Ash-e Anar (Pomegranate Aush) Yazd

Pomegranate aush is one of Yazd’s traditional dishes, which is very savory and delicious and is mostly prepared for Yalda Night. Pomegranate aush is a very nutritious and useful meal for vegetarians and vegans.

Pomegranate aush is very light, so it can be easily use along with other Yalda Night snacks. This aush is cooked in the north of the country as well as in Shiraz and Yazd. They make it everywhere, each one is great in its own way. Meatballs are omitted in this recipe, but they can be added. About aush herbs, we use cilantro a little more to have a delicious aush. In order to make the aush red and beautiful, add beet juice. Adding pomegranate seeds is optional. There is no garlic in the ingredients of this aush and it is only designed with fried dried mint, fried onion and pomegranate seeds. Sour-sweet pomegranate is used for this aush, but sour pomegranate can also be used according to your taste.

Yazdi Pomegranate Aush Ingredients

Rice – 250 grams

Split peas – 150 grams

Onion – 3 pcs

Beet – ½ kilograms

Fresh mint – 500 grams

Pomegranate paste – 100 grams

Sunflower oil – 100 grams

Turmeric – 2 tablespoons

Water – 8 cups

Salt, black pepper and dried mint – as needed

Pomegranate Aush Recipe

Step 1

To prepare this delicious pomegranate aush, first put washed split peas into a pot, put the lid on and let them cook. Cook the beets in another pot with its lid on. Wash and peel two onions.

Step 2

Then dice them finely. Heat a pot with a little oil. Then add the onion and fry until it becomes golden. Then add turmeric, black pepper and salt.

Step 3

Then sauté until the smell comes out. Then wash the rice and add 3 liters of boiling water and let the rice cook completely with the lid on, on medium heat. After the rice is cooked, add the herbs.

Step 4

Now let the herbs cook in the pot with the lid on for 30 minutes. In the next step, add cooked split peas and cooked, chopped beets along with beet juice. Now add pomegranate juice, pomegranate paste and pomegranate seeds to the aush.

Step 5

Then adjust the salt and let it boil. Wash and peel the one remaining onion and slice it. Then take a pan and heat it with a little oil until it gets hot.

Step 6

Then add the onion to the oil and fry it well to make fried onion. Then remove the onion from the oil and put the mint in the same hot oil and turn off the heat. At the end, when the aush is ready, add some fried mint and fried onion.

Tips:

You can add pomegranate juice instead of water to make it tastier.

We recommend you to use homemade pomegranate paste to make your aush more delicious.

If you like your aush to be more sour, add some vinegar to it.

Pomegranate juice should not be added first because its sourness will make the ingredients cook longer and also make the meat tough.

This aush is very healthy and delicious because of the bulgur wheat and beet. We hope you cook it and enjoy the taste.