Local Dishes

1. چلوکباب

   Chelokabāb

   Chelow kabab (buttered saffron rice with grilled kebab)

   Usage

   The heading at the top of most Iranian restaurant menus: buttered white rice (چلو) topped with charcoal-grilled meat, served with sumac (سماق) and a grilled tomato. Restaurants that specialise in it are signposted چلوکبابی.

   Grammar Note

   A compound written as one word (چلو + کباب). Adding -ی gives چلوکبابی, "a chelow-kabab house" — the form you see on shop signs.

2. کباب برگ

   Kabāb-e barg

   Kabab-e barg (skewered fillet of lamb or beef)

   Usage

   Lamb or beef flattened onto a skewer, marinated in slivered onion or yoghurt, then charcoal-grilled. It costs more than the minced-meat کباب کوبیده.

   Grammar Note

   The two nouns are joined by ezāfe (کبابِ برگ = kabāb-e barg). The linking vowel is not written, so the spelling stays کباب برگ.

3. کباب چنجه

   Kabāb-e chenje

   Kabab-e chenje (cubed fillet kebab)

   Usage

   Boneless kebab of cubed lamb or beef fillet, marinated overnight in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and black pepper, then grilled and served with rice, a grilled tomato and raw onion.

   Grammar Note

   چنجه (chenje) comes from a verb meaning "to cut into small pieces"; there is a regional variant چینجه.

4. قیمه

   Qeyme

   Gheymeh (split pea and dried lime stew)

   Usage

   A stew of yellow split peas (لپه), diced meat, tomato paste and dried lime (لیمو امانی), topped with matchstick fried potatoes and spooned over white rice.

   Grammar Note

   خورش (khoresh) is the general word for a stew ladled over rice. Menus also write خورش قیمه / خورشت قیمه. It is also called خورشت لپه ("split-pea stew").

5. فسنجان

   Fesenjān

   Fesenjan (walnut and pomegranate stew)

   Usage

   A dark, thick stew of ground walnuts simmered with pomegranate molasses (رب انار), usually with chicken, duck or cubes of red meat, eaten over rice.

   Grammar Note

   Formally خورش فسنجان. The colloquial form is فسنجون (fesenjun); an older name is فسوجن.

6. خورش بادمجان

   Khoresh-e bādemjān

   Khoresh-e bademjan (eggplant stew)

   Usage

   Fried eggplant simmered with meat and tomato. A khoresh you will find both at home and on restaurant menus, always served over white rice.

   Grammar Note

   Eggplant is spelled both بادمجان and بادنجان; menus more often print بادمجان.

7. آبگوشت

   Ābgusht

   Abgusht (lamb and chickpea stew, also called dizi)

   Usage

   Lamb simmered with chickpeas, white beans, potato and tomato. You eat it in two stages: first the broth poured over torn bread (ترید), then the solids mashed with a pestle (گوشت‌کوب) and eaten with pickles and herbs. Served in a stone pot it is called دیزی سنگی.

   Grammar Note

   A compound of آب (broth) and گوشت (meat). The same dish is called دیزی, the word menus usually print. دیزی originally names the pot it is cooked in.

8. ته‌چین

   Tahchin

   Tahchin (baked saffron rice cake)

   Usage

   Rice mixed with yoghurt, egg and saffron, pressed into a dish over chicken or red meat and baked. It forms a thick saffron crust on the bottom, which becomes the top when the cake is turned out. A party dish.

   Grammar Note

   ته ("bottom") + چین ("to lay out") — "laid at the bottom." The two parts are separated by a ZWNJ (U+200C).

9. باقالی‌پلو

   Bāqāli polo

   Baghali polo (rice with fava beans and dill)

   Usage

   Rice steamed with fava beans (باقالی) and dill (شوید), served with lamb shank or chicken. Menus list it as باقالی‌پلو با گوشت (with meat) or باقالی‌پلو با مرغ (with chicken).

   Grammar Note

   The everyday form is باقالی‌پلو (also written باقلاپلو). Persian distinguishes پلو (rice cooked with other ingredients) from چلو (plain steamed rice).

10. سبزی‌پلو

    Sabzi polo

    Sabzi polo (herbed rice)

    Usage

    Rice steamed with dill, coriander, parsley and other herbs, served with chicken, meat or fish. سبزی‌پلو با ماهی (with fish), alongside کوکو سبزی, is the traditional Nowruz new-year meal.

11. لوبیاپلو

    Lubiā polo

    Lubia polo (rice with green beans and minced meat)

    Usage

    Rice cooked with green beans (لوبیا سبز), minced red meat, tomato paste and spices. A common daily special at inexpensive eateries.

12. عدس‌پلو

    Adas polo

    Adas polo (lentil rice)

    Usage

    A plain pilaf of lentils (عدس), rice, salt and oil. It contains no meat, which makes it a useful order if you are avoiding meat.

13. کشک بادمجان

    Kashk-e bādemjān

    Kashk-e bademjan (eggplant dip with whey)

    Usage

    A warm starter of fried and mashed eggplant mixed with کشک, topped with fried onion, garlic oil and dried mint, scooped up with bread.

    Grammar Note

    It is also written کشک بادنجان or کشک و بادمجان; menus most often print کشک بادمجان.

14. میرزاقاسمی

    Mirzā qāsemi

    Mirza ghasemi (smoky eggplant with egg, from Gilan)

    Usage

    A speciality of Gilan province (گیلان) on the Caspian coast: eggplant charred over a flame, peeled, mashed and cooked with garlic, tomato and egg. Served as a starter or a main.

15. کوکو سبزی

    Kuku sabzi

    Kuku sabzi (herb frittata)

    Usage

    A thick frittata of eggs bound with a large quantity of herbs — mainly Persian leek (تره) and dill (شوید) — sometimes with chopped walnuts or barberries (زرشک). Eaten as a starter and at the Nowruz table.

16. کوفته تبریزی

    Kufte-ye tabrizi

    Koofteh Tabrizi (large stuffed meatball from Tabriz)

    Usage

    A speciality of Tabriz (تبریز) in East Azerbaijan: minced meat kneaded with split peas and herbs, wrapped around boiled egg, walnuts and dried plums, then simmered in a tomato-and-saffron broth.

    Grammar Note

    Because کوفته ends in ه, the ezāfe is -ye (kufte-ye tabrizi). تبریزی is the city name تبریز plus -ی, "of Tabriz."

17. کله‌پاچه

    Kalle pāche

    Kalleh pacheh (sheep's head and trotter soup)

    Usage

    Sheep's head and trotters simmered overnight, eaten at breakfast; the specialist shops open before dawn and close when they sell out. It is very rich — people with high blood lipids or uric acid should avoid it. A shop that serves it is a کله‌پزی.

18. حلیم

    Halim

    Haleem (slow-cooked wheat and meat porridge)

    Usage

    Hulled, cracked wheat (or barley) cooked for hours with lamb or beef shoulder until it becomes a smooth porridge. Sold by weight at breakfast counters and usually eaten sweet, dusted with cinnamon and sugar.

    Grammar Note

    The etymologically correct spelling is هلیم; حلیم is a widespread but etymologically wrong spelling. Shop signs nevertheless print حلیم. Both are read halim.

19. شله‌قلمکار

    Shole qalamkār

    Sholeh ghalamkar (thick rice, bean and herb pottage)

    Usage

    An آش (thick soup) of leek, parsley, coriander and spinach cooked at length with chickpeas, beans, lentils, mung beans, rice and boneless shoulder meat, finished with fried onion, mint oil and garlic oil.

    Grammar Note

    Menus usually write آش شله‌قلمکار. آش is the general word for a thick, ingredient-heavy soup, as opposed to سوپ (a clear soup).

20. سالاد شیرازی

    Sālād-e shirāzi

    Shirazi salad (diced cucumber, tomato and onion)

    Usage

    Cucumber, tomato and onion diced to the same size and dressed with verjuice (آبغوره) or lemon juice, salt, black pepper and dried mint. You can order it alongside almost any dish.

    Grammar Note

    شیرازی is the city name شیراز plus -ی. It is also called سالاد آبغوره‌ای in parts of Fars (after the verjuice) and سالاد سربازی in East and West Azerbaijan.

21. ماست و خیار

    Māst-o khiār

    Mast-o khiar (yoghurt and cucumber side dish)

    Usage

    Diced cucumber stirred into yoghurt with dried mint, salt and pepper. Some regions add walnuts and raisins. A good thing to order alongside kebab.

    Grammar Note

    The و between the nouns is the conjunction "and"; it attaches to the preceding word and is pronounced -o (māst-o khiār).

22. نان سنگک

    Nān-e sangak

    Sangak (flatbread baked on a bed of hot pebbles)

    Usage

    A long flatbread baked directly on a bed of hot pebbles in a flat-floored oven. Made with wholemeal flour, so it is dark. Pebbles sometimes come stuck to the loaf — knock them off before eating.

    Grammar Note

    سنگک is سنگ ("stone") plus the diminutive ک. It is also called نان سنگک.

23. نان بربری

    Nān-e barbari

    Barbari bread (thick oval flatbread)

    Usage

    A thick oval loaf scored with lengthwise ridges, eaten at breakfast with cheese (پنیر) or clotted cream (سرشیر). Loaves sprinkled with sesame (کنجد) cost more.

    Grammar Note

    The name goes back to the بربر (Hazara) people who lived on the Iran–Afghanistan border, and the bread spread in Tehran in the late Qajar period.

24. نان لواش

    Nān-e lavāsh

    Lavash (paper-thin flatbread)

    Usage

    A flatbread about three millimetres thick, used to wrap kebab or to soak up the broth of آبگوشت. Packaged versions are sold in supermarkets.

    Grammar Note

    The same bread is Armenian lavash, Azerbaijani/Turkish lavaş and Kurdish nanê loş — the word travels across the region. In Iran it is also called نان تنوری, "tandoor bread."

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