Khoresht e Gheimeh

This is one of the first dishes I learn to cook when I was a 17 yrs old and years later I still love making it and eating it! This dish is very easy to make, a kind of throw it all in and wait for it to cook. The key to Khoresht e Gheimeh is in the taste. It’s supposed to be quite sour and so I use a lot of dried limes but you can vary it to suit your own taste. Completely gluten free, nutritious and tastes divine. Limu Ormani are available from all Iranian grocery stores but you can use lime juice if you dont have them.

Ingredients:

• 500 gr’s of lamb
• 1 large onion
• a bowl of split yellow pea’s or two good handfuls
• A can of tinned tomatoes
• tomato paste
• turmeric
• A 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon ( optional)
• 4-5 small to medium  limu ormani or whole dried limes or 2-3 tablespoons of lime juice.
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Water

Preparation:

• Chop the onion
• trim and cube the lamb
• wash the split yellow pea’s

Method:

1. Fry the onion in a pan until golden
2. Add the lamb, salt and pepper  and cook until colour changes
3. Add 1 teaspoon of turmeric and mix in well
4. Add the tinned tomato’s and about 1-2 tablespoons of tomato paste. The khoresht should be quite red in colour
5. Cover with hot water
6. Add the split yellow pea’s. If you want to cook the split peas separately you can, although I have never found it necessary. They need about 30-40 minutes to become soft.
7. Leave to stew for about 90 minutes or until lamb is tender. You will need to keep an eye on it and add more water as you need to.
8. About 15 mins before you are ready to serve, take 2 large potatoes, peel and cut into fine chips.
9. Fry these until golden and place on the top of your greimeh before you serve.

Serve with white basmati rice and a fresh green salad, mast or natural yoghurt, sabzi khordan and naan.

Nooshi joonet . Enjoy