Ash-e Mash

the Persian mung pottage: mash and rice simmered under a great weight of chopped herbs, soured with kashk or vinegar, and finished with fried mint, crisp onion, and a swirl of garlic oil

Origin: Iran

From the journey of Mung Bean.

The ash is the oldest dish form in the Persian repertoire and arguably its most important: a thick pottage of herbs, pulses, and grain that is the ancestor of a great many soups from the Balkans to Bengal, and from which Persian derives both ash-paz, cook, and ash-khaneh, kitchen, so that in Iran the word for soup is the root of the word for cooking itself. Ash-e mash is amongst the plainest and oldest members of the family, built on the mung bean that reached the Iranian plateau from Sogdiana and kept the name mash that it carries all the way from the Indus. The defining proportion of any ash is that there must be more herb than anything else; the pot looks, when the herbs go in, as though far too much has been added, and it collapses to a fraction of its volume. Iran shares India's view of the bean as cooling and light, and ash-e mash is accordingly what is cooked for someone recovering from illness or for a woman after childbirth. It is also a food of religious vow: ash is made in enormous cauldrons and distributed as nazri, charitable food given in fulfilment of a promise, particularly during Muharram, and the making of it is a communal undertaking with the herbs chopped by several pairs of hands.

Ingredients

Ash

200 g whole green mung beans (mash)
80 g short-grain rice, rinsed
1 whole large onion, finely chopped
4 tbsp neutral oil
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 litre water or light stock

Herbs

200 g flat-leaf parsley, chopped
150 g coriander, chopped
100 g dill, chopped
200 g spinach, chopped
1 handful garlic chives or spring onion tops, chopped

To Finish

150 g kashk (fermented whey), or 3 tbsp wine vinegar
2 tsp fine salt, or to taste

Garnish

2 whole onions, thinly sliced, for the garnish
4 clove garlic, thinly sliced
2 tbsp dried mint
4 tbsp oil, for the garnish

Method

Rinse the mung beans and soak in cold water for 2 hours. Drain. Meanwhile fry the chopped onion in the 4 tbsp of oil over a medium heat for 10 minutes until golden, then stir in the turmeric for 30 seconds.
Add the drained beans and the water, bring to the boil, skim, and simmer covered for 35 minutes. Add the rinsed rice and cook a further 20 minutes until both are soft and the liquid has thickened.
Add all the chopped herbs and the spinach. The pot will look absurdly overfull; press them down into the liquid and cook, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they have collapsed and darkened and the ash is thick.
Make the garnish: fry the sliced onions slowly in the 4 tbsp of oil until deep brown and crisp, and lift out. Fry the sliced garlic in the same oil until pale gold and lift out. Take the pan off the heat, wait 30 seconds, then stir the dried mint into the warm oil.
Stir most of the kashk and the salt into the ash and simmer 5 minutes more. Serve in bowls with the remaining kashk swirled over, and the fried onion, fried garlic, and mint oil spooned on top.

Notes

Kashk is fermented dried whey, sold in jars by Iranian and Middle Eastern grocers, and it gives the ash its characteristic sour, faintly cheesy depth; there is no exact substitute, but thick sour cream with a squeeze of lemon, or plain wine vinegar, will give the necessary acidity. Fresh herbs in this quantity are the whole point and dried will not do, though frozen chopped Persian herb mixes sold as sabzi ash are an entirely acceptable shortcut. The soup thickens dramatically as it cools and is usually let down with water when reheated; it keeps four days and improves overnight. For the meat version, add 250 g of lamb neck with the beans. Related members of the family swap the pulse or the grain: ash-e reshteh uses chickpeas, beans, and noodles, and ash-e jow barley, but all share the herbs, the kashk, and the three-part fried garnish.

The Gastrographer

Name: Ash-e Mash
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 3 h 45 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Iran
Ingredients: 200 g whole green mung beans (mash); 80 g short-grain rice, rinsed; 1 whole large onion, finely chopped; 4 tbsp neutral oil; 1 tsp ground turmeric; 2 litre water or light stock; 200 g flat-leaf parsley, chopped; 150 g coriander, chopped; 100 g dill, chopped; 200 g spinach, chopped; 1 handful garlic chives or spring onion tops, chopped; 150 g kashk (fermented whey), or 3 tbsp wine vinegar; 2 tsp fine salt, or to taste; 2 whole onions, thinly sliced, for the garnish; 4 clove garlic, thinly sliced; 2 tbsp dried mint; 4 tbsp oil, for the garnish

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control