Short answer
Persian food is the home cooking of Iran, built around long-grain rice, slow herb and meat stews, charcoal kebabs and a balance of sour, sweet and fragrant flavors. Saffron, dried limes, fresh herbs, pomegranate and dried fruit appear again and again.
Persian food is the traditional cooking of Iran, centered on long-grain rice, slow-cooked herb and meat stews, charcoal-grilled kebabs and a careful balance of sour, sweet and fragrant flavors. Saffron, dried limes, pomegranate, walnuts and fresh herbs define the style, and most meals are built around a plate of rice.
What is Persian food?
Persian food is the cuisine of Iran and of Persian-speaking communities around the world, sometimes called Iranian food. It is known for rice dishes, khoresh (stews served over rice), kebabs, flatbreads and a table of fresh herbs.
Where many cuisines build heat, Persian cooks build fragrance. Spices are used gently, often for aroma and color rather than burn. The result is food that tastes layered but rarely sharp with chili.
Regional versions differ. Northern Iran near the Caspian Sea uses a lot of herbs, walnuts, pomegranate and fish. The south uses more tamarind and chili. Central cities such as Isfahan and Yazd are known for their own rice dishes and sweets.
What are the main flavors in Persian cooking?
The main flavors in Persian cooking are saffron, turmeric, dried lime, sour fruit, fresh herbs, cinnamon, dried rose petals and onion cooked slowly until golden.
| Flavor | Typical ingredients | Where it shows up |
|---|---|---|
| Fragrant | Saffron, cardamom, rose water, cinnamon | Rice, desserts, tea |
| Sour | Dried limes, sour grapes, pomegranate paste, sumac, barberries | Stews, kebabs, rice |
| Herbal | Parsley, cilantro, dill, mint, fenugreek | Stews, rice, salads |
| Sweet | Dried apricots, prunes, raisins, dates | Rice and meat dishes |
| Savory | Onion, turmeric, garlic, lamb, chicken | Almost every dish |
The sweet and sour pairing is what many first-time eaters notice. A dish may hold chicken, saffron and barberries, or lamb with prunes and walnuts, and each bite moves between tart and gentle sweetness.
What are the most famous Persian dishes?
The best-known Persian dishes are chelo kebab, ghormeh sabzi, fesenjan, tahdig, zereshk polo and joojeh kebab. Each is a pairing of rice with a grilled meat or a stew.
- Chelo kebab: steamed rice with a grilled skewer of ground meat (koobideh) or cubed meat (barg or joojeh), often with grilled tomato.
- Ghormeh sabzi: a dark green stew of herbs, kidney beans, dried limes and lamb or beef.
- Fesenjan: a thick stew of ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses, usually with chicken.
- Zereshk polo: rice with tart dried barberries, saffron and chicken.
- Tahdig: the crisp golden crust from the base of the rice pot.
- Ash reshteh: a thick noodle, herb and bean soup.
- Kuku sabzi: a baked herb omelet, often eaten at the New Year table.
Many Persian restaurants in America feature a few of these. Home cooks tend to rotate them through the week.
How is Persian rice different from other rice?
Persian rice is rinsed, soaked in salted water, parboiled and then steamed with a towel under the lid, which gives separate, fluffy grains and a crisp crust called tahdig.
The extra steps are the point. Soaking lets the grain stretch evenly, parboiling removes surface starch, and steaming finishes the cooking gently. The cook often layers yogurt, flatbread or thin potato slices under the rice to form the tahdig.
Persian cooking has two main rice styles. Chelo is plain steamed rice served beside kebabs. Polo is rice mixed or layered with other ingredients, such as herbs, dried fruit or lentils.
What is a Persian meal like?
A Persian meal usually centers on one rice dish with a stew or kebab, plus a plate of fresh herbs, radishes, raw onion, feta cheese, flatbread and yogurt. Everything is shared and served at once.
The herb plate, called sabzi khordan, usually holds mint, basil, tarragon, scallions and radishes, and people tear off sprigs to eat with cheese and bread. Pickles (torshi) and a bowl of yogurt with cucumber add sourness.
Dessert is often fruit, followed by tea with sugar cubes, saffron rock candy or dates. Heavier sweets such as baklava, gaz and sohan are eaten with tea or given as gifts.
What are Persian breads and sides?
Persian breads are flat, wheat-based and baked fresh: lavash (thin), sangak (stone-baked), barbari (thick and oval) and taftoon (thin and round). Sides include mast-o-khiar (yogurt with cucumber), torshi and salad shirazi.
Bread is rarely an afterthought. Sangak and barbari are often bought warm from a bakery in the morning, and many families eat bread, feta and herbs as a light meal. Salad shirazi, finely diced cucumber, tomato and onion with lime, accompanies grilled meat.
What does a Persian pantry need?
A Persian pantry needs long-grain rice, saffron, turmeric, dried limes, dried herbs, dry beans, pomegranate molasses, walnuts, dried fruit, feta and good olive oil. With these a cook can make most of the classics.
- Rice: long-grain aromatic rice in a large bag.
- Saffron and turmeric: the two spices behind the golden color.
- Dried limes (limoo amani): whole, for stews.
- Dried herbs and fresh herbs: parsley, cilantro, fenugreek, dill, mint.
- Beans and legumes: kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils, fava beans.
- Sour agents: pomegranate molasses, sumac, verjuice.
- Meat: lamb, beef or chicken, cut for stews or ground for kebab.
A Middle Eastern grocery is the usual place to find all of these in one trip.
What does Arash International Market stock for Persian cooking?
Arash International Market in Aurora, Colorado, is a family-owned Persian and Middle Eastern grocery, and its recorded range matches much of the Persian pantry. The store’s listings name halal chicken, beef, lamb and goat from the meat counter, feta cheese, olives, dry beans, Persian spices, fresh produce and imported pastries.
That means the meat for kebab or ghormeh sabzi, plus spices, beans, feta and produce for the herb plate, are all categories the store lists. No price list is published online, and this guide cannot say which brands or cuts are in stock on a given day. The menu and product page summarizes what the listings record, and the hours and location page has the address and opening times. Zabihah lists the store as fully halal on the store’s own statement, so ask staff if you need to be sure.
This guide is independent and is not the store’s website.
Common questions
What is the national dish of Iran?
Iran has no single official national dish, but chelo kebab, rice served with grilled kebab, is the one most often named. Ghormeh sabzi, the herb and bean stew, is the other common answer, and both are served at celebrations and family meals.
Is Persian food spicy hot?
Generally not. Persian cooking favors fragrance and tang over chili heat. Turmeric, saffron, cinnamon, dried limes and herbs give flavor, and hot pepper is usually offered on the side or left out.
What is the difference between Persian and Arabic food?
The two overlap in kebabs, flatbread and rice, but Persian cooking leans on fresh herb stews, saffron, dried fruit and sour flavors, while Arab cuisines use more cumin, tahini, chickpeas and wheat dishes such as kibbeh.
What do Persians eat for breakfast?
A typical Persian breakfast is flatbread with feta cheese, walnuts, fresh herbs, jam or honey, and sweet black tea. Eggs and clotted cream are also common on weekends.
What rice is used in Persian cooking?
Long-grain aromatic rice, usually basmati or a similar variety, is rinsed, soaked and parboiled before steaming. The method keeps each grain separate and builds the crisp golden layer called tahdig at the bottom of the pot.
Looking for the basics? Arash International Market address and opening hours are on the home page.
This article is general information from an independent guide, not from Arash International Market itself. For the store’s current details see hours and location.