KHORESHT-E GHEIMEH
IRAN
Khoresht-e gheimeh is one of the most common khoreshts in Iran, mainly because it is economical and can be prepared all year round, given that it does not call for any fresh produce. My first taste of gheimeh was on my last trip to Iran. I was in Isfahan on the day of ‘Ashura, the day of mourning for Shi‘ite Muslims to commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein (the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson), his companions, and members of his family in Karbala. I was staying in a charming boutique hotel near a large mosque and both places were an extraordinary scene of frenzied cooking. In the hotel, the cook was preparing a khoresht-e gheimeh for two hundred people, and at the mosque, the cooks were making a chicken kohresht for three thousand! And of course they were also cooking gigantic quantities of rice to serve with the stews. During ‘Ashura food is distributed and old and young men process through the town and flagellate themselves to share in the suffering of their saint. I first went to the mosque’s kitchens to watch the cooks soak huge quantities of rice in enormous vats before draining and boiling it, as well as wash hundreds of chickens to make the khoresht. It was an astonishing spectacle with the mammoth pots filling the kitchen, each placed over a low gas fire with either the stew or the rice cooking in it. I missed out on the killing of the lambs that were tied together in a tiny room across the courtyard from the kitchen.
Within the mosque, the cooks had laid long plastic sheets on the carpet to serve the meal they had cooked to those coming in after the procession. I then walked back to the hotel to watch the people from the neighborhood filing into the hotel to pick up their share of khoresht-e gheimeh and rice. The hotel cook garnished the gheimeh with chips, but in homes, the garnish would be either French fries or cubes of fried potatoes. Some people replace the potato garnish with fried eggplant.
SERVES 4
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for deep-frying the potatoes
4 lamb shanks (3 pounds 5 ounces/1.5 kg total)
2 medium onions (10½ ounces/300 g total), halved and cut into thin wedges
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Finely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons (30 g) tomato paste
4½ teaspoons ground dried limes
1 pound (450 g) yellow split peas, rinsed
4 pale dried limes, pierced in several places
Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
Sea salt
9 ounces (250 g) potatoes, cut for French fries
1. Heat the 3 tablespoons oil in a heavy pot over medium heat until hot. Add the shanks and brown them all over, about 10 minutes. Remove to a plate then add the onions and cook, stirring regularly, until golden brown. Add the turmeric and pepper to taste and mix well.
2. Return the browned shanks to the pot and add 4 cups (1 liter) water. When the water starts bubbling, add the tomato paste and ground dried limes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and let bubble gently for 45 minutes, stirring every now and then.
3. Add the split peas, whole dried limes, lemon juice, and salt to taste and continue cooking for another 40 to 45 minutes, or until the peas are soft but not mushy and the meat is tender. If the sauce is watery, uncover the pan, increase the heat, and let it boil hard until it has thickened.
4. Meanwhile, place a fine-mesh wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet or line with paper towels. Pour 1 inch (2.5 cm) vegetable oil in a deep skillet and place over medium heat. To test the temperature of the oil, drop in a piece of bread. If the oil immediately bubbles around it, it is ready. Fry the potatoes until golden and drain on the paper towels or set on the rack—the latter will keep them even more crisp. Lightly salt the fried potatoes.
5. Transfer the khoresht to a shallow serving bowl. Scatter the fried potatoes all over, or pile them in the middle. Serve immediately with the rice.