Kuku sabzi
A traditional dish for Nowruz, the Persian New Year; its green colour is associated with spring and rebirth. It looks like a frittata but the proportions are reversed: herbs bound with egg, not egg with herbs. Six eggs carry several hundred grams of chopped greens. The key is that the herbs are completely dry before chopping — wet ones release water, the mixture does not bind and the kuku falls apart when cut.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Herbs 35 min
- Mixture 10 min
- Cooking 30 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneWash and thoroughly dry the herbs
Wash the herbs and dry them completely — in a spinner, then spread on a cloth for a quarter of an hour. The most important step: every drop of water thins the mixture, and kuku from wet herbs falls apart in the pan.
Ingredients: 2 bunches parsley · 2 bunches coriander · 1 bunch dill · 8 pcs spring onions · 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
Chop the herbs very finely
Chop the parsley, coriander, dill and spring onion by knife, very finely, thin stems included. Not in a processor — it bruises the herbs into a damp paste. You will have an enormous mound of green.
Ingredients: 2 bunches parsley · 2 bunches coriander · 1 bunch dill · 8 pcs spring onions · 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
A mound of green — more herbs than egg.Beat the eggs with the seasoning
Beat the eggs with the flour, baking powder, turmeric, salt and pepper and add the crumbled fenugreek. Fenugreek gives kuku its characteristic faintly bitter, maple-like aroma, by which it is known.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 1 tbsp plain flour · ½ tsp baking powder · ½ tsp turmeric · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper · 60 g walnuts · 30 g dried cranberries
Combine herbs and eggs
Stir the eggs into the herbs with the walnuts and cranberries. The mixture will be barely bound, almost all green — there is only enough egg to glue the herbs together. That is the right proportion, not a mistake.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 1 tbsp plain flour · ½ tsp baking powder · ½ tsp turmeric · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper · 60 g walnuts · 30 g dried cranberries
Barely bound, almost all green — as it should be.Cook covered over low heat
Heat the oil in a 26 cm pan, spread in the mixture, level it and cook 15 minutes covered over low heat. Low heat is essential: herbs burn faster than egg, and high heat gives a black base over a raw centre.
Ingredients: 5 tbsp oil · 200 g yogurt · 4 pcs flatbread
Cut into quarters and turn
Once the top has set, cut the kuku in the pan into four and turn each piece separately with a spatula. Flipping it whole via a plate is risky — kuku is fragile. Cook the second side 10 minutes, uncovered.
Ingredients: 5 tbsp oil · 200 g yogurt · 4 pcs flatbread
Check for a dark crust
Both sides should be deep green with a brown crust. The crust holds it all together. Pale kuku is soft and falls apart when cut into diamonds.
Ingredients: 5 tbsp oil · 200 g yogurt · 4 pcs flatbread
Cut into diamonds and serve
Transfer to a board, cut into diamonds and serve warm or at room temperature, with yogurt and flatbread. In Iran kuku sabzi is also eaten cold in sandwiches — just as good.
Ingredients: 5 tbsp oil · 200 g yogurt · 4 pcs flatbread
Diamonds with a dark crust at the sides.
Before you start
Barberries if you can find them
In Iran kuku gets barberries, zereshk — small, very sour red fruit. Persian shops sell them; soak 10 minutes before use. Dried cranberries are sweeter but give the same bright accent.
The herb ratio is flexible
Classic kuku is parsley, coriander, dill and spring onion, but every household's proportions differ. Some add spinach or lettuce leaves. The only fixed rule: more herbs than egg.
Three days in the fridge
Kuku keeps three days in the fridge and is excellent cold. It freezes well cut into diamonds — thaw in the fridge and warm briefly in a pan so the crust crisps again.
