Iranian One Pot Dish – Beautiful Aromatic Meal
Cinnamon was probably the first spice I knowingly tried and could recognize in dishes.
When I was a little girl, my grandmother used to make me semolina sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. She also used to bake yeast cakes with apples and cinnamon.
So this spice has been present in my life from very early on.
Now it is still probably my favourite one, as I cook so many dishes that wouldn’t taste the same without it.
This Iranian One Pot Dish is one of them. When I cook it, the fantastic aroma of cinnamon spreads around the kitchen and other house parts. And it makes all of us want to eat it immediately.
However, in the case of this meal, waiting pays off.
Since you have to cook it for almost one and a half hours, there is plenty of time for all the aromas of cinnamon, cumin and saffron to develop beautifully.
As a result, you end up with an Iranian One Pot Dish that is super tasty and fragrant. Additionally – thanks to the pomegranate seeds – it looks fabulous.

Aromatic Iranian One Pot Dish with Split Peas
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions thinly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic thinly chopped
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 pinches saffron
- 1.5 l vegetable stock
- 200 g split peas
- 200 g brown rice
- 50 g spinach (chopped, if it is not baby spinach),
- 3 spring onions chopped
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- salt and pepper
- mint or coriander, chopped
- pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- On medium heat, warm up the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onions and fry them for a few minutes till translucent.
- Add the garlic and spices (cinnamon, cumin, and saffron), fry for a further minute stirring; add the split peas and 1 l of stock. Bring to boil, lower the heat and cook for 40 minutes stirring now and then to make sure the split peas don’t get stuck to the bottom of the saucepan. The dish should be watery at this stage, if it isn't, add more stock.
- Add rice to the dish and cook everything for further 30 minutes, till the rice is soft.
- Add the spinach, spring onions, lemon juice, molasses, salt, and pepper. Stir well, check the taste.
- Serve in bowls garnished with chopped herbs and pomegranate seeds.
Nutrition
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