Kookoo Sabzi: Iranian Herb Frittata
While chatting to someone about what he does to use up lettuce leaves and herbs, he told me about Kookoo Sabzi – a delicious Iranian herb frittata. He explained how to make it and I was eager to try it for myself, so I went straight home and looked it up. What an amazing recipe! It is traditionally made in springtime in Iran to celebrate the start of spring, and it uses lots of fresh herbs.
I’ve added my ‘fridge cleaner’ twist to it – many versions of the recipe use walnuts, but when I first made this I didn’t have any in the house and so I substituted the walnuts with almonds.
Remember to mix up the herbs – nothing is set in stone, so use what you have. I find that all combinations are tasty!
Kookoo Sabzi: Iranian Herb Frittata
You Will Need:
Chopping board and large sharp knife
Mixing bowl
Wooden spoon and a flipper
Non-stick frying pan
Serving size 6 to 8 slices.
Ingredients
2 tbs olive oil
5 eggs
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 small leek, finely chopped (the first time I made this I had no leeks so I used 2 onions)
1 tbs turmeric powder
4–5 cups fresh herbs of your choice and lettuce, chopped (I used medium-size bunches of coriander, chives, basil and flat-leaf parsley, plus a bag of rocket – you could also try iceberg or romaine lettuce in place of the rocket)
1 large handful shelled walnuts (you could try almonds if you have no walnuts)
1 tbs all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs dried fenugreek or crushed seeds (optional)
1 handful pomegranate seeds (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Heat the non-stick frying pan. Add a tablespoon of the olive oil to the pan and sauté the onion and leek until soft with half a tablespoon of turmeric powder.
Remove the onion and leek and set aside in a bowl to cool off.
Clean the pan and return it to the stove top, ready to cook the frittata later.
Meanwhile, finely chop the herbs and rocket (or lettuce – or a combination!), stalks and all. Do not be tempted to use a food processor, it mushes up the herb to much.
Chop the nuts coarsely – make sure they are not too finely chopped.
Break the eggs into the bowl with the sautéed onion and leek and whisk well with the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper, the remaining turmeric and the fenugreek (if using).
Add the chopped herbs to the egg mixture.
Add the nuts and pomegranate seeds (if using) and fold through.
Reheat the non-stick frying pan. Swirl a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan and pour in the herb and egg mixture.
Cook on a low-to-medium heat for about 5–8 minutes until the frittata looks mostly cooked – I lift it up on one side to make sure it is not burning underneath.
To finish, pop the pan into the oven (so that it cooks the top off nicely) for about 2–3 minutes.
The whole mixture should be firm by this point. If you are lucky, the frittata will slide out onto a plate with the help of a flipper. If not, wait till it cools a little, place a plate on top of the frying pan and flip it over so that the frittata drops onto the plate. To ensure the top side is showing, use another plate to flip it again.
Serve with heated lavash bread or similar. I used thin pizza bases brushed with olive oil and chopped garlic and baked in the oven, with some yoghurt on the side. Yum!