Almond, Lamb, Saffron + Rose Water Braise

Name: Almond, Lamb, Saffron + Rose Water Braise (Khoresh-e Khalal-e Badam-e Kermanshahi)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 2 h 15 min
Total time: 2 h 45 min
Yield: Serves: 6
Cuisine: Iranian
Ingredients: 1 x 4 in cinnamon stick; ¼ cup/120 ml oil, butter, or ghee; Zest of 1 orange; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 1 tablespoon ground dried rose petals; 2 tablespoons barberries, cleaned; 2 tablespoons slivered pistachios; 1 teaspoon fine sea salt; 1 lb/450 g boneless leg of lamb or skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1in/2.5cm pieces; ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper; 1 teaspoon turmeric; 2 cups/240 g blanched almonds, soaked for 45 minutes and drained; ½ teaspoon ground saffron threads dissolved in 1 tablespoon rose water; 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice; 3 whole dried Persian limes, pierced; 2 tablespoons oil; 2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced

Khoresh-e Khalal-e Badam-e Kermanshahi

Preparation info

Serves:
6

Difficulty
Complex
Ready in
3 hr

Appears in

Cooking in Iran

By Najmieh Batmanglij

Published 2020

About

The photograph on the facing page is from a Kurdish wedding in the 1940s, and coincidentally, I first tasted this dish at a Kurdish wedding in Kermanshah. The braise is similar to the renowned Saffroned Lamb Braise/qeymeh-ye yazdi, but it develops its own nutty taste from using almonds instead of potato fries. In Azarbaijan, they make a similar dish called qeymeh pechaq, in which the almonds are reduced to 1 cup/120g and 2 eggs are added

Ingredients

Asia
Iran
Kermanshah
Main course
Gluten-free
Wedding/Marriage

Ingredients

Method