Eshkeneh, Persian Onion Soup
Eshkeneh is a soup born of an empty pantry, the kind of thing a Persian cook makes from onions, a little turmeric, and the dried fenugreek leaf that hangs in every kitchen. It is proof of how far those three things can go: slowly browned onions turn sweet and almost meaty, fenugreek lends its faint maple bitterness, and a hard hit of sourness at the end ties it together. The classic is thickened with flour and finished with a beaten egg swirled through the hot broth, both of which this version does without, leaning on a soft potato mashed into the pot and a spoon of ground walnuts for body. Verjuice, the juice of unripe grapes, is the traditional sour note, but lemon works just as well. Poured over stale bread in Iran, it is a soup that turns almost nothing into supper.
Ingredients
- 3 wholes Yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 2 tbsp Kasoori methi, dried fenugreek leaf
- 1/4 tsp Fenugreek seed, ground
- 1 whole Potatoes, peeled, diced small
- 2 tbsp Walnuts, finely ground
- 3 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Dried mint
- 2 tbsp Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
Method
- Sweat the sliced onions in a pot with 1/3 cup (80 ml) water, covered, over medium heat, then uncover and keep cooking, stirring, until they are deeply golden and jammy, about 20 minutes in all. Add water a splash at a time whenever they stick. The onions are the entire soup, so this slow browning in water, not oil, is where all the sweetness and color come from.
- Stir in the garlic, turmeric, and ground fenugreek seed and cook 1 minute, until fragrant. Turmeric needs a moment in the heat to lose its raw, chalky edge before any liquid goes in.
- Add the diced potato, the ground walnuts, and 4 cups (950 ml) water. Simmer, partly covered, until the potato is completely soft, about 15 minutes. Crumble in the dried fenugreek leaf near the end so its aroma stays green and does not cook out.
- Mash some of the potato against the side of the pot with a spoon to thicken the broth. Eshkeneh is traditionally bound with a flour slurry and a beaten egg dropped in at the end; the soft potato does the thickening here, and the ground walnuts add the richness the egg used to.
- Take the pot off the heat and stir in the lemon juice. The sourness is essential and defines the soup; Persian cooks use verjuice or dried limes when they have them, and lemon does the same job of standing in for salt. Taste and add more if it is not sharp enough.
- Toast the dried mint in a dry pan for a few seconds until it darkens and smells fragrant, then crumble it over each bowl with the parsley and black pepper. This bloomed dried mint is the signature Persian finish, and it makes the whole bowl.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 170 calories, 5 g protein, 5 g fiber, 45 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
