Ingredient guide
What these recipes use that your usual shop may not stock: what it is, where to find it, and what you can put in its place.
AdviehA Persian spice blend, usually of dried rose petals, cinnamon, cardamom and cumin, warm and floral with almost no heat.1 recipeash herb mixPersian herb blend for thick soups (ash), usually parsley, coriander, dill, spring onion or chive greens and often spinach, sold fresh-chopped or dried.1 recipebarberriesSmall dried red berries from the barberry shrub, intensely sour with a light fruity note. In Persian cooking they are briefly warmed in butter and scattered over rice.1 recipecardamomGreen cardamom pods, whose small black seeds give a strong, floral, resinous aroma.3 recipesdried kidney beans!Dried red beans that need soaking before cooking.1 recipedried limeWhole limes sun-dried until hard, hollow and brown to black; they give stews a sharp, almost smoky sourness.3 recipesEdible rosebudsDried, unopened buds of fragrant roses, used ground or whole. They taste floral, slightly tart and a little bitter.1 recipefenugreek leavesThe leaves of the fenugreek plant, usually used dried, with a strong, savoury-bitter aroma reminiscent of maple syrup and curry.1 recipefresh corianderThe fresh leaves and tender stems of the coriander plant (called cilantro in North America), with a fresh, citrusy aroma.1 recipekashkA Persian dairy product made from soured, reduced yogurt or whey, sold as a thick liquid in jars or as dried pieces. Strongly sour, salty and savoury, like an aged cheese.2 recipeslavashThin, soft wheat flatbread baked in large sheets that can be folded and rolled.1 recipelavash breadA very thin, soft wheat flatbread served at the table and used to wrap kebab, herbs and cheese.2 recipesNigella seedsSmall, matte black, angular seeds with a slightly bitter, oniony and peppery flavour, familiar from Turkish flatbread.1 recipePersian leek (tareh)A Persian leek with narrow, flat leaves that is used like a herb. It tastes mildly of onion, somewhere between chives and leek.1 recipepinto beans!Medium-sized beige beans speckled with reddish brown, which turn an even pinkish brown when cooked and become creamy.1 recipePomegranate molassesPomegranate juice boiled down to a dark, thick syrup, sharply sour with a tart, fruity sweetness.1 recipereshteh noodlesThin, flat wheat noodles from Persian cooking, sold dried and usually already salted.1 reciperose waterA watery distillate of rose petals with a strong floral scent, used by the drop or spoonful to perfume sweets, rice and drinks.3 recipesrose waterA watery distillate of rose petals with a strong floral scent, used by the drop or the spoonful.2 recipessaffronDried stigmas of a crocus that turn food golden yellow and give it a bittersweet, floral aroma.16 recipessour cherriesSmall, dark red cherries with a pronounced tartness, used in Persian cooking mainly for rice dishes and syrups.1 recipesour grapesGreen, unripe grapes, very sour and barely sweet; used in Persian cooking whole, as juice, or dried and ground.1 recipesumacThe dried, ground berries of the tanner's sumac shrub, a coarse, deep red powder. It tastes fruity and sour, close to lemon but softer and slightly astringent.1 recipevanilla extractAn infusion of vanilla pods in alcohol, liquid and intensely aromatic.1 recipeverjuiceSour juice pressed from unripe green grapes, known in Persian cooking as ab ghooreh. Mildly tart and lightly fruity, gentler than vinegar.1 recipe