I am sure many of you have not heard or tried cucumber stew. This recipe is a local dish from Gilan province, in North of Iran. Gilan lies along the Caspian sea. Actually this recipe is going to be forgotten and you should be lucky if you have it in Gilan.

It’s a meatless meal, suitable for vegetarians, that is made with aromatic herbs, pomegranate molasses, and walnuts.

Ingredients

1 Cucumber, cut into cubes

200g walnuts

1 onion, chopped

200 g fresh herbs includes: coriander, parsley, mint

3 tbsp pomegranate molasses

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp turmeric

salt and pepper to taste

Olive  oil

How to make it

Heat the oil in a pan. Sauté chopped onion until soft. Using a mortar and pestle, crush the walnuts. Add crushed walnuts and garlic to sautéed onion. Allow to fry until walnuts for 5 minutes. Stir frequently.

Wash and finely chop herbs. Sauté herbs in a pan for 5 minutes. Season with salt-pepper and add turmeric. Gently mix together. Add chopped cucumber, pomegranate molasses, fried walnuts, onion and 1 ½ cup water to the pan. Allow to cook until reduce juice.

Serve this delicious stew with rice.