The Most Popular Iranian Dishes Around the Country

The smell of mirza ghasemi alone will entrance you. This vegetarian dish is prepared with loads of garlic mixed with mashed grilled eggplant, tomatoes, and salt, pepper, and turmeric. Eggs are usually beaten into the mixture, but they can easily be left out to make it vegan. Though usually served as an appetizer, it’s so delicious you’ll probably fill up on it with bread before the main course!
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You’ve probably never thought that broad beans could be a comfort food, but baghla ghatogh has the potential to change that. Made with garlic, turmeric, plenty of fresh dill, and soft-boiled eggs, this traditional dish of the northern Caspian region is ridiculously tasty. Often served with rice, it will surely soothe your soul even more eaten by itself or with some warm bread.
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Not everyone is enchanted by the smell of cabbage, but they might change their mind if they give this Shirazi dish a try. Kalam polo, cabbage rice, is eaten quite often in this city of Persian poets, and the flavor comes from the various fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, chives, basil, tarragon, dill, and summer savory. Served with ‘pigeon head’ meatballs (named for their size), it can also be made vegetarian-friendly by skipping them altogether.
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The sheer size of Tabriz’s kufteh is impressive in and of itself. These giant meatballs are made of mashed split peas, rice, onions, meat, and various spices which are flattened like a dough. It’s then stuffed with a whole boiled egg, barberries, prunes, and walnuts before being wrapped in a cheesecloth and boiled. The juice is served as a separate dish like a soup with shredded pieces of traditional flatbread. Afterwards, the meatballs, which are also eaten with bread, are served with pickled vegetables or a plate of fresh herbs.

Ghalyeh mahi is a lesser-known dish as it’s typically only made in the south of Iran in the Khuzestan province. White fish can be substituted with shrimp in the stew which consists of a melange of flavors like fresh cilantro and fenugreek, garlic, and tamarind paste. Iranians tend to categorize foods into ‘hot and cold’, and since fish and cilantro are considered cold, ghalyeh is usually served with pickled garlic, considered to be hot, to balance the pungent flavors.
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