While traveling around Iran and visiting monuments and tourist attractions, you should try the various delicious and foods of Iran for meals and breakfast. This country has a variety of dishes that may confuse a foreigner or tourist. Therefore, in this article, we will introduce the popular foods of Iran to help them to make better choices.
Abgoosht (Dizi)
Dizi is one of the traditional foods of Iran and is cooked as one of the main dishes in grandparents’ house. Abgoosht is a type of stew consisting of lamb or mutton, tail fat, potato, chickpea, tomato, and onion. It has a specific recipe that you need to follow to prepare an authentic Abgoosht.
This food is cooked and served in a blue or green glazed clay pot. Dizi Sangi is a Dizi cooked in s stone pot. This traditional food serves in two parts. First, you shod pour the broth into a bowl and add the pieces of Persian bread, Sangak or Lavash, that call is called Tilit. Then mash the materials in your Dizi by Goosht Koob which is a wooden or metal tool. The mashed meat and vegetables are called Goosht e Koobide which looks like a meat pounder with a smooth surface.
You can eat the Tilit and Goosht e Koobide with Sabzi Khordsn (an assortment of fresh herbs and vegetables), Doogh (Persian yogurt drink), Torshi (pickled vegetables), and Sangak (Persian bread).
Kabab Koobideh
Kabab Koobideh or Koobide is one of the Persian Kebab specialties that you should try. It is difficult to find an Iranian person who does not like this traditional food. Koobide is made of two main ingredients: ground meat and onion. The challenging part of the preparation of kabab is skewering the ground meat and reaching the proper consistency of the mixed ingredients. If it doesn’t have enough consistency, the ingredients will fall off skewers while cooking. Also, Iranian cooks have some tricks for skewering the Kabab. Then, the two sides of skewered meat are cooked on the charcoal grill.
In the restaurant, you may see the Chelokabab or Cholokabab on the menu which refers to the rice with Kabab Koobide. Chelo or cholo is rice that serves with some foods of Iran. Most of the time, Chelo serves with Tahdig which is the crispy layer of rice, Lavash bread, or slices of potatoes at the bottom of the pot.
Other side dishes of Cholokabab are grilled tomato, Doogh, yogurt, and Sabzi Khordan.
Beryan
If you travel to Isfahan or Nesf e Jahan (means half of the world), Beryan is certainly one of the dishes that will be offered to you. It is one of the most famous traditional foods in Isfahan and is popular among people in other countries. Beryan prepares and serves in a specific place that calls Beryani and is usually not cooked with other dishes in restaurants. Only the people in Isfahsn know that the name of this food is Beryan and it is mistakenly called Biryani.
This fatty food is usually served as lunch and prepared from mutton. In the first step, the mutton is cooked with onion and then minced with its fat. In the next step, it is put in specific skimmers and heated in the specific tray on the gas oven. Then they put it on Sangak or homemade bread and garnish it with walnut kernels and use a mixture of chopped cooked mutton lung and fat tail as decoration. This delicious dish serves with broth (Abgoosht e Beryan), Doogh, fresh basil, and onion.
Fesenjan
Fesenjan or Fesenjoon is a nutty Persian chicken stew that serves as the main dish at the wedding ceremony. This classic stew is made of chicken, walnut halves, and pomegranate molasses. This is how to prepare this delicious food: first walnuts are ground to stick together like dough. This dough is the main base of the stew, to which chicken, pomegranate molasses, and sugar are added in the next step.
This traditional food serves with Chelo (rice) which is mostly decorated with saffron.
Ghorme Sabzi
Gorme Sabzi is a traditional and one of the most popular foods of Iran. This food is commonly eaten everywhere in Iran and is considered to be the national dish of the country. This herbal stew is made from mutton, kidney beans, and fresh or frozen herbs (calls Sabzi Khoresht) such as cilantro, parsley, chives, fenugreek, and spinach. Limoo Omani (dried Persian lime) is used for flavoring the stew.
Gorme Sabzi serves with Chelo and some optional side dishes like; yogurt, Doogh, and Salad Shirazi (a Persian salad with tomato, cucumber, onion, and verjuice as the flavoring).
Gheyme Nesar
Gheyme Nesar is the traditional food which is originally cooked in Qazvin. This delicious dish is the main food prepared in ceremonies and on Nowruz Day in Qazvin. This festive dish is prepared with diced mutton, rice, slivered pistachio and almond nuts, barberries, and sliced orange peel. In the first step of preparation, the mutton is cooked with onion and tomato paste, and the rice should be cooked. Then, the barberries are Sautéed with butter and sugar, and eventually, slivered nuts, Golab (Persian Rosewater), and sliced orange peel are added to them.
This food serves on a plate with different layers of cooked diced mutton, rice, and a combination of Sautéed ingredients.
Mirza GHasemi
If you travel to the north of Iran (Shomal), you must have heard the name of Mirza Ghasemi. It is a very popular Gilani food that is known as one of the Persian eggplant dips in western countries. Mirza Ghasemi is made of smoked eggplant, tomato or tomato paste, egg, and garlic. This food has a simple recipe but the most important part is the preparation of smoked eggplants. The eggplants are smoked on the charcoal grill and then peel and chop with tomato and garlic. In the next step, the materials stir into a pot for 10 minutes and finally, the eggs are cracked into the pot and mixed with other ingredients.
This delicious food is served with Persian bread or Kate which is the specific technique for preparing and serving rice as the appetizer, but it can be served as the main food.
Shishlik Kabab
Shishlik Kabab or Shishlik is a delicious Persian kebab that is known as one of the most expensive foods in restaurants. This Persian kebab prepares in Mashhad, especially in the specific region called Shandiz for this reason, it is also called Shandiz kabab.
Shashlik is made with lamb ribs marinated in yogurt, lemon juice, onion, tomato, oil, and brewed saffron for a few hours. These marinated ribs are skewered and cooked on the charcoal grill. The important point of preparation of Shishlik is to make meat that is not tasteless or dry and overcooked.
Kalam Polo Shirazi
Kalam Polo is a popular food originally prepared in Shiraz. This healthy food has a wonderful taste and is made from rice, cabbage or kohlrabi, vegetable and herbs, and meatballs (mutton). Even if you don’t like the cabbage, the great green color of this traditional food appetizes you to try it. The chopped cabbages or kohlrabi, onion, and vegetables Sauté with oil. The meatballs are Sautéed separately and then these materials are added to the rice.
Kalam Polo is usually served with Salad Shirazi which together become a perfect combination.
Ghalieh Mahi
It is time to introduce the traditional food of the southern religion of Iran, especially, Khouzestan. These warm and highly humid regions which are close to the Persian Gulf have various recipes for foods with fish because they have a lot of access to fresh fish. This traditional stew (Khoresht) is made of fish fillet and herbs such as; coriander and fenugreek and garlic. Tamarind (Tamr e Hendi) is the main flavoring of this delicious stew that gives it an amazing taste. Ghalieh Mahi is usually served with rice.
