Kuku Sabzi

About This Recipe

Kuku sabzi is the most green dish in Persian cooking — a baked, deep-emerald frittata thick with a fistful of fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, dill, chives, fenugreek) lightly bound with eggs, jeweled with tart barberries and chopped walnuts, and flavored with turmeric and a whisper of saffron. It is the centerpiece of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, where its green color symbolizes rebirth and spring. Outside Nowruz, kuku sabzi is everyday Persian comfort food, eaten warm or at room temperature, sliced into wedges, and tucked into pita with feta, herbs, and pickles for a brilliant lunch. The technique is simple but the proportions are key: vastly more herbs than eggs.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 2 large bunchesflat-leaf parsley, tough stems removed
• 1 large bunchcilantro
• 1 large bunchdill
• 1 small bunchchives or scallion greens
• 2 tbspdried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
• 6 largeeggs
• 2 tbspall-purpose flour
• 1 tspbaking powder
• 1/2 tspground turmeric
• 1 pinchsaffron threads, bloomed in 2 tbsp hot water
• 1 tspfine salt
• 1/2 tspfreshly ground black pepper
• 3 tbspdried barberries (zereshk), rinsed; or finely chopped dried cranberries
• 3 tbspshelled walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped
• 3 tbspneutral oil
• 2 tbspunsalted butter
• Greek yogurt and warm pita to serve

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash and dry herbs

   Wash all herbs aggressively, dry very thoroughly in a salad spinner and on towels — wet herbs steam the kuku instead of greening it.

2. 2

   Chop very fine

   Finely chop parsley, cilantro, dill, and chives. The total volume after chopping should be about 4 cups densely packed. Mix in the fenugreek leaves.

3. 3

   Whisk eggs

   In a wide bowl, whisk eggs with flour, baking powder, turmeric, bloomed saffron, salt, and pepper until smooth and pale yellow.

4. 4

   Combine and fold

   Add herbs, barberries, and walnuts to the egg mixture. Fold with a spatula until the herbs are evenly coated. The mixture should look almost entirely green, with eggs as a binder, not a base.

5. 5

   Heat the pan

   Heat oil and butter in a 24 cm ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium until the butter foams.

6. 6

   Pour and set

   Tip the herb-egg mixture into the pan and smooth the top. Cook over medium-low for 8 minutes until the bottom is set and lightly golden.

7. 7

   Bake the top

   Transfer the pan to a 190°C oven and bake 15–18 minutes until the top is dry, set, and faintly browned at the edges.

8. 8

   Invert and slice

   Cool 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge and slide or invert onto a board. Cut into wedges.

9. 9

   Serve

   Serve warm or at room temperature with Greek yogurt, warm pita, feta cubes, fresh herbs, and pickled vegetables.

Variations

• •

  Kuku sabzi with leeks added (Tehran style).

• •

  Kuku kadu: pumpkin and saffron version eaten in autumn.

• •

  Add 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh fenugreek for a more grassy, hill-village note.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days. Eat cold, room temperature, or briefly reheated. Excellent in lunchboxes — the flavors deepen overnight.

Frequently Asked Questions