A sweet-sour Tehran stew of lamb braised with spinach and tart golden dried plums. The plums — aloo zard or aloo bokhara — soften into the sauce and lend a fruity tang, while the spinach is fried first to concentrate it. It is lighter and faster than the herb-heavy khoresh repertoire, and is usually served with plain rice and a bowl of yogurt. The balance the cook chases is sour fruit against rich lamb, lifted by a little sweetness.
A long-standing dish of central and northern Iran, built on the classic Persian pairing of meat with sour fruit (the same logic behind albaloo and rhubarb stews). The defining ingredient is aloo, a dried golden sour plum prized for being both tart and fragrant; outside Iran, ordinary prunes are the common substitute. Like most fruit khoresh, it has no single dated origin, but the meat-and-fruit braise is an old strand of Persian court and home cooking that long predates the modern kitchen.
A dark stew, green going on brown, of spinach cooked down soft around tender lamb. The golden plums sit whole in it, swollen and glossy. The first taste is sour and fruity from the plums, then the savory depth of the meat, with the spinach giving body rather than flavor of its own. A squeeze of lime or a spoon of yogurt at the table sharpens it further. Eaten over white rice.
The spinach is sauteed in oil before it joins the pot — frying drives off its water and keeps it from turning the stew thin and watery. The dried plums go in partway through the braise: long enough to plump and release their sourness into the sauce, but not so early that they break apart. Because the plums already supply tartness, the dish needs only a touch of sugar, if any, to round the edge — too much and it tips cloying.
Variations
Aloo zard (golden plum) gives the classic version; aloo bokhara (a darker sour plum) makes it tarter and deeper in color. Some cooks add a handful of fried chopped parsley alongside the spinach. Beef replaces lamb in many homes, and a quicker everyday version uses chicken. Outside Iran, ordinary pitted prunes stand in for the dried Persian plums, yielding a sweeter, less tart result.
On the Palate
Where Khoresh-e Aloo Esfenaj sits in the Persian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 20 min
- 18 min
Soften sliced onion in oil, add cubed lamb and brown all over
Watch outBrown the lamb hard in an unhurried pan — a deep crust here is the flavor base; if it's just grey and steaming, the pan's too crowded or too cool.
- 255 min
Stir in turmeric, season with salt and pepper, add hot water to cover and braise until the lamb is nearly tender
- 312 min
Wash, chop and sautee the spinach in oil until wilted and reduced
Watch outFry the spinach until the water cooks off and it goes glossy-dark — this is what keeps the stew from turning thin and watery later.
- 420 min
Add the spinach to the pot and simmer together for 20 minutes
- 525 min
Add the dried golden plums and continue to simmer until they plump and soften
Watch outPull the plums the moment they plump and go tender — leave them longer and they burst and muddy the sauce.
- 63 min
Stir in bloomed saffron and adjust sourness with a little lime juice; add a pinch of sugar only if needed
- 78 min
Simmer uncovered briefly to thicken the sauce to a loose gravy
Watch outReduce only to a loose gravy that just coats a spoon — cook it past that and the tart-sweet balance tips sticky.
- 82 min
Serve with plain steamed basmati rice and yogurt
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