Ash Reshteh

Ash reshteh is a thick soup of kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils simmered for hours with wheat noodles and a fistful of fresh herbs, finished with a swirl of fried mint and garlic and a generous drizzle of tangy dried whey. It is eaten nationwide rather than tied to one city, and it carries more meaning than most soups on a Persian table: the noodles are said to represent the many paths of life, which is why the dish appears at Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and gets ladled out free on street corners as nazri — food given away in fulfilment of a promise or a prayer.

What it really is

Three or four kinds of legume — usually kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils — cook down slowly with onion until soft, then take on a heavy handful of chopped parsley, spinach, dill and spring onion that turns the broth a deep, matte green. Reshteh, thin wheat noodles rolled specifically for this soup, go in near the end so they hold their bite rather than dissolving. The finishing touch is what sets it apart from any other bean soup: a spoonful of kashk, dried whey worked back into a thick, sour paste, stirred through or drizzled on top, alongside oil in which mint and garlic have been fried until fragrant.

How it's served

• In a deep bowl, kashk drizzled over the top rather than stirred fully in, so its tang stays distinct from the broth
• Finished tableside with sizzling mint-and-garlic oil poured over just before eating
• Given away free during Nowruz and at religious gatherings as ash-e nazri, a soup made as an act of charity
• Thick enough that a spoon stands up in it — this is not a thin broth

How to write it on the menu

• Call out kashk by name; guests who haven't had it before should know it is a fermented dairy product, not cream
• Note that the classic version is vegetarian, since many guests assume any Persian stew involves meat
• Offer it without kashk on request — a common substitution for a vegan bowl