Ash-e Anar

Ash-e anar is a sweet-sour soup of lentils, rice and a generous quantity of herbs, enriched with pomegranate molasses and juice.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 35 min
Cook: 1h 25m
Total: 2 hours
Vegetarian
✅
Nuts
❌
Serves
6 people
Difficulty
Medium

Ingredients

  • 100g green or brown lentils
  • 70g basmati rice, rinsed
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp sunflower oil, divided
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1.5 litres water
  • 100g fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • 100g fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • 50g fresh mint, finely chopped
  • 100g spring onions, finely chopped
  • 100g spinach, finely chopped
  • 100ml pomegranate molasses
  • 100ml pomegranate juice
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • Pomegranate seeds and dried mint, to garnish
  • Salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pot and fry the onions for 10 minutes until golden. Add the turmeric, lentils and water and simmer for 25 minutes.

  2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil in a wide pan and fry the parsley, coriander, mint, spring onions and spinach for 10 minutes until dark and fragrant.

  3. Add the rice, herbs and 1 tsp salt to the pot and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often, until the rice is soft.

  4. Stir in the pomegranate molasses, juice and sugar and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the balance of sweet and sour with more sugar or molasses.

  5. Serve hot, garnished with pomegranate seeds and a pinch of dried mint.