Kalleh Pacheh

Hard·1 hour

A rich, gelatinous broth slow-simmered for many hours from sheep's head and trotters, seasoned simply with cinnamon and turmeric. Iran's legendary pre-dawn breakfast soup, eaten with flatbread.

Long before dawn in Iran, steam rises from kalleh pacheh shops as workers queue for a bowl. The name means 'head and trotters,' and the dish follows the nomadic habit of wasting nothing — tongue, cheek, brain, and gelatin-rich feet simmered until the broth turns silken. Its roots reach back centuries on the Iranian plateau; it remains a fortifying, much-debated delicacy whose devotees arrive at the stalls before sunrise.

Deeply savory and unctuous, the broth coats the lips with gelatin, carrying warm cinnamon and earthy turmeric. The meats are meltingly soft, the brain silky and mild. Rich, primal, and astonishingly restorative with bread and a squeeze of lemon.

Hours of bare simmering hydrolyze the abundant collagen in head and trotters into gelatin, giving the broth its silky, lip-sticking body. Long soaking and diligent skimming clean the broth, while cinnamon and turmeric temper the strong aromas of offal.

Variations

Whole or partial (just trotters, or just head); some shops serve brain or tongue separately

On the Palate

Where Kalleh Pacheh sits in the Persian flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 6

How it's made

8 steps · 1 hour

1
30 min
Clean and thoroughly scrub the sheep's head and trotters, removing any hair.
2
180 min
Soak them in cold water for several hours, changing the water to draw out impurities.
Watch out
Soak in cold water for hours and change it two or three times — the water going from cloudy to clear is your sign the blood and odour are drawn out.
3
30 min
Place in a large pot with fresh water and bring to a boil, skimming the foam carefully.
Watch out
Skim off every bit of grey foam as it rises to the boil — leave it in and the broth turns cloudy and muddy-tasting.
4
10 min
Add onion, cinnamon stick, turmeric, and salt, then lower to a bare simmer.
5
470 min
Simmer very gently for 7-8 hours until the meat falls from the bone and the broth is rich.
Watch out
Keep it at a bare, barely-trembling simmer for 7-8 hours — the broth should turn silky and lip-sticking; a rolling boil clouds it and toughens the meat.
6
25 min
Lift out the head and trotters; separate the tongue, cheek, brain, and meat.
7
12 min
Strain the broth and return the picked meat to the pot to warm through.
8
5 min
Serve steaming hot with torn flatbread, fresh herbs, and lemon at the table.