Feb 03
Soup-e Jo (Barley Soup) is different than Aash-e Jo and is far creamier in taste and has no beans or sabzi. The soup is creamy and has whip cream … not exactly a healthy choice, but I think its okay to bend the rules once in awhile and eat something rich and tasty 
Soup e Jo
Ingredients (6-8 servings):
1/2 cup Pearled Barley
5 - 6 cups meat broth (no fat) or water — use meat broth for more flavor… I used water and it was still full of flavor
3 tablespoons grated carrot
200 grams whip cream
2 cups milk
80 - 100 grams butter
4 -5 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper
Directions:
It may be best to soak the barley for 1 to 2 hours prior to cooking the soup. This will speed up the cooking process.
In a medium to large pot pour in the meat broth or water and place on stove top (medium heat). Add the barley to the water and allow it to cook for approximately 20 - 30 minutes (cover the pot while the barley is cooking). Add the grated carrot then prepare the white sauce (as described below) to add to the soup.
White sauce (makes approximately 2 cups):
In a small pot pour in the flour and while stirring gradually pour the milk into the pot. Once the flour is completely dissolved in the milk place it on the stove (on medium heat) and stir constantly. Once the mixture begins to thicken add some salt, pepper, and the butter. Note: I used only 80 grams of butter, but you can choose to use a little less or a little more. Once it comes to a boil remove the pot from the heat and pour in 100 grams of whip cream and stir.
Now once the white sauce is ready you want to add the sauce to the soup and stir the contents together. You want to let the soup cook on medium-low heat until it thickens a bit and is ready. Add some salt and pepper to the soup as needed/desired. I recommend letter the soup cook for 2-3 hours on medium-low heat.
Once the soup is ready you can add the additional 100 grams of whip cream after removing from the stove top. Note: I only added part of the whip cream… and the soup was still rich and creamy.
You can also add a bit of cilantro or parsley to the soup at the very end :D.
Tagged with: Barley • Carrot • Cilantro • Cream • Flour • Milk
Feb 01
This Aash is very similar to Aash-e Reshteh, except in place of reshteh you use jo (barley). You should definitely make this Aash its really filling and tasty!
Aash e Jo
Ingredients (10-12 servings):
250 grams pearled barley
200 grams sabzi which is made up of: parsley, tareh (can use chives or ends of green onions instead), spinach, cilantro, dill (shevid) — use one bunch of each, or if using dry dill use 1 tablespoon
750 grams beans made up of: garbanzo beans (nokhod), white beans, kidney beans, and lentils
1 cup rice
5 tablespoons fried onion
3 - 4 cups Kashk
salt and pepper (desired amount)
turmeric 1 tablespoon
Directions:
Its best to soak the beans for a few hours prior to cooking the Aash since this will speed up the cooking time. Also, soak the rice in water after rinsing the rice a few times.
In a large pot add the fried onions (or you can fry them at this time in the pot with a tiny bit of oil), the beans (after draining out the water they were soaking in), and the turmeric. Saute the ingredients for a few minutes then add about 5 cups of water, cover, and leave on medium heat for contents to cook for approximately 30 minutes. After 30 minutes add the barley and the rice and mix the ingredients together, then cover the pot again and place on medium low heat. Every now and then stir the aash. Then clean and chop up the sabzi and add to the aash.
The aash will need to cook for a couple hours before it is ready. I had the aash cooking between approximately 6 - 7 hours before it was thickened and completely ready (ja oftadeh).
After it is prepared remove the aash from the heat and add part of the kashk. When you are serving the aash you can add some more kashk on top and then place some on the table for guests to add extra as desired to their bowl. You can also add some fried onions and fried mint to the top of the kashk you are serving as well.
Enjoy!! 
Tagged with: Barley • chives • Cilantro • Dill • Garbanzo • Green Onions • Kashk • Kidney Beans • Lentils • Mint • Parsley • Tareh • White Beans
Sep 30
This is a aash (soup) one of my friends recently made for a gathering. It is from the Kurdish regions of Iran, and is basically a local Kurdish soup called Dokhawa.
Aash Dokhawa
The ingredients below are enough for a large pot.
Ingredients:
1 package parsley
2 packages cilantro
1 package dill (shevid), or half a cup dried dill (shevid khoshk)
.5 litre (16 oz) plain yogurt
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup Barley (jo) –this should most likely be a pearl barley or other quick-cooking barley. I couldn’t find the exact meaning of balghooreh jo, but I assume its a more processed form of Barley (i.e, pearl Barley)
1 egg yolk
6-7 cups water
salt
Directions:
First whip the yogurt with the egg yolk so that chunks will not be formed when you mix it with the water. Add the egg yolk and yogurt you have whipped to the water and then add all three contents (egg yolk/yogurt/water mixture) to the pot you plan on using. Wash your greens (mentioned above) and chop them up only a little bit, do not chop them up too much cause they need to be fairly large. Add the greens, some salt, the rice, and the barley to the pot. Then allow the contents in the pot to come to a boil. After it boils bring the temperature down to a medium / medium-low and allow the contents to cook for 30-40 minutes.
Tagged with: Barley • Cilantro • Dill • Eggs • Parsley • Rice • Yogurt
