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SofrehNameh

A digital archive of Iranians' rich culinary heritage.

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Ash Reshteh
Soups and Ash

Ash Reshteh

Āsh should not be understood as the name of one specific dish with a fixed recipe. Rather, the term refers to a broad family of thick, one-pot, slow-cooked foods in Iranian cuisine similar to porridge and soup. Different types of ash may contain various combinations of grains, legumes, herbs and vegetables, noodles, dairy products, fruits, sour flavorings, and, in some cases, meat. Among  wide varieties of ash, ash reshteh (noodles) is one of the best-known examples. It is usually made with legumes, local herbs, and noodles prepared from wheat flour, and seasoned with Kashk.Ash-e Reshteh, one of the best-known varieties of Iranian ash, typically prepared with legumes, herbs, wheat noodles, and kashk (Maryam Ebrahimi, 2019)

Khoresht-e Gheymeh
Stews (Khoresh)

Khoresht-e Gheymeh

Split pea and tomato stew with lamb, topped with crispy fried potatoes.Gheimeh is a well-known Iranian stew categorized as khoresh. It is commonly prepared with small pieces of meat, yellow split peas, onion, dried lime, and spices, and is served with Chelow. In its common contemporary form, it is usually made with tomato or tomato paste and topped with thin fried potatoes. Gheimeh should not, however, be understood as a dish that has stayed the same throughout history. Like many traditional Iranian foods, its present form results from a long process of culinary change, traceable through language, literary texts, historical cookbooks, and shifting cooking practices.

Kotlet
Pan-fried

Kotlet

Kotlet is a familiar Iranian pan-fried patty, made from ground meat, potato, onion, egg, and spices such as salt, pepper, and turmeric. Despite its strong association with Iranian home cooking, it is a recent addition to Iranian tables. Apparently, this dish entered the country during the nineteenth century, when European cultural and culinary habits' influences were becoming increasingly visible in the Qajar court (Chehabi, 2003) (Mahdavi, 2015). Studying this dish in Iran illustrates how a foreign dish can be adapted through local ingredients, existing cooking practices, and repeated domestic use until it becomes part of everyday cultural heritage.Kotlet, a relatively modern dish that has nevertheless gained a distinctive place in Iranian food culture and everyday dining (Majid Salehi, n.d.)

Qorut Birjandi
Dairy-based Foods

Qorut Birjandi

Qorut Birjandi is one of the best-known traditional foods of South Khorasan, and it’s categorized as a dairy-based dish in Iranian cuisine. This dish prepared mainly from ‘’qorut’’, a local dried and fermented dairy product related to kashk. The dish has a thin consistency and is normally eaten by breaking bread into it, a practice known as tilit. Although its liquid form may look like a soup, it is not usually classified as a soup within Iranian food culture. Instead, it belongs to a wider group of Iranian dairy-based dishes.Qorut Birjandi a distinctive purple Iranian dish from South Khorasan (Elaheh Yaghoubi, 2026)

Sabzi Polo Mahi
Ritual Foods

Sabzi Polo Mahi

Sabzi Polo Mahi can be translated as "herbed rice with fish." In Persian, sabzi refers to fresh herbs or greens, polo refers to a particular form of cooked rice, and Mahi means fish. The name therefore directly identifies the three principal components of the dish. In its most familiar form, Sabzi Polo Mahi consists of fried, grilled, or roasted fish served with rice prepared with finely chopped aromatic herbs, most commonly dill, parsley, coriander, chives, or leeks, and occasionally fenugreek.