Vegetarian Khoresht Gheymeh

Tags

Gluten free, Khoresht, limoo amani, vegan, vegan and vegetarian khoresht, Yellow split peas

Vegetarian Khoresht Gheymeh (Yellow Split Pea Stew)

Vegetarian khoresht gheymeh is a real crowd-pleaser and doesn’t necessarily scream vegetarian when you double the yellow split peas and top it with extra fries. Gheymeh is the second most popular dish on my site, the first being gheymeh bademjan.

Start the dish by heating your oil and frying the onions until slightly golden. Then, add the seasoning, tomato paste and garlic, and cook the mixture to a beautiful yellowish orange color.

Next, add yellow split peas, limoo amani, saffron and hot water and bring the stew to a gentle boil and cook until the split peas are tender.

While the stew is cooking, peel the potatoes and cut them into matchstick pieces. Then, fry the potatoes to a golden color, and drain on paper towels.

Your vegetarian stew is ready when the yellow split peas have cooked and the sauce has thickened.

If you want the split peas to stay intact, always use the slow cooking variety. 

After tasting and adjusting the seasoning, transfer the stew to a serving platter and top with the golden fries.

Serve vegetarian khoresht gheymeh over fluffy and fragrant basmati polo accompanied with a side of Persian cucumber salad or yogurt and cucumber dip.

Vegetarian Khoresht Gheymeh (Yellow Split Pea Stew)

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Ready in: 1 hour
Yields: 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS

1 large onion peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons regular olive oil plus ¼ cup for fries
3 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped (optional)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon black ground pepper
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
pinch of saffron (optional)
3 large or 5 small limoo amani pierced with fork
¾ cup yellow split peas, picked over, rinsed and drained
3 cups hot water
3 small potatoes peeled and cut into matchsticks

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a medium pan. Add chopped onions and fry over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes or until onions are slightly golden. Stir occasionally to prevent onions from burning.

Mix in chopped garlic, tomato paste, turmeric, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the tomato paste is fried and the oil color is yellowish orange.

Add yellow split peas, limoo amani, saffron and hot water, and bring to a gentle boil. Lower heat to medium low, cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until the split peas are cooked.

While the stew is cooking, peel the potatoes and cut them into matchstick pieces. Heat ¼ cup oil in a large frying pan and fry the potatoes over medium-high heat until golden, stirring occasionally. Transfer the fries to a platter lined with paper towel and sprinkle with salt to season.

Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve vegetarian khoresht gheymeh over polo. For a great side dish accompaniment try Persian cucumber salad or yogurt and cucumber dip.

Vegetarian Gheymeh Bademjan Khoresht

Tags

eggplant, limoo amani, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian Persian stew, Yellow split peas

Vegetarian Gheymeh Bademjan Khoresht (Eggplant and Yellow-Split Pea Stew)

Of all the recipes I’ve posted over the years, eggplant and yellow-split pea stew has been the most viewed recipe, so I created this scrumptious Vegetarian Gheymeh Bademjan Khoresht recipe for the vegetarians and vegans out there :). Just because you’re vegetarian or vegan doesn’t mean you can’t have your favorite Persian stew. If you stumbled upon this post in search of the meat version of this stew, you’re in luck, because I posted the meat version of this Vegetarian Gheymeh Bademjan Khoresht back in December of 2014. Wow, how time flies!

To make the sauce, heat olive oil in a medium-sized pan over medium high-heat. Then add the chopped onions and fry for about 20 minutes or until onions are slightly golden. Mix in the chopped garlic, tomato paste, turmeric, salt and pepper and cook the mixture for about 5 minutes or until the tomato paste is fried and the oil color changes to a deep yellowish orange. By letting tomato paste brown in the pan, and sautéing it with spices and other aromatic ingredients like onions and garlic, you can boost the flavor of your sauce in a huge way.

Next, add yellow split peas, limoo amani , saffron and hot water to the onion mixture and bring it to a gentle boil. Lower the heat to medium low, cover and cook the stew for about 20 minutes or until the split peas are almost tender.

Prior to adding the Persian limes limoo amani, place them on the counter over a towel. Hold them with one hand so they don’t roll off the counter and use your other hand to pierce them with a fork. This is done so that the stew’s cooking liquid flows through the holes in the limes infusing the stew with their scented tang and subtle complexity.

While the split peas are cooking, start preparing your eggplants. First cut the top stems off. Then using a sharp knife remove the leafy part overlapping the flesh by making a shallow cut around the head of each eggplant. And, finally peel the skin with a vegetable peeler. Keeping the head prevents the eggplant from disintegrating while cooking and it also makes a nicer presentation.

Fry the eggplants until golden brown.

As the split peas start cooking, the sauce begins to thickens. Split peas may require less or more water to cook depending on how old they are. The older split peas need more water to rehydrate, so make sure to adjust the amount of liquid in your stew. Add more water if it seems to be too thick. You can always cook off the extra liquid by taking the lid off.

Gently press the Persian limes against the side of the pan with the back of a spoon to release their scented and tart juices into the stew. This is done to expedite the process, because it takes time for the dry limes to rehydrate and soften and for their juices to flow through the sauce.

When the split peas are ready, gently arrange the eggplants over them. Cover the pan and cook the stew over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes or until the eggplants are tender. Don’t stir the stew to keep the eggplants intact.

ALWAYS taste and adjust the seasoning. Just an extra amount of added seasoning toward the end could make a big difference in how your food tastes.

This dish is even better if made a day in advance or if left to sit awhile after cooking to allow the flavors to blend.

Serve this vegetarian gheymeh bademjan khoresht over fragrant and fluffy basmati polo with a side of Persian cucumber salad, yum!

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 hour 5 min
Ready in: 1 hour and 20 min
Yields: 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS

1 large onion peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons regular olive oil plus ½ cup for frying eggplants
3 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped (optional)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon black ground pepper
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
pinch of saffron (optional)
3 large or 5 small limoo amani pierced with fork
¾ cup yellow split peas, picked over, rinsed and drained
3¼ cups hot water
4 Japanese eggplants or 1 large globe eggplant

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a medium pan. Add chopped onions and fry over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes or until onions are slightly golden. Stir occasionally to prevent onions from burning.

Mix in chopped garlic, tomato paste, turmeric, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the tomato paste is fried and the oil color is yellowish orange.

Add yellow split peas, limoo amani, saffron and hot water, and bring to a gentle boil. Lower heat to medium low, cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until the split peas are almost cooked.

While the stew is cooking, heat ½ cup oil in a large frying pan and brown the eggplants.

When split peas are ready, gently arrange the eggplants on top. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes or until the eggplants are tender. Do not stir the stew to keep the eggplants intact.

Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve over basmati rice.

Vegetarian Khoresht Karafs

Tags

celery and mint, Gluten free, limoo amani, Persian food recipes, vegan and vegetarian khoresht, vegetarian celery stew, vegetarian Persian stew

Vegetarian Khoresht Karafs

Vegetarian khoresht karafs, celery stew, makes a great meatless Monday dinner and is a perfect meal for vegans and vegetarians. This stew is typically made with lamb and served over fragrant basmati rice, but this meatless version is just as tasty and filling as its meaty counterpart.

I made this vegetarian khoresht karafs using my authentic recipe and just left the meat out and added garlic. To add protein, you can use any meat substitute you like. If you like tofu, use firm or extra firm tofu because they hold their shape better and make sure to press out all the liquid so that they crisp up nicely when fried and better absorb the flavors of the stew. For a complete instruction on preparing tofu check out my vegetarian khoresht kadoo recipe. Cooked garbanzo beans, white beans or red kidney beans also work well with this recipe.

The fastest and easiest method to clean herbs like parsley, dill and cilantro is to leave the rubber band or twist tie on the bunch and just twist the stems off with your hand or using a knife cut across the rubber band or twist tie discarding the stems. It’s perfectly fine to use the younger and more tender stems. If you see any tougher stems while washing or chopping the herbs simply remove them. This is much more efficient than picking each leaf off the stem. Now cleaning mint requires more work because mint usually has tougher stems. The best way to pick the leaves is to gather the smaller clusters and pinch them off or just strip the larger leaves off the stems.

After cleaning the herbs soak them in a large bowel of water and let the dirt settle to the bottom of the bowl. I repeat this process until the bottom of the bowl is clean, usually 3 times. This has become my habit and no matter how clean the herbs are I still have to soak them 3 times but you don’t have to!

Once the herbs are drained coarsely chop and fry them for about 10 minutes.

To prepare the celery, cut both ends off the bunch and separate the stalks. Then either soak the stalks in cold water or rinse them under cold running water to get rid of all the dirt stuck to their root ends. Next stack as many as you can comfortably hold on a cutting board and cut either straight across the stalks or at a diagonal about 1/2 to 1 inch apart depending on your desired size. I usually remove the tougher and more stringy outer stalks and use the rest of the celery as well as the  leaves.

To create a real tasty stew, fry the onions until slightly golden. Then add the chopped garlic, seasoning and dry mint and cook the mixture for few minutes before adding water and Persian limes limoo amani.  Even though fresh mint is used in this stew, I like to finish cooking the onions with dry mint because its flavor is concentrated and more pronounced not to mention its amazing aroma when fried.

Once the sauce is ready, add the celery and herb mixture and cook for 40 minutes or until the celery is tender. Half way through cooking, gently press the Persian limes limoo amani against the side of the pan with the back of a spoon to release their juices into the stew, but don’t break them open because their seeds can make the stew bitter.

If using saffron, tofu or cooked legumes stir them in toward the end of cooking. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve vegetarian khoresht karafs over fluffy and aromatic basmati rice.

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 hour 20 min
Ready in: 1 hour 40 min
Yields: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 large onion peeled and chopped
8 tablespoons olive oil divided
3 garlic cloves peeled and chopped (optional)
1½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon dry mint (optional)
Pinch of ground saffron (optional)
4 Persian limes limoo amani pierced with a fork or ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups water
1 head of celery cleaned and cut into ½-inch pieces
3 bunches fresh parsley cleaned and chopped
2 bunches fresh mint cleaned and chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Add parsley and mint, cook for 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Add celery and cook for 10 more minutes.

While the celery and herbs are cooking, heat the remaining oil in a medium-sized pan. Add onions and cook for 20 minutes over medium-high heat until slightly golden, stir occasionally. Add seasoning, garlic and dry mint and cook for a minute or two until fragrant.

Add the celery and mint mixture, Persian limes and 2 cups of hot water, cover and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook on medium-low heat for about 40 minutes or until celery is tender.

Taste and adjust the seasoning. If using saffron, it’s best to add it toward the end of cooking.

Serve over fragrant basmati polo.

Ghormeh Sabzi (Persian Herb Stew) for Two

Tags

cooking for two, fresh herbs, herb stew, khoresht for two, limoo amani, Persian food recipes, Persian herb stew

Ghormeh Sabzi for Two

Another method of cooking any khoresht is to cook the meat in water first then add the rest of the ingredients. This method comes in handy when the meat is frozen and you have no time to defrost it. No matter which method you use, ghormeh sabzi is always finger-licking good.

Ghormeh Sabzi (Persian Herb Stew)

Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 hour 30 min
Ready in: 2 hours
Yields: 2 servings

INGREDIENTS

10 oz. stew meat (about 6 pieces 1.5-inch cubes or 1.5 cups)
1/2 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon turmeric
2 cups water
1 bunch fresh parsley (about 8 cups loosely packed leaves)
1 bunch fresh cilantro (about 4 cups loosely packed leaves)
1 small bunch fresh green onions (about 6)
2 teaspoons dried fenugreek or 1 tablespoon fresh
3 tablespoons oil
1 small onion chopped (about 3/4 cup)
2 whole dried Persian limes pierced with a fork
1/3 cup cooked red kidney beans (about 2 tablespoons uncooked)

INSTRUCTIONS

Add meat, water and a little salt and pepper to a small pot. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium low and cook for one hour.

While meat is cooking, wash and finely chop the herbs. Add herbs and 2 tablespoons oil to a frying pan. Cook on medium-high heat for about 15 minutes or until the herbs are fried and become aromatic. Stir frequently.

In a small pot, fry onions in 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat for about 6 to 8 minutes or until golden. Stir in salt, pepper, turmeric and lemons. Add fried herbs and onion mixture to the meat. Cook on medium-low heat for 30 minutes or until the meat is fork tender. Add cooked beans and adjust seasoning.

Serve with white basmati rice.

1. https://wpcomwidgets.com/render/