Nowruz Food: Traditional Dishes and Recipes
When and how is it celebrated?
The new year begins at the spring equinox, usually on 20 or 21 March. The moment is calculated to the minute, and many families sit together at the Haft-Sin table when it arrives. On it are seven things whose Persian names begin with S, among them wheat sprouts, apples, garlic, sumac, vinegar and the sweet pudding samanu. Even before that, on the Tuesday evening before the last Wednesday of the old year, young and old jump over small fires for Chaharshanbe Suri. Depending on the region, dinner is herb rice with fish or rice with a noodle soup. The festive season lasts 13 days. On the last day, Sizdah Bedar, people leave the house and picnic outdoors.
What is on the table?
On the evening before Nowruz or on the first day, families in Iran eat Sabzi Polo Ba Mahi. The rice is steamed with plenty of dill, parsley, coriander and chives and served with fried fish. Next to it there is often Kuku Sabzi, a herb omelette that is almost blackish green inside. For Ash Reshteh you cook beans, chickpeas, lentils, herbs and noodles into a thick soup. The noodles are meant to help you hold on to good fortune in the new year. For the same reason, Reshteh Polo with raisins and dates is also served at the festival. Samanu, made from sprouted wheat, simmers for many hours until it turns brown and sweet, with no sugar at all. In Central Asia the same dish is called sumalak, and there neighbours take turns stirring it all night in a large cauldron. In Azerbaijan people bake Shekerbura, half-moon pastries with a nut filling.
Tips for your own festive meal
A Nowruz meal uses more herbs than you would think. Wash them the day before and let them dry well, otherwise the kuku turns watery. You can bake the kuku a day ahead anyway, as it tastes just as good cold. For dessert, serve Shirini Nokhodchi, small biscuits made with chickpea flour, and a bowl of Noghl, sugared almonds. For the Haft-Sin table, soak wheat or lentils ten to fourteen days in advance so the sprouts are green in time.
