Kalehjoosh

Walnuts and kashk carried by dried fenugreek and dried mint, with no noodles in it at all.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (kashk), dairy (yogurt). Vegetarian only if you leave out the optional lamb.

Ingredients

• 300 g kashk, as on its own page
• 200 g thick yogurt
• 150 g walnuts, coarsely ground
• 3 onions, sliced
• 2 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves
• 2 tablespoons dried mint
• 200 g lamb, in small dice, optional
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 80 ml sunflower oil
• flatbread, to serve

Method

1. WALNUTS AND KASHK CARRIED BY DRIED FENUGREEK AND DRIED MINT, WITH NO NOODLES IN IT AT ALL. Its article gives the Iranian composition as a short list -- meat optionally, kashk, yogurt, dried fenugreek, dried mint, roasted onions and walnuts -- and every item on it is doing something the noodle soup on this site does not. The walnuts are ground in and thicken it to the consistency of a thin porridge; the dried fenugreek is bitter and is what stops a bowl of soured dairy being merely sour; and there is no pulse, no noodle and no fresh herb anywhere in it.
2. THE ONIONS ARE ROASTED OR FRIED DARK, AND THEY ARE THE SWEETNESS. Three of them, sliced and cooked in the oil over a medium-low heat for twenty-five minutes until properly brown rather than golden. With kashk, yogurt and fenugreek all pulling in a sour and bitter direction, the caramelised onion is the only sweet thing in the pot and it has to be cooked far enough to deliver.
3. THE KASHK AND THE YOGURT BOTH GO IN OFF THE HEAT. Neither will take a boil. Take the pan off the flame, let it stop bubbling, then whisk in the kashk and the yogurt. Boiled, both curdle into grains.
4. IT IS LET DOWN WITH WATER TO THE THICKNESS YOU WANT, NOT COOKED DOWN. Because the thickening is walnut and dairy rather than starch, reducing it just risks splitting it. Add hot water a little at a time until it pours thickly.
5. THE WALNUTS ARE GROUND COARSE AND ADDED EARLY. With the onions and the turmeric and a little water, simmered fifteen minutes before any dairy goes near it, so the oil comes out of them.
6. THE DRIED MINT IS BLOOMED IN HOT OIL AND POURED OVER. Ten seconds in hot oil until it darkens, then spooned onto each bowl. Stirred in dry it tastes dusty.
7. THE MEAT IS GENUINELY OPTIONAL AND ITS ARTICLE SAYS SO. Small dice of lamb, browned with the onions if you want it. Left out, nothing else about the method changes.
8. ITS IRANIAN FORMS DIFFER BY REGION. Its article names Isfahan, Yazd and Khorasan as having their own recipes and cooking styles. It is eaten with flatbread, torn and dipped or broken into the bowl.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Iran · All recipes