Beans, one of the ingredients of ash reshteh.
Ash reshteh is a classic Iranian dish that is often prepared for New Year’s celebrations or served during cold winter nights. It is a thick, hearty soup made with a variety of beans, spinach or beet greens, and noodles. The ingredients are combined and cooked together in a pot of water or broth until the liquid reduces to a thick stew consistency. Just before the dish is finished, kashk is added to give it a creamy texture. When served, the soup is often decorated with designs made from kashk floating on the top, as well as fried onions, fried mint, and sometimes fried minced meat.
White beans, which are used to make reshteh from ashes.
One of the basic ingredients of ash reshteh is beans. The recipe usually calls for a combination of navy beans, kidney beans, chick peas, and lentils. Lentils cook much faster than other types of beans and are usually added after the others start to cook. The beans should be soaked overnight if they dry out to ensure they are soft, although canned beans can also be used.
Another important element of the dish is the pasta. In Farsi, “reshteh” is the word for “noodles.” The exact type of pasta that the traditional recipe calls for is unclear, because reshteh generally refers to all pasta, but now mostly refers to thin noodles, not unlike Italian angel hair pasta. Reshteh is often broken into pieces when added to the dish, partly to make it more edible and partly because of the tradition that it brings good luck on future journeys.
Ash reshteh is prepared by first frying onions and garlic in oil in a pan. Once complete, water or broth is added to the pan and brought to a boil. Flour is added to the boiling liquid to help thicken the sauce; Reshteh and any spices, such as mint, parsley, and coriander, are also added. You can cook everything until the dough is ready.
The beans are then added to the ash stir fry, along with more liquid if needed. Cook the entire mixture until the beans are tender and the liquid in the pan has reduced and thickened. The actual thickness of the final soup is left to the cook’s discretion, but can range from very runny to almost pasty. Right at the end, before cooking is finished, kashk, a type of whey reminiscent of sour cream, is added.
The finished ash reshteh is poured into a container and any number of designs can be made on top with additional kashk. Fried mint can be sprinkled on top, as can crispy fried onions or garlicky minced beef. Some recipes call for the ash stir-fry to be made a day in advance and stored overnight to give the flavors time to age and develop, although this is not necessary.