all the herbs and spring onions and taste for salt
mix the yogurt and egg yolk together and pour it into the soup, stirring well to amalgamate
keep stirring for about 5 minutes until soup is silky
make the garnish by sprinkling flour over the sliced onion and gently frying it in a little oil
when crisp put on paper towels to drain off any excess oil
gently fry the garlic and dried mint for a few minutes
pour the soup in individual bowls and decorate with the garnish
