Abgusht - Iran

Ingredients:

1 lb lamb shoulder with bones

3/4 cup chickpeas

1/2 cup white beans (we used fagioli Cannellini)

2 medium-sized potatoes (peeled, then halved or quartered)

2 black limes – aka black limes or as limoo amani (or substitute the juice of 1-2 lemons instead)

a few cloves of garlic

1 large onion (peeled and quartered)

1 tablespoon white rice (just a little – to add some starch to the broth)

1 tablespoon tomato paste – dissolved in a bit of hot water

1 teaspoon turmeric (or a bit more, to taste)

dried mint for final garnish 1 tablespoon

2-3 bay leaves

salt & pepper to taste

Direction:

Soak lamb in cold water and add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar for 15 minutes. (Helps remove that particular lamb odor.) Drain. Pat dry. Trim the meat but do not rid it of its layers of fat (donbeh) – which are quite desirable to use in abgoosht, adding depth of flavor. Chop meat into a few pieces.

Sprinkle a bit of salt on the beans and chickpeas, add hot water to cover. Soak for 10-15 minutes. Drain.

In a big pot, bring meat, garlic cloves and 6 cups of cold water to a rapid boil. Boil for a few minutes – skimming foam in the process. Add rice, onion, turmeric, bay leaves, chickpeas, and beans (basically everything except for the potatoes and tomato paste and lemon juice), and bring to a gentle boil again. Lower heat, cover lid, and cook slowly until cooked. (Usually around 1 1/2 – 2 hours.)

Half an hour prior to the meet being fully cooked, add the potatoes.

15 minutes before it being done, add the tomato paste and lemon juice (if you were not using the dried limes, OR, in addition to the dried limes.)

Once done, check seasoning and adjust to taste with salt, pepper and more lemon juice if desired.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet till sizzling. Crumble dried mint between palms and sautee in oil for just one minute, stirring it frequently. (No longer than a minute because it can easily burn.)

Serve!

Notes:

Abghoosht in its authentic traditional way was cooked in something called dizi sofali (clay pots which enhanced the flavor) or in cooper pots. In modern times, we will have to make do with what is at hand. If you’re lucky enough to have dizi pots, place a diffuser on the oven to use.

A cook must decide whether to favor the broth or the mashed-up meat+potato+chickpeas+beans gusht koobideh mashed-up paste. If the broth, cook it very slowly on a low heat and for long enough till the ingredients have fully released all their flavors. If favoring the gusht kubideh, cook it just long enough till the ingredients are fully cooked yet still retain their flavor.

Serve hot. Transfer broth to a big bowl and top with dried mint garnish.

Generally, and as is customary with most Persian food, abghoost is offered alongside with yogurt, soft flat bread, sabzi khordan (plate of mixed fresh herbs) and torshi (Persian pickles.) It is customary to break the bread into several pieces and drop it into the broth.

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