Ash Jo | Persian Barley Stew

Ash…. The very popular kind of food among Iranians. The variety of Ashes in Iran surprises any person! Ashe jo is one them. Persian barley stew is a very delicious yet healthy dish, which you can easily benefit from and enjoy. This Persian Aush is an ideal choice for winter season when you need strengthening and nutritious food.

The barley in the dish makes its health benefits increase outstandingly. So lots of Iranians are fan of this ash. You would see long lines of people standing in Ashkade (stores selling Ashes) waiting for their Ashe jo becoming ready.

Ash Jow | Persian Barley Stew

Aush or Ash is one of most popular foods in Iran. It is considered to be a traditional food which is cooked in many cities by now. Barley is the main ingredient of this food, which is very nutritious and healthy. Iranian people love eating this delicious food in the cold days of winter. Note that the stew which its recipe is going to be taught is different from Barley Soup (or Soup-e Jo)

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Prep Time 2 hours hrs

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine persian

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups Kashk (used for topping the dish)
• ½ cup Fried Garlic (Sir Dagh) (used for topping the dish)
• 2 onions (used for topping the dish)
• 2 tablespoon dried mint powder (used for topping the dish)
• 1 tablespoon turmeric (used for topping the dish)
• Salt as much as required, (used for topping the dish)
• ½ cup rice
• 1 cup barley
• 1 cup dried pinto beans
• 1 cup dried chickpeas
• 600 grams Vegetables for Ash (Sabzi Ash) (including ,parsley , coriander, scallion, spinach) finely chopped

Instructions

 

• Like all the other beans, the pinto beans and the chickpeas need to soak in water 12 to 24 hours before they're cooked. So the night before you want to cook Barley Stew, leave the mentioned ingredients in some water. It's a good idea to replace the water with some fresh water at least every four hours. This will help the beans cook more easily and become easier to absorb and digest for our body. Then , they can be cooed .
• The same story is true for Barley and Rice. But they don't need to be soaked for that long. Just 3 hours can be enough. So do the same thing.
• In a large pot, pour some water and add the barley and the rice. Cook them over a low flame. (Do not stir the ingredients until the water is half evaporated)
•  When the barley and the rice are cooked, add the cooked beans. wait for the water to start boiling.
• Use the one of the onions to prepare some fried onions (Piaz Dagh).
• When the pot starts boiling, the finely chopped Vegetables should be added to the pot. since these vegetables don't take much time to cook, they don't need to be cooked before hand.
• Let it cook over a medium flame. Stir the Aash Jo frequently. If you think the stew doesn't have enough water and it needs some water, you can only add some boiling water to it.
• After about an hour the Barley Stew is ready to be served.

Topping and Serving Barley Stew

To finalize the preparation of this dish, some ingredients are required. These ingredients have been mentioned in the list above and all of them have been labeled.

First, use the other onion to prepare some more fried onions . When they are ready, add the turmeric, the fried garlic and the dried mint. Stir-fry them for 1 to 2 minutes.

Put the cooked Barley Stew in a suitable bowl and top it using some kashk (cover the surface of the dish with Kashk) and then top that with the mentioned ingredients.

Sometimes, brewed saffron is also used for topping this dish.

Like many other types of Aush, Ash Jo, is served with fresh, hot bread. Our first recommendation is Iranian Sangak Bread.

This dish has many ingredients inside it, with different tastes and properties, that’s why not many side ingredients are used next to it when serving it.

Tips for preparing Ash jo (Barley Stew)

• Do not chop Sabzi aash into very small pieces. (cut into 1 to 1.5 cm)
• If your ash is watery, you can mix some flour with some water and ,add it to ash.

Other Types of Ash

there needs to be a clarification first. Two different Persian terms are both translated as STEW in English, with two different meanings. Those words are Ash and Khoresh.

The first term, Ash, is a soup like dish, It is stronger and richer than soup and it’s eaten alone as the main dish, sometimes served with bread.

The second term, Khoresh, is not served alone and it almost always needs rice (the most famous Iranian ones are Ghormeh Sabzi and Gheimeh).

Barley Stew is a type of Ash, so rice is not needed for serving it.

There are many other types of Ash, such as Ash Reshteh and Ash Shole Ghalamkar.

Tell us if you have eve eaten or cooked Ash Jo. How did you like it? Do you think you are gonna cook it again?