Ash-e Anar

A ruby Persian autumn soup of pomegranate juice, fresh herbs, yellow split peas, and tiny meatballs

Origin: Northern Iran (Gilan and the Caspian provinces)

From the journey of Pomegranate.

Ash-e anar is the pomegranate soup of the Persian autumn, made when the new fruit comes to market and the orchards of the north are heavy with anar. The ash, the thick Persian pottage of herbs, pulses, and grains that is a cuisine unto itself, takes here its colour and its character from pomegranate: a deep ruby broth, sweet and sour at once, soured with fresh pomegranate juice and rounded, where the fruit runs too tart, with a little sugar. Mountains of chopped fresh herbs, coriander, parsley, mint, and the spring onion tops, are simmered down into the soup until it is almost as green as it is red; yellow split peas and rice give it body, and small meatballs of minced lamb scented with turmeric are dropped in to poach. The dish belongs above all to the Caspian provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran, the same green, rain-fed north that gave Persia its other great pomegranate dish, fesenjan. Like fesenjan it lives on the knife-edge balance of sweet and sour that the Iranian palate prizes, and like fesenjan its seasoning is a matter of constant tasting: every batch of pomegranate juice is differently sharp, and the cook adjusts the sugar and the sourness until the balance feels right. It is finished, in the Persian way, with a swirl of fried mint (na'na dagh) and a scatter of fresh pomegranate seeds, the jewelled garnish that names the dish.

Ingredients

Soup base

100 g yellow split peas (lapeh), rinsed
50 g white rice, rinsed
2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
2 onions, finely chopped
0.5 tsp ground turmeric
1.5 litres water or light stock

Meatballs

250 g minced lamb (or beef)
1 small onion, very finely grated
0.25 tsp ground turmeric
salt and black pepper

Herbs

150 g fresh coriander, chopped
100 g flat-leaf parsley, chopped
50 g fresh mint, chopped
1 bunch spring onions, finely sliced

To finish

350 ml unsweetened pomegranate juice (preferably from sour pomegranates)
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp sugar, or more to taste (to balance the sourness)

Garnish (na'na dagh)

2 tbsp dried mint
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
fresh pomegranate seeds, to scatter

Method

Put the split peas in a large pot with the water or stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for 25–30 minutes until the peas are beginning to soften, then add the rice and continue to simmer.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the chopped onions gently with the turmeric until soft and golden, about 12 minutes. Stir into the soup pot.
Make the meatballs: combine the minced lamb, grated onion, turmeric, salt, and pepper, and knead well. Roll into tiny balls the size of a hazelnut.
Drop the meatballs into the simmering soup and cook for 15 minutes, until firm and cooked through.
Add the chopped coriander, parsley, mint, and spring onions. Simmer, partly covered, for a further 25–30 minutes, until the herbs have collapsed into the soup and it has thickened and darkened.
Stir in the pomegranate juice, pomegranate molasses, and sugar. Simmer gently for 15 minutes more. Taste and balance carefully: the soup should be pleasantly sweet-and-sour, neither sharply acidic nor cloying. Add more sugar if your juice is very sour, or more molasses if it is too sweet. Season with salt.
Make the na'na dagh: warm the oil or butter in a small pan, take it off the heat, and stir in the dried mint until it sizzles and turns fragrant and dark green. Do not let it burn.
Serve the soup in bowls, swirled with the fried mint and scattered generously with fresh pomegranate seeds.

Notes

Like all Persian ash, ash-e anar improves overnight and is often better on the second day, when the flavours have settled; it thickens on standing, so loosen with a little water when reheating. For a vegetarian version, omit the meatballs and add a drained tin of chickpeas with the herbs. The depth of colour and flavour depends on the pomegranate juice: juice pressed from sour pomegranates gives the truest result, and bottled unsweetened pomegranate juice should be reinforced with extra pomegranate molasses.

The Gastrographer

Name: Ash-e Anar
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Northern Iran
Ingredients: 100 g yellow split peas (lapeh), rinsed; 50 g white rice, rinsed; 2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil; 2 onions, finely chopped; 0.5 tsp ground turmeric; 1.5 litres water or light stock; 250 g minced lamb (or beef); 1 small onion, very finely grated; 0.25 tsp ground turmeric; salt and black pepper; 150 g fresh coriander, chopped; 100 g flat-leaf parsley, chopped; 50 g fresh mint, chopped; 1 bunch spring onions, finely sliced; 350 ml unsweetened pomegranate juice (preferably from sour pomegranates); 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses; 1 tbsp sugar, or more to taste (to balance the sourness); 2 tbsp dried mint; 2 tbsp olive oil or butter; fresh pomegranate seeds, to scatter

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control