Dizi (Abgoosht)

Dizi is one of the prevalent Iranian dishes that date back thousands of years. The name of this dish comes from a special stone pot that is used to prepare this dish. Dizi has different recipes, but the main ingredients are meat and beans. If you want to make a tastier Dizi, don’t discard the meat fat.

What are the Ingredients?

• 500 g bone-in lamb (shank, shoulder, or short ribs)
• 1 cup chickpeas
• 1cup white beans
• 1 onion
• 4small potatoes
• 2tomatoes
• 1tbsp tomato paste
• 4dried limes
• Salt and pepper
• Turmeric
• water

How to prepare Dizi?

Step 1: Preparing Ingredients

Rinse and soak the chickpeas and white beans from the night before.

Dice the onion.

Chop the tomatoes in half.

Pierce the dried limes using a fork.

Step 2: Cooking Dizi

Put the chickpeas, white beans, and lamb in a big pot. Add salt, pepper, turmeric, and dried limes. Pour some water and let it simmer over medium-low heat for about 2 hours or until tender.

**At the beginning of cooking check the pot’s content and remove any foam that comes on the surface.

Then add the potatoes, tomato halves, and tomato paste, cover the pot and let it simmer over very low heat for another 2 hours until fat and oil move to the surface of Abgoosht. Adjust salt and pepper.

Step 3: Serve

The broth and the solids of this dish are served separately so you need to put a strainer over a big bowl and collect the broth. Remove the bones and discard the dried limes. You can either put the solids into another bowl and crush them all up into a paste or serve them as they are.

Tear Iranian flatbreads like Lavash or Sangak into small pieces and soak them in the broth. What you do to the broth is called Terid in Farsi. Ladle Terid in 4 separate bowls. Scoop the solids on a plate, and garnish with fresh herbs.

Serve with fresh herbs, Torshi(pickles), fresh onion, and flatbread.

This dish should be served hot.

Useful links:

Delicious Iranian Side Dishes

Torshi (Pickles)

Iranian bread

Doogh(yogurt drink)