Collection
Nowruz Recipes
Nowruz, the Persian and Central Asian new year, arrives with the spring equinox and a table set for renewal. Rice leads the feast, from Iranian zereshk polo and ash-e reshteh to Uzbek plov and Turkmen palaw, alongside Kazakh beshbarmak and sweets like chak-chak. These are authentic Nowruz dishes from the lands that have kept the festival for more than three thousand years.
13 recipes
Ash-e ReshtehTehran, Iran · medium · 150 minOne of Iran’s best-loved thick soups: legumes and a mountain of herbs simmered with reshteh noodles, finished with tangy kashk, sizzled mint, and caramelized onion.
BeshbarmakAlmaty, Kazakhstan · medium · 150 min"Five fingers": boiled meat over wide noodle sheets with onion gravy, Kazakhstan’s dish of honor, eaten by hand.
Chak-ChakTashkent, Uzbekistan · medium · 55 minCrisp fried dough pieces bound in warm honey syrup into a sticky golden mound, a Central Asian celebration sweet.
FirniKabul, Afghanistan · easy · 35 minA silky ground-rice milk pudding scented with cardamom and rosewater, topped with pistachios, an Afghan celebration sweet.
Kabuli PulaoKabul, Afghanistan · advanced · 120 minAfghanistan's national dish: steamed rice piled over lamb and crowned with candied carrots and raisins.
Kazakh MantiAlmaty, Kazakhstan · advanced · 105 minLarge Kazakh steamed dumplings filled with hand-chopped lamb, pumpkin and plenty of onion, served with sour cream.
Kazakh PlovAlmaty, Kazakhstan · medium · 95 minThe Kazakh celebration pilaf: rice cooked over lamb, sweet carrots and onion in a cauldron until every grain is separate and rich.
Oshi PalavDushanbe, Tajikistan · medium · 100 minTajikistan national dish and king of meals: rice steamed over lamb, yellow carrots, chickpeas and cumin in a single pot.
Pishme (Turkmen Fried Dough Diamonds)Ashgabat, Turkmenistan · medium · 110 minTurkmenistan's celebration sweet: little diamonds of light yeasted dough fried until puffed and golden, then dusted with sugar.
Shah PlovBaku, Azerbaijan · advanced · 115 minThe crown pilaf of Azerbaijan: saffron rice, meat and dried fruit sealed in a buttered lavash crust and baked golden.
Turkmen PalawAshgabat, Turkmenistan · medium · 85 minTurkmenistan's national rice pilaf: chicken browned with sweet julienned carrots and onion, then steamed under a mound of basmati until fluffy.
Uzbek PlovTashkent, Uzbekistan · medium · 95 minSilk Road rice cooked in one kazan with lamb, mountains of carrots, cumin, and whole garlic heads.
Zereshk Polo ba Morgh (Barberry Rice with Chicken)Tehran, Iran · medium · 100 minSaffron chicken simmered in a tomato sauce, served with fluffy basmati layered with tart-sweet barberries fried in butter.
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