To make this delicious stew vegan, just omit the beef from the recipe and replace water with vegetable or vegan chicken flavor broth.
Dried limes and dried fenugreek are available online and at Persian or Middle Eastern (or Israeli) supermarkets.
Persian beef, herb, kidney bean and dried lime stew (ghormeh sabzi)
Course: Main courseCuisine: Persian, IranianDifficulty: MediumServings
6
servingsPrep time
30
minutesCooking time
2
hours30
minutesTotal time
3
hoursINGREDIENTS
1 lb. beef chuck, in 2 inch cubes
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1½ cups dried kidney beans
3 Persian dried limes (see note above)
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 large bunches Italian parsley
3 large bunches cilantro
1 bunch green onion
4 leeks
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves (optional, see note above)
Rice, to serve
DIRECTIONS
- Pat dry chuck and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. With pot is hot, add chuck and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer chuck to a bowl. Add onion to pot and sauté until golden, about 8 minutes.Add tomato paste and cook for another minute. Add chuck back to the pot together with beans, limes and turmeric. Cover with water (about 3-4 cups) and bring to boil. Skim any foam from the top, then cover pot, reduce heat to low for a ,and cook on low simmer for about 2 hours, until beef is very tender.
- In the meantime, chop parsley, cilantro, green onion and light green and white parts of leek. Heat the rest of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook herbs, onion and leek until wilted, about 3 minutes.
- When beef and beans are tender, add cooked herb mix and fenugreek leaves to the pot and salt to taste, mix, cover and continue to cook for another 20 minutes.
- Serve over rice.
