Kaleh Joosh (کلهجوش (Kaleh joosh))
Overview
Kaleh joosh is a quick Persian soup of kashk, the fermented dried whey of yogurt. Plenty of onions are fried slowly in oil until deep golden, then turmeric, garlic and a generous amount of dried mint are added. Hot water and chopped walnuts are stirred in, and finally kashk thinned with a little water, and the soup is simmered until it thickens and turns creamy and tangy. It is not allowed to boil hard, so the kashk does not split. It is served in bowls with pieces of dry flatbread such as sangak or lavash broken into it, and topped with more fried onion, mint and walnuts.
History
Kaleh joosh can be made in less than half an hour, and it is a dish of the countryside and of thrifty home cooks, using kashk, the dried yogurt that shepherds and villagers stored for the winter. It is still a favourite in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz on cold evenings and is often made when there is stale bread to use up.
Main ingredients
Kashk, walnuts, onion, dried mint, turmeric, garlic. The soup is built on kashk and walnut broth and is usually served hot. Diet: vegetarian; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Mint soups · More soups from Iran
Recipe
Method
- 1
Fry the onions in the oil until deep golden and set some aside for the top.
- 21 min
Add the turmeric, garlic and most of the mint and fry for 1 minute.
- 3
Pour in 600 ml hot water and add the walnuts.
- 410 min
Stir in the kashk and simmer gently for 10 minutes without boiling hard.
- 5
Serve with flatbread, topped with onion, mint and walnuts.
- ✓
Serve. About 35 min from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
