Minoo’s Recipe for ‘Ash-e-Reshteh’

‘Ash-e-Reshteh’ is a kind of heavy-duty Persian soup which can be eaten as a meal in itself. (Reshteh is a sort of Persian pasta; if you can’t get any, thin pasta is not a bad substitute). We sometimes make this in winter to eat with our friends at the Ninteen Day Feast. In the following amounts this meal serves about 4-5 people.

Ingredients

Chopped spinach (1 cup)

2 large sliced onions

5 cloves chopped garlic

Cooked chick peas (1 cup)

Cooked lentils ½ cup

Chopped fresh coriander (1/2 cup)

12 oz ‘reshteh’ or thin pasta

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 Teaspoon turmeric

Cooking oil

Instructions

Fry chopped onion and garlic with the turmeric in a medium saucepan until golden brown. Fill saucepan two thirds with water. Add vegetables and herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on a low heat for c. 1 hour (Refilling with water if it evaporates). C. ten minutes before serving add ‘reshteh’ or pasta to still-cooking ash . Serve hot with a garnish of fried garlic or onion (fried with a little turmeric).