Shared by Ayala Hodak
Shared by Ayala Hodak
Maheen's Persian Herbed Omelette
Maheen's Persian Herbed Omelette
Family Journey
Tehran, IranHolon, Israel
Tenafly, New Jersey
4 recipes
Kuku Sabzi (Persian Herb Omelette)
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- ½ bunch parsley (1 cup leaves and tender stems), washed, dried and chopped
- ½ bunch cilantro (1 cup leaves and tender stems), washed, dried and chopped
- ½ bunch dill (1 cup leaves and tender stems), washed, dried and chopped
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
Shifteh Berenji (Persian Meatball Soup)
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 1 cup dried small white beans, such as navy beans, soaked in 4 cups of water overnight
- 1 pound beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 10 dried black Persian limes, halved
- 6 chicken necks or backs (or 1½ pounds chicken thighs and drumsticks)
- 2 small whole yellow onions, peeled
- 2 large carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 medium celery root, peeled and cut into 2-inch by ¼-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
For the meatballs:
- 1 pound ground white meat chicken
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 1½ cups jasmine rice, rinsed and drained
- 1½ cups finely chopped cilantro (1 bunch)
- 1¼ cups finely chopped parsley (1 bunch)
- ¼ cup finely chopped tarragon
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
- 8 ounces pitted prunes (1¼ cup)
Ghormeh Sabzi (Persian Herb Stew)
Ingredients
- 12 dried black Persian limes, halved and seeded
- 9 cups water, divided
- 1 cup black eyed peas, soaked overnight
- 3 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
- 5 tablespoons canola oil, divided
- 3 bunches parsley (8 cups leaves and tender stems), washed, dried, and roughly chopped
- 3 bunches cilantro (8 cups leaves and tender stems), washed, dried, and roughly chopped
- 1 bunch mint (1½ cups leaves), washed, dried, and roughly chopped
- 1 leek, green part only, sliced into ⅛-inch strips and washed
- 3 tablespoons dried savory
- 3 tablespoons dried mint
- 3 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 2½ teaspoons ground cumin
Faloodeh (Cold Desert With Apples and Rosewater)
Ingredients
- 4 gala apples, peeled and coarsely grated
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar*
- 3 ½ tablespoons rosewater
- 3 cups water
- 5-6 ice cubes
Recipes
1
Kuku Sabzi (Persian Herb Omelette)
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- ½ bunch parsley (1 cup leaves and tender stems), washed, dried and chopped
- ½ bunch cilantro (1 cup leaves and tender stems), washed, dried and chopped
- ½ bunch dill (1 cup leaves and tender stems), washed, dried and chopped
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
2
Shifteh Berenji (Persian Meatball Soup)
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 1 cup dried small white beans, such as navy beans, soaked in 4 cups of water overnight
- 1 pound beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 10 dried black Persian limes, halved
- 6 chicken necks or backs (or 1½ pounds chicken thighs and drumsticks)
- 2 small whole yellow onions, peeled
- 2 large carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 medium celery root, peeled and cut into 2-inch by ¼-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
For the meatballs:
- 1 pound ground white meat chicken
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 1½ cups jasmine rice, rinsed and drained
- 1½ cups finely chopped cilantro (1 bunch)
- 1¼ cups finely chopped parsley (1 bunch)
- ¼ cup finely chopped tarragon
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
- 8 ounces pitted prunes (1¼ cup)
3
Ghormeh Sabzi (Persian Herb Stew)
Ingredients
- 12 dried black Persian limes, halved and seeded
- 9 cups water, divided
- 1 cup black eyed peas, soaked overnight
- 3 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
- 5 tablespoons canola oil, divided
- 3 bunches parsley (8 cups leaves and tender stems), washed, dried, and roughly chopped
- 3 bunches cilantro (8 cups leaves and tender stems), washed, dried, and roughly chopped
- 1 bunch mint (1½ cups leaves), washed, dried, and roughly chopped
- 1 leek, green part only, sliced into ⅛-inch strips and washed
- 3 tablespoons dried savory
- 3 tablespoons dried mint
- 3 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 2½ teaspoons ground cumin
4
Faloodeh (Cold Desert With Apples and Rosewater)
Ingredients
- 4 gala apples, peeled and coarsely grated
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar*
- 3 ½ tablespoons rosewater
- 3 cups water
- 5-6 ice cubes
Ayala Hodak was a cook in residence, sharing several stories and recipes with the JFS archive. Read about the Persian sweet her family enjoys for Yom Kippur breakfast and her mother's ghormeh sabzi, a Persian herb stew. You can find all of her recipes in her recipe box here.
Our recipes are a map of where we have been and who we have cooked with. That’s true for Maheen Saadia who started her life in Tehran and now lives in Holon, a city near Tel Aviv. In the 1940’s in Tehran, Maheen learned to cook by her mother’s side. But their time cooking together was interrupted when Maheen was in her early teens and made Aliyah with two of her siblings, leaving her parents behind.
Representatives of Aliyat Hanoar, who recruited young Jews to move to Israel, told Maheen: “Israel’s a wonderful place,” her daughter Ayala Hodak, the co-owner of New York Israeli restaurant Taboon, explains. But, “Israel was a new country. It was nothing like she expected,” she adds. It was less developed, still forming itself. Maheen and her siblings were taken to Kibbutz Naan in the center of the country and had their names changed to sound Israeli—Maheen became Yafa. And, she was given a job, working in the communal dining hall.
When she was around 18, Ayala believes, she left the kibbutz and moved to Tel Aviv where she met her future husband Uri, another Persian immigrant, whose name had been changed—from Rohola to Uri. It was his mother, Dalia who would help Yafa learn to cook for her family. “I think that my mother remembered a lot of her cooking from her mother,” Ayala says. Recipes in Yafa’s home became a blend of the influences of the two matriarchs.
For holidays Ayala remembers her mother preparing traditional Persian recipes like the herbed stew ghormeh sabzi. And, at times of mourning, on the anniversary of a loved one’s death, she prepares kuku sabzi, a Persian omelette filled with fresh green herbs. “I don’t know if it’s a tradition in every home,” Ayaya explains. But for her mother.
“It’s part of the blessing, all of the herbs come from the ground.”
The recipe has passed down to Ayala, who is thankful that she doesn’t have memorial days to observe in her home. Instead, she follows another lead from her mother, making it for shavuot alongside Masso-Cheiar, a Persian cold yogurt and cucumber soup with fresh mint. Other times, she simply makes it for big breakfasts. It is one of those dishes that is delicious at all hours and in all seasons.
