# Persian: Sabzi Ghormeh?



## Chaska Ñawi

Every couple of years I load up on such delicacies as sumac, powdered vanilla and zatar at a Persian grocery in Montreal.  I have one bag of herbs, which I bought for the simple reason that they smelled good, but has now become a staple in my kitchen.  It smells a bit like dried leeks, but the leaves don't look entirely like leeks ... it may be a mix.

The main heading on the label is Sabzi Ghormeh, and the ingredients are:  tareh, jafari, gheshniez, shambelile esfenaj (this last word sounds like "spinach" to my western ears).

Help on this would be greatly appreciated.

salaam aleikum  (forgive my spelling),
Chaska


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## cherine

Hi Chaska,
I wish I could help you, but these words don't seem to be Arabic (you said yourself they're from a Persian grocery) so they may be persian (Iranian) words.
And I agree with you about the esfinaj, it sounds like spinach to my Arabic ear too  the Arabic word for spinach -as we pronounce it in Egypt- is sabanikh. (kh= castillan j).


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## Chaska Ñawi

Thank you, Cherine.  You're probably right about the words being Persian.  The grocery also sells a lot of food from Lebanon, so I'd been thinking Arabic.


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## SofiaB

Sabzi Gorme is an Iranian (Farsi) soup or stew. this is done by the following:
English Farsi
Spinach esfenag
Dill sheveed
Parsely jafree
Cilantro coriander gashneez
Chives tare
Leek tare farangee ( means foreign chives)
Scallions piazche
Fenugreek shanbelile
Lemon lemon amanee
Tumeric zard choobe
Onion sia dane
Meat (lamb, but beef is also used)
Oil I suggest vegetable is used 3 or 4 tablespoons, Chile pepper, black or white pepper and salt to taste. Although not Iranian I like to add anchovy sauce as salt. Found in Filipino, Thai and Vietnamese markets.
Usually the herbs are finely chopped or nowadays put in food processor.
It is very delicicious and is best with fresh herbs even though sold with dry in stores.
I hope this is what you want to know.


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## Jhorer Brishti

In case you wanted to know the etymology of the word "Sabzi" means Vegetable.. No clue as to what Ghorme is.. Persian is known as the French of the East because it has had such a great impact on South/southeast asia in transferring(religion too) words to the languages spoken there(even though Iran is just shy of the middle east). In bengali "sabzi"(shobji) is not a common word and like some(most arabic/persian borrowings are colloquial while the brunt of the language is sanskrit-based) other persian borrowings is confined to literary language..


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## Chaska Ñawi

Thank you so much, all of you!

I really appreciate the recipe and all the detailed information, Sofia.  

(I keep saying this, but we really really really need a recipe forum here.)

cheers,
Chaska


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## SofiaB

You are welcome. So now will you cook it? This is a khuzestani recipe. It has more ingredients than Tehrani version. Khuzestan is considered the origin of Farsi people.


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## Chaska Ñawi

I most definitely will cook it!

I'd already been using the mixture in soups and stews; I also like to use it in a bulgur curry that I make.

I don't have many Iranian recipes - most of my cooking from that area falls into the categories of Lebanon/Israel/Egypt.  (Other major influences in the kitchen are Mexico, India and China.)


One question:  are you talking about lemon rind, lemon juice, or both?


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## MarcB

I would say lemon juice but lemon zest also is good.


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## SofiaB

I agree juice is used.


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## Tinkertoo

My wife is from tehran and we have ghorme sabzi fairly frequently not that I can cook it myself but I am almost certain that there are whole lemons in there, although they are black by the time it is cooked. I hope this helps.


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## CheRie

We are from Venezuela and we have learned to appreciate persian food. Definitively, ghorme sabzi is one of our favorites (with white rice or dill rice!!!) I'm getting hungry now...


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## Tinkertoo

Hi, I am from England originally and I too like Persian food.I asked my wife about the lemons in ghormeh sabzi and found that they are yellow limes. they are poked with a fork and used whole. I hope this helps. Enjoy.


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## lb_tulip

Hi Chaska
I'm an iranian girl and I can help you about iranian foods and whatever you wish.But I didn't get your meaning.What do you want exactly

We usually use lemon juice in Ghormeh sabzi but sometimes a kind of dried lemon that we call it(limoo amani) is used.This lemon is black because of dryness.It makes Ghorme sabzi so delicious

Sorry Sofia but Khuzestan is not the origin of persian people.It's just a province of Iran .Center and north of Iran are the orogin of persian people


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## Tisia

Hi

It is Ghorma sabzi and not Sabzi ghorma. It is one of the most known Persian foods made of beef/lamb, red beans and parsely plus other spices. It is a delicious healthy dish.

Tisia


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## Bienvenidos

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to add that in some dialects of Persian (Eastern Persian) *sabzí* actually means *spinach*, and *turkorí* means *vegetable(s)*. Spinach is an optional ingredient in this dish. I'd actually transliterate it as *Corma Sabzi*. The "Ghormah" kind of threw me off a bit, but you know how I am with transliterating!


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## Lugubert

In India, there are different kinds of korma sauce. As has been pointed out, sabzi (a Persian word) is vegetables in India. The origin of the word korma (qorma) is, according to McGregor: Hindi-English dictionary, Turkish qavurma.


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## preciouspuppy

I am making Gourmeh Sabzi right now.
sabz means green or vegetable in Farsi.


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## Tisia

Hi
In Persian 'sabz' means 'green' and 'sabzi' means 'vegetable' or 'greenery'.

BR
Tisia


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## preciouspuppy

ok, bale, khaley mam noon, Tisia.


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## ukuca

Lugubert said:


> In India, there are different kinds of korma sauce. As has been pointed out, sabzi (a Persian word) is vegetables in India. The origin of the word korma (qorma) is, according to McGregor: Hindi-English dictionary, Turkish qavurma.



In fact these two words are very similar to "sebze" (vegetable) and "kavurma" in Turkish. So is that simply a "sebzeli kavurma" (kavurma with vegetable)?


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## MOST-WANTED

Tisia said:


> Hi
> In Persian 'sabz' means 'green' and 'sabzi' means 'vegetable' or 'greenery'.
> 
> BR
> Tisia


I am agree with Tisia.But in Afghanistan we write with Qorma.And it means stew.There are many kinds of stews.Like chicken and meat stews.


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## preciouspuppy

I love to see how the languages are related--and the dishes, too!
Merci


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