Ash Reshteh

Ingredients

Beans (one cup of each, dried)

• 80 g dried chickpeas
• 80 g dried red kidney beans
• 80 g dried green lentils
• 50 g pearl barley (optional, traditional in some versions)

Base

• 4 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 2 onions (large, one finely diced, one sliced thin and reserved for the topping)
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 ½ litres water (or vegetable stock)

Herbs

• 1 large bunch fresh parsley (about 60 g, chopped fine)
• 1 large bunch fresh coriander (about 60 g, chopped fine)
• 1 large bunch fresh dill (about 50 g, chopped fine)
• 1 small bunch chives (or spring onions, about 30 g, chopped)
• 400 g fresh spinach (washed, roughly chopped)

Noodles

• 200 g Persian reshteh noodles (sold at Iranian shops, substitute linguine broken into 5 cm pieces if unavailable)

Toppings (essential!)

• 4 tablespoons sunflower oil (for fried onions)
• 1 onion (large, sliced thin, fried deep brown - about 12 minutes)
• 3 tablespoons sunflower oil (for mint oil)
• 6 garlic cloves (sliced thin)
• 2 tablespoons dried mint
• 150 g kashk (Persian fermented whey, sold at Iranian shops, substitute thick Greek yogurt + lemon juice if unavailable)
• 4 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt (extra, for the swirl)

Method

Stage 1 - Soak beans

1. Place chickpeas, kidney beans and barley (if using) in a bowl with 2 litres of water.
2. Soak overnight (lentils need NO soaking - add fresh to the pot at Stage 3).
3. Drain.

Stage 2 - Onion base

1. Heat 4 tablespoons oil in a large stockpot over medium heat.
2. Add the finely diced onion (NOT the one for topping); cook 10 minutes until soft and gold.
3. Add turmeric and salt; cook 30 seconds.

Stage 3 - Beans

1. Add the soaked chickpeas, kidney beans, barley AND the unsoaked green lentils to the pot.
2. Pour in 2 ½ litres of water (or stock).
3. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer; partially cover.
4. Cook 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes until all the beans are tender. (Lentils may break down; that's fine - they thicken the soup.)
5. The soup should be like a thick porridge consistency; if too thick, add more hot water.

Stage 4 - Herbs

1. Add the chopped parsley, coriander, dill, chives and chopped spinach.
2. Stir to combine - the soup darkens to a deep green.
3. Simmer 15 minutes - the herbs cook into the soup and integrate.

Stage 5 - Noodles

1. Add the reshteh noodles (break them in half before adding if they're long).
2. Stir; cook 8-10 minutes until tender (the noodles will swell and the soup will thicken substantially).
3. Taste; adjust salt - ash reshteh needs generous salt.

Stage 6 - Crispy fried onions

1. While the soup simmers, heat 4 tablespoons oil in a wide pan over medium-high.
2. Add the thinly sliced onion; fry 12-15 minutes, stirring often, until deep brown and crisp.
3. Lift onto kitchen paper. Reserve the onion oil.

Stage 7 - Mint-and-garlic oil

1. In a small pan, heat 3 tablespoons sunflower oil over medium-low.
2. Add sliced garlic; cook 1 minute until just gold.
3. Off heat (or barely simmering); stir in the dried mint. It should sizzle and turn deep green.
4. Don't let the mint burn - that's why it goes off heat.

Stage 8 - Serve

1. Ladle ash reshteh into deep bowls.
2. Top each bowl with:
   • 1 spoon of kashk (or yogurt-lemon if using as substitute)
   • 1 spoon of mint-and-garlic oil drizzled across
   • A scatter of crispy fried onions
   • A swirl of plain Greek yogurt
3. The toppings are part of the dish, not optional. The kashk + mint oil + fried onion + yogurt is the FOUR-WAY finish that makes ash reshteh.
4. Eat with hot flatbread or sangak.