Aashe Reshteh

Now I chose to soak my red beans and lentils the day of cooking, instead of overnight. In fact with the beans I had bought, I didn’t soak them too long since they would probably go really soft. It completely depends on the quality of the beans whether you should soak them for a long amount of time or just for a short amount of time (in my opinion). While my beans were soaking I went ahead and cleaned my parsley, cilantro, spinach, and green onions. After soaking them in water to make sure no mud was left behind (then rinsing them thoroughly) I chopped them up in a food processor. Make sure you don’t over chop the greens! Also, I only bought 1 package for my spinach, so I decided to use a chopped frozen package of spinach as well. For the aash it is best to use a very large pot. I placed some water in the pot and brought it to a boil, then after draining the beans (only the red beans, navy beans, and lentils) I allowed them to boil in the water for approximately 10 – 15 minutes. Once again I drained the beans and placed a little bit of my chopped onions (with some oil) in the pot. I added the beans back into the pot after the onions were sautéed a bit. If you would like you can add some turmeric powder to the beans. After this step I added water to the pot (note: the temperature for the stove top should be somewhere close to medium). Since I used a can of garbanzo beans, I did not add the beans at the beginning and waited until later to add them. After this step I added all the greens I prepared, plus dried shevid (dill). At this time I added the frozen package of spinach I mentioned above as well. Make sure to stir constantly to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot and everything is cooking evenly. After adding the greens I added a little bit more water. At the end Aash reshteh is not a very watery soup, so , make sure you don’t add too much water because you will need it to evaporate. Make sure you add enough salt and pepper for the taste as well (of course this depends on your taste buds). Now I added a little bit of sautéed mint, onions (lightly browned), and garlic (lightly browned) to the aash reshteh. I also kept a little of each aside to decorate the end product. Then I took the flour and added a little cold water to mix it into a paste. I added the flour paste to the pot and stirred it in. This is an optional step that some use when making this Persian dish. Afterwards, I added some kashk into the pot as well and stirred. Finally, I added the garbanzo beans (after rinsing them perfectly). Now I let this pot cook for a few hours (approximately 3-4 hours), while stirring occasionally. The last thing to add is the reshteh. I waited until 20 minutes before I wanted to serve the aash to add the reshteh. Make sure you stir it well and they don’t get stuck together. Once I served the aash I decorated it with the sautéed mint, onions, and garlic, along with some kashk. Personally, I add some kashk to my aash even when eating it, so you may want to put some kashk in a side dish for anyone you would like to add more.