# Persian Khoresh Gheimeh with Split Peas

> Khoresh gheimeh is a Persian stew of small-cut beef with yellow split peas, tomato, turmeric and pierced dried limes, simmered for an hour and a half over low heat. It's served over white rice and topped with fried potato sticks.

**Persian Cuisine · 115 min · 5 servings · 440 kcal per serving**

Khoresh is the word for a stew in Persian cooking, and it's always served over the rice rather than beside it. Gheimeh is the best known, and its gentle sourness comes from the dried limes.

## Ingredients

- 500 g — beef, cut into small cubes
- 1 cup — yellow split peas, soaked
- 2 medium — onions, chopped
- 3 tbsp — tomato paste
- 1 tsp — turmeric
- 1 tsp — cinnamon + black pepper
- 4 whole — dried limes, pierced
- 3 medium — potatoes, cut into sticks for frying
- ¼ tsp — saffron, steeped
- 3 tbsp — oil

## Method

1. **Onion and beef** — Fry the onion until golden, add the turmeric and stir for thirty seconds, then the beef and stir until browned.
2. **The tomato paste** — Add the tomato paste and cook it over medium heat for three minutes until it darkens — this removes the raw taste.
3. **Cooking** — Add water to cover the meat along with the pierced dried limes, cover, and simmer for an hour until the beef is tender.
4. **The split peas** — Add the drained soaked split peas, salt, cinnamon and saffron, and cook for another half hour until done but not collapsed.
5. **Potatoes and serving** — Fry the potato sticks until golden and pile them on top of the khoresh at the table, over white rice.

## Tips

- Pierce the dried limes with a fork — sealed, they give nothing.
- The split peas go in after the meat is tender; added early they disintegrate.
- The potatoes go on at the moment of serving so they stay crisp.

## FAQ

### No dried limes?
Use the juice of a large lemon at the end of cooking — a different flavour, but the acidity is there.

### My khoresh tastes bitter.
The limes were left in too long or broke open. Remove them after forty minutes; broken ones turn it bitter.

### How is it served?
Over Persian white rice (chelow), not beside it — that's essential to Persian service.

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Source: https://hanakoleah.com/en/persian-cuisine/persian-khoresh-gheimeh-recipe
Edited by: Marwa Mohamed
Last updated: 2026-10-30