Ash Reshteh

Method

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1. Drain the soaked chickpeas and beans, cover with fresh water and boil 50 minutes until nearly tender. Add the lentils and cook 20 minutes more. Drain, keeping the liquid.

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2. Cook the 2 sliced onions in the 5 tablespoons of oil for 15 minutes until deeply golden. Add the turmeric for 1 minute.

   Mark done Start 15 min timer

3. Add the beans, lentils and 2 litres of water or stock and simmer 20 minutes.

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4. Add all the herbs and spinach and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the soup has darkened and thickened.

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5. Add the noodles and salt and cook 10 to 12 minutes until soft and the soup is thick enough that a spoon leaves a trail.

   Mark done Start 10 min timer

6. For the crisp onions, fry the very thinly sliced onions in the 4 tablespoons of oil over medium heat for 15 minutes until deep brown and crisp. Lift out onto paper.

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7. In the same oil, fry the garlic for 30 seconds, then take the pan off the heat and stir in the dried mint. It will sizzle and turn dark green — do not let it burn.

   Mark done Start 30 sec timer

8. Loosen the kashk with a little hot water to a pouring consistency.

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9. Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with kashk, mint oil and crisp onions, in that order.

   Mark done

Chef’s Tips

• Mint into oil off the heat. Burnt mint is acrid and there is no fixing it.
• Thick enough for a spoon to leave a trail. Ash is not a broth.
• All three toppings, every bowl. That is where the flavour is.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• Out of spring onion? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the usual stand-in when you are out of fresh garlic — it will not caramelise the same way, but it carries the flavour.
• Fresh herbs work in place of the dried mint at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.

Pairing Suggestions

• Flatbread
• Pickled vegetables
• Hot black tea

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerate up to 3 days. It thickens considerably; loosen with hot water when reheating.

Common questions

Nutritional Highlights

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.