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Khoresht-e Rivas

Serve this Persian sauce, which has an unusual tart flavor, with plain rice steamed in the Persian manner (page 338) or the quick and easy boiled and steamed rice (page 339).

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serve 4-6

Ingredients

4

tablespoons butter or vegetable oil

1

onion, finely chopped

1

pound lean stewing beef or lamb, cubed

Salt and pepper

1

/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1

/4 teaspoon allspice

1

pound fresh rhubarb stalks

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1

/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1

/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Need to make a substitution?

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter or oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion until golden. Add the meat and sauté, turning the pieces, until browned all over. Cover with water and add salt, pepper, cinnamon, and allspice. Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, until the meat is very tender, adding water to keep the meat covered.

    Step 2

    Trim the rhubarb stalks and cut them into 2-inch lengths. Sauté in the remaining butter or oil for a few minutes, then sprinkle with lemon juice and cook for a few minutes longer. Add to the meat sauce with the parsley and mint and simmer for 10 minutes.

Cover of Claudia Roden's The New Book of Middle Easter Food, featuring a blue filigree bowl filled with Meyer lemons and sprigs of mint.
Reprinted with permission from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, copyright © 2000 by Claudia Roden, published by Knopf. Buy the full book on Amazon or Bookshop.