
Persian Green Almond Stew (Khoresh Chaghaleh Badoom) is a real special meal made with parsley, mint, beef, dried lemons and green almonds (available in the spring).
It is mid-spring and I love my weekly trips to the market where I find so many of my favorite produce coming back to life: artichokes, asparagus, peas and rhubarb. And in the Persian and middle eastern markets, you can find green almonds, chaghaleh badoom.
Want to learn more about this unusual fruit? Well, read on!
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Recipe highlights
- Unique: This is not a common Persian that is served here in the US. If you are lucky enough to find green almonds, then you must try this wonderful stew.
- Green Almonds: This stew perfect for early spring, when green almonds are young and in season. They offer a little bit of sourness, but add some nice texture and flavor to the stew.
- Flavor: The base of this stew is made with herbs, fresh parsley and mint, a similar base found in khoresh karafs, celery stew. Many Persians combine the two stews, serving the herb base with both celery AND green almonds. So knock yourself out deciding which version you want to try.
- Versatile: I typically use beef stew meat for my meat base, but you can also make it with lamb, whole chicken or keep it meatless. Some vegetarian friends use mushrooms and substitute meat with them.
About chaghaleh badoom
If you never seen the almond fruit, well this is a real treat. The fruit itself has a green fuzzy skin, similar to peaches. When you find green almonds in early spring, the fruit is small, about 1-inch long. At this size, the entire fruit is edible.
At this stage, the skin and flesh are soft. The heart of the almond fruit, where the nut forms, is a clear gel and tastes tangy and sour. Persian love their sour foods and chagaleh badoom is one of our favorite snacks.
By mid to late spring, as the green almond fruit gets larger, the flesh gets tougher and should not be eaten. The nut center is still not fully formed, so you can still open it up and enjoy the sour center.
The meat for khoresh chaghaleh badoom can be lamb shanks or beef, depending on personal preference and what you have available. I also like to throw in spinach for more added nutrition.
During the cooking process the inner almond nut can turn bitter, so it is typically removed for this recipe. BUT, don’t discard it. It is still edible and can be munched on while you cook away… to give you energy, right?!
This is a delicious stew to be enjoyed in the spring. Serve over some fluffy chelo (Persian basmati rice) and you have an amazing meal.
Ingredients you need
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- Beef stew meat: I used 1-inch chunks of London broil for this stew, but you can also use bone-in beef or lamb shanks.
- Green almonds: You want the smaller, younger green almonds. When they get large, the outer fuzzy part is not edible.
- Dried Persian limes: Persian dried limes (limoo omani) are very distinct in flavor. You can purchase them at middle eastern markets or online. You pierce the whole limes or chop them before adding to the stew. You can also use ground dried lime. If you do not have dried limes, substitute with more lemon juice.
- Saffron: You want high quality saffron, too. Look for long strands that are crimson red throughout. Grind it yourself using a mortar and pestle. Saffron powders typically have color pigments and are lower in quality.
- Onion: You can use a brown, white or yellow onion.
- Lemon juice: You can use bottled or freshly squeezed lemon juice. This has a different sour flavor than the dried limes.
- Fresh greens: Parsley, mint and spinach. I am a proponent of using fresh parsley and mint and not dried herbs. They offer more flavor and texture to the stew as compared to their dried counterparts. You can use frozen spinach instead of fresh. Just be sure to thaw it first and squeeze out the excess water.
- Pantry staples: turmeric, salt, pepper, all purpose flour, extra virgin olive oil, beef broth
Step-by-step directions
- Sauté onions: Cook the onions in hot oil until light browned. Season with salt, pepper and turmeric.
- Brown the meat. Combine stew meat salt, pepper, turmeric and flour until meat is coated evenly. Add to the onions in the hot pot and brown the meat all over. Do not cook it all the way.
- Simmer meat. Stir in broth and lemon juice and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add dried limes to the stew, reduce heat to low, cover pot and simmer for 2 hours.
- Sauté greens. Using a food processor chop parsley, mint and spinach. Sauté the greens in olive oil in a large skillet.
- Add greens to stew. Add sautéed greens to the meat mixture, along with ground saffron. Simmer for another 30 minutes.
- Add green almonds. Cut in half and remove the inner seed from green almonds. Stir in halved green almonds into the stew, cover pot and simmer for 30 minutes.
Recipe tips and FAQs
Green almonds are not available everywhere, so consider yourself lucky if you come across some. And be a little adventurous in your culinary journeys and try something new and unfamiliar!
Another unique fruit you can find in the spring are green plums. Learn about them and try my recipe Persian green plum stew (khoresh gojeh sabz). Although the herb base is the same, the flavor of the stew is very different because of the plums.
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store any leftover stew in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.
The almond fruit itself has a green fuzzy skin, similar to peaches. When you find green almonds in early spring, the fruit is small, about 1-inch long. At this size, the entire fruit is edible. The heart of the almond fruit, where the nut forms, is a clear gel and tastes tangy and sour. By mid to late spring, as the green almond fruit gets larger, the flesh gets tougher and should not be eaten. The nut center is still not fully formed, so you can still open it up and enjoy the sour center.
When the fruit is young and small, the flesh is soft and you can eat the entire pod. To balance the sourness of the green almond, Persians like to sprinkle salt over chagaleh badoom and enjoy this fiber packed fruit simply like this. When the fruit gets larger and the flesh gets too thick to eat, you can peel and enjoy the sour center. You can also make this delicious green almond stew, Khoresh Chaghaleh Badoom.
Khoresh Chaghaleh Badoom (Persian Green Almond Stew)
Ingredients
- 2 lb beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon groundblack pepper
- ¾ teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoon all purpose flour optional
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion chopped (approximately 1 cup)
- 2 cup beef broth
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 dried Persian limes quartered
- 3 cups parsley packed
- 1 cup mint packed
- 1 cup spinach packed
- ¼ teaspoon ground saffron
- 2 lb green almonds
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix together stew meat ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, ¼ teaspoon turmeric and 2 teaspoon flour until meat is coated evenly.
- Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil.
- When oil is hot, add chopped onions.
- Cook until onions start to soften, approximately 7 minutes and add ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon turmeric.
- Cook for a 2 minutes, then raise the heat to medium-high, add stew meat and brown all sides, approximately 7 minutes.
- Stir in beef broth and lemon juice.
- Using a wooden spoon, scrape up browned bits of meat from the bottom of the pot.
- Add dried limes to the stew, reduce heat to low, cover pot and simmer for 2 hours, stirring the stew every 30 minutes.
- Using a food processor (or chop finely with a knife) chop parsley, mint and spinach.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 TBS olive oil.
- Sauté chopped greens for 5 minutes then add to the meat mixture, along with ground saffron.
- Cook stew covered over low heat for another 30 minutes.
- Cut in half and remove the inner seed from green almonds.
- Stir in halved green almonds into the stew, cover pot and cook for 30 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
In Lebanon we eat the same way: sprinkled with salt, but cooking with them is a first with me. I noticed that here in the USA they are unheard of, so yeah if I come across some I will be getting them ASAP.
I do have some celery in the fridge that need to be used, this stew might be a good idea, I love stews made the Lebanese way, never tried Persian way or even any Persian food for that matter. It has always been on my list I guess it is a good way to start!
I have never heard of the green almond. It sounds interesting and the stew looks so wonderful. I just came across your blog from Nami’s and really am enjoy reading about your dishes. I love the Iranian spices and dishes and look forward to seeing more of your food!
Green almond is new to me! I love learning new ingredient and hoping to see it in market. I remember you then. 😉 The stew looks wonderful and I can eat myself eating this with the basmati rice… I still have hours before lunch (and finished breakfast not a long ago), but my tummy really made noise seeing your photos!
This stew must be amazing! I have made khoresht-eh karafs, but have never heard of this one. I love all the ingredients, except I never saw green almonds, not even in Persian grocery stores. And probably using regular almonds won’t do, right? sigh… oh, well, I’ll keep an eye out for green almonds – I’m always happy to learn of new ingredients 🙂
I am going to have to keep an eye out for green almonds, they sound interesting! What a great stew, so flavorful!
The progression of beauty in these photographs takes my breath away. I want to make this. I’ll be on the lookout for Persian markets with green almonds, but I can make the celery version right now. And that rice! I just happen to have some exquisite Persian saffron right in my very own NC kitchen! 🙂
Nancy, I’m so happy I was able to get to know you at camp. You really are an amazing spirit that can always make me smile! Enjoy the saffron!
As you mentioned, I’ve never heard of or seen a green almond. How interesting!
And you can educate your foodie friends all about the green almond!
I have two Persian stores very close and I ogle these almonds every time I shop (which is at least twice a week:) Now that I know what to do with them, I’ll have to buy them! Pinned it (that’s my new “to try” place:)
BTW, in Serbian we say “badem” for almond, which is probably Farsi, via Turkish:)
You ogle the almonds, Lana? ha! ha! Definitely give them a try. And yes, in farsi, badam = almonds.
Well I’m one that has never heard of, nor had, a green almond! So I have been missing out. But I won’t in the future, because I’ll know what to look for. Nice dish and really nice photos. Good read – thanks.
Definitely try looking at middle-eastern stores – we love our baby almonds!
I’ve been playing around with green almonds, but haven’t yet actually made anything. This dish looks/sounds fantastic. I’ve got another batch of the almonds coming this week…so we’ll see what they get turned into.
So glad you can find them in your area. Have fun cooking with them!