Ash reshteh, a Persian noodle soup with herbs and legumes

Ingredients

• 750 g of reshteh (special noodles for ash)
• 2 kg of herbs for ash (parsley, cilantro, spinach, dill, chives), chopped
• 750 g of chickpeas, beans, and lentils, divided equally
• 4 to 5 tablespoons of fried onions (piaz dagh)
• 4 to 5 tablespoons of thick kashk
• salt, pepper
• kashk
• 1 pinch of saffron infused in a small amount of hot water
• fried mint (nana dagh): dried mint that has been rehydrated in oil
• French-fried onions
• Damask rose petal powder

The day before, soak the chickpeas and beans in cold water.

Cook them for about 1 hour in a large pot of water, then add the lentils and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.

Add the chopped herbs, half of the fried onions, salt, and pepper, and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the broken couscous pieces and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are tender.

Mix the kashk with a little broth, then pour the ash into a large serving bowl.

For decoration, mix a little kashk with the saffron; it shouldn’t be too watery.

Using a spoon, draw circles of fried mint, white kashk, and saffron-infused kashk on the ash, repeating the pattern according to the size of the bowl.

Using a knife tip or a wooden skewer, draw lines from the edges towards the center, without piercing the blade, and then from the center towards the edges.

Garnish the center with fried onion slices and the edges with rose petal powder.