Oshi Sabz (literally 'green soup') is the Tajik spring herb soup — a clear broth loaded with a huge quantity of fresh greens (spinach, sorrel, cilantro, dill, green onion), with rice and sometimes a few chunks of lamb. Eaten in spring when the gardens first yield tender greens, it is the dish of Navruz (Persian New Year) and the first warm days.
Oshi Sabz is the Tajik spring soup — the word 'oshi' means 'cooked dish' (related to oshi palav, the national plov) and 'sabz' means 'green'. The soup is the celebration of the first greens of spring, when the Tajik garden ( Bog) yields spinach, sorrel, cilantro, dill, and green onions after the long winter. It is one of the dishes served at Navruz (the Persian New Year, March 21), which is the most important festival in Tajik culture. The huge quantity of herbs (often 4-5 different kinds) is the defining feature — this is a dish where greens are the main ingredient, not a garnish.
A bowl of bright green broth, intense with the flavor of just-picked herbs — spinach, the lemony tang of sorrel, the aromatic cilantro and dill. The rice gives it body; a few chunks of lamb give it depth. It is fresh, vibrant, the taste of spring after a long winter. Eat it at Navruz, with non bread, celebrating the new year.
The greens must be added in the last 5 minutes only — overcooking destroys both the bright green color and the fresh flavor. The rice (added earlier) thickens the soup slightly and gives it substance. The lamb (if used) is browned first and simmered to make the broth; if no meat, the soup is a vegetable broth. The sorrel is essential — its acidity is what makes the soup 'green' in flavor, not just color. The herbs are added off the heat, fresh, never boiled.
Variations
Some use beef; some add egg (as a poached egg on top); some include fresh peas; the herb mix varies by what the garden yields.
On the Palate
Where Oshi Sabz sits in the Tajik flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 25 min active + 35 min waiting
- 15 min
Brown 300 g lamb chunks in a pot 5 minutes; add 1 diced onion; cook 3 minutes.
- 23 min
Add 1.5 liters water; simmer 30 minutes.
- 330 min
Add 80 g rinsed rice; cook 12 minutes.
Watch outCook the rice until just tender — it keeps swelling in the hot broth, so slightly firm now means right at the table.
- 412 min
Wash and chop 300 g spinach, 1 bunch sorrel, 1 bunch cilantro, 1 bunch dill, 4 green onions.
- 55 min
Off the heat, stir all the greens into the hot soup.
Watch outFold the greens in off the heat and serve within a minute or two — the residual warmth wilts them just enough while keeping them vivid green.
- 62 min
The heat of the broth will wilt them in 1-2 minutes, keeping them bright green.
- 71 min
Season with salt; the sorrel will provide acidity.
- 81 min
Ladle into bowls; serve with non bread.
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