This 6 ingredient vegan Persian stew, Khoresh Gheimeh, is the perfect combination of sweet and savory and loaded with protein.
You may have never tried it before, but this vegan Persian Stew, Khoresh Gheimeh, is what you’ve been missing in your life. You’ll see how easy it is to break out of your routine flavors for something extravagant but incredibly simple to make! Take my word for it, it’s that easy. You ready?
Within my first 6 months of eating according to Bright Line Eating™, I was trying to make my meals a little more, shall I say ~ eclectic. I was looking for new taste profiles, and with a base of vegetables and proteins, it’s actually quite easy to change the flavor profiles to Mexican, Indian, Greek, Turkish, Spanish, Italian, etc. But I had never before tried Persian food recipes until one of my BLE buddies mentioned it to me (she’s Persian and a great family cook). I scoured the internet and came up with probably my favorite take on the recipe, but wanted to make it BLE compliant, use much less oil and also make it plant-based. So here we have it.
Probably my favorite flavor profiles include those that include sweet and savory. Imagine Thai curry with pineapple, or indian curry with a little mango lassi on the side. The reason I fell in love with this recipe is that it combines so many different flavors that complement each other well: sweet cinnamon, sweet onions, sour lime, and the spice from chili flakes at the end. Honestly, it’s AWESOME! It’s like inviting all of your best friends to dinner, each of them with a different personality, and having the best party ever. Seriously. Who doesn’t want that?
First, a lesson in vocabulary:
Persian refers to the region of modern Iran.
Dahl is another word for legume (also pulses).
Chana Dahl are split and polished small chickpeas. You can find these at an ethnic food store, health food store, Whole Foods, and even amazon. They’re one of the easiest “exotic” legumes to find, although they’re not that exotic really. But they’re fun to use if you’re looking to branch out in different world cuisines. The also happen to be used widely in indian cuisine, and go great in curries too.
Persian dried limes are seriously cute, very hard when dried, and are a must for this recipe. I was able to find them online, but if you have an ethnic grocery, try that first.
If you’re curious, additional commonly found Persian ingredients include: fresh herbs, cinnamon, dried limes, rose water, saffron, and pistachios, among others. To find out more, check out this article.
Why I love this Vegan Persian Stew (Khoresh Gheimeh) recipe:
It’s a super easy entry way recipe to Persian food.
It’s a quick way to spruce up your food menu if you’re in a rut.
The flavors of cinnamon, tomato and lime are REALLY different (in a delicious way)
The traditional recipe is heavy in oil and meat, and I love that this is light, packed with protein and uses whole plant-based ingredients
It freezes well, so you can make a batch and freeze it in portions for later
It’s serious comfort food, warming, and good on chili nights
Recipe for Vegan Persian Stew (Khoresh Gheimeh)
1 cup dry chana dahl
1 onion, diced small (any color)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 persian dried limes, pierced with a fork twice (to let the juices out during cooking)
Additional: Salt & Pepper to taste, any green herbs such as cilantro and mint, chili flakes to garnish
- Soak the chana dahl for 4 hours, or overnight. Drain, rinse, and add to a heavy bottomed pot. Cover with about 3 inches of water, add a little salt, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered about 20-25 minutes until the dahl tastes done. See the tips at the bottom of this page for more info on cooking time.
- While the dahl is cooking, heat another heavy bottomed pot and add a quick spray or two of oil. Add the onion in along with a pinch of salt. Bring the heat down to medium low and cover, checking often, until the onion turns translucent and releases some of its juices, about 5 minutes. To the onion add turmeric and cinnamon, stirring well, until the mixture dries up a little bit (about 3 minutes). Add in the tomato paste, and stir well for about a minute.
- Add in the limes, and 2 cups of water. When the chana Dahl are done, drain them and add them to the mixture as well.
- Simmer this mixture for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the flavors have time to marry. If it gets too thick to stir, add in a little boiling water.
- Take out one of the limes and squeeze it into the mixture, and stir well (no need to discard, just leave them in there). Check your seasoning for salt when done. Let the mixture rest 5 minutes, covered.
- Garnish with chili flakes, and fresh chopped herbs if you have them (mint and cilantro go well with this dish). Also, you can serve this stew with my quick pickled cucumber and onions.
- For Bright Line Eating™ portions, I count 6 ounces of this as my protein (women’s weight loss portion). Feel free to add a grain if you’re on maintenance.
Tips for Vegan Persian Stew (Khoresh Gheimeh)
Pulses and legumes age too, just like produce ~ they can get old if stored too long in the store. If the chana dahl is a bit older (you won’t really know it if you buy it in the bulk bin, you just have to guess), cooking them may take a little bit longer. Allow time for this, just be flexible. Taste them at the 20 minute mark, but be prepared to possibly boil them longer if they’re an old legume. You want them to be semi soft but not al dente.
Throw in a piece of kombu seaweed when cooking to relieve gas. This helps especially if you’re not used to a lot of beans in your diet. Discard the seaweed when the chana Dahl is done (or eat it like I do, it’s sort of rubbery and fun like fruit leather and almost tasteless).
If you don’t have dried limes, squeeze half a fresh lime at the end (but the dried limes give it such an authentic taste, they’re really worth getting).
Don’t leave out the cinnamon, even if you’re scared to add it. That’s one of the quintessential ingredients that makes this stew phenomenal.
This stew does thicken when cooled. I reheat leftovers by measuring out my 6 ounces, and adding in 1/4 cup water.
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Vegan Persian Stew (Khoresh Gheimeh)
Equipment
- Two heavy bottomed pots
Ingredients
- 1 cup Chana Dahl
- 1 Medium onion, diced small
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 3 tbsp Tomato paste
- 3 Persian Limes
- salt, pepper, any gren herbs such as cilantro/mint, chili flakes to garnish
- water, to cook
Instructions
- Soak the chana dahl for 4 hours, or overnight. Drain, rinse, and add to a heavy bottomed pot. Cover with about 3 inches of water, add a little salt, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered about 20-25 minutes until the dahl tastes done. See the tips at the bottom of this page for more info on cooking time.
- While the dahl is cooking, heat another heavy bottomed pot and add a quick spray or two of oil. Add the onion in along with a pinch of salt. Bring the heat down to medium low and cover, checking often, until the onion turns translucent and releases some of its juices, about 5 minutes. To the onion add turmeric and cinnamon, stirring well, until the mixture dries up a little bit (about 3 minutes). Add in the tomato paste, and stir well for about a minute.
- Add in the limes, and 2 cups of water. When the chana Dahl are done, drain them and add them to the mixture as well.
- Simmer this mixture for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the flavors have time to marry. If it gets too thick to stir, add in a little boiling water.
- Take out one of the limes and squeeze it into the mixture, and stir well (no need to discard, just leave them in there). Check your seasoning for salt when done. Let the mixture rest 5 minutes, covered.
- Garnish with chili flakes, and fresh chopped herbs if you have them (mint and cilantro go well with this dish). Also, you can serve this stew with my quick pickled cucumber and onions.
I can’t wait to try it! I will make it soon and let you know how I like it 😊
Thank you and please do! Can’t wait to hear if you try it. 🙂