What is Abgoosht?

Abgoosht, also called dizi after the stone pot it's traditionally cooked in, is one of the oldest dishes in Persian cuisine. Lamb on the bone, chickpeas, white beans, potatoes, tomatoes, turmeric, and dried limes (limu omani) simmer together for hours until the broth is deeply savory and the meat has given everything it had. What makes abgoosht distinct from any other stew is what you do next: you strain the liquid into a bowl and drink it first — with torn sangak or lavash — and then you mash the solids in the dizi pot with a pestle into a rough, fragrant paste called gusht-e koobideh, which you eat separately.

This two-course-in-one-pot structure is practical genius from an era when fuel was expensive and waste was not an option. The paste is richly textured and usually eaten on bread with raw onion and fresh herbs, which cuts through the fat. In traditional teahouses (chaikhaneh) across Iran, abgoosht was the dish — ordered by laborers and office workers alike, available from early morning. It's fundamentally humble food, but 'humble' in Persian food culture tends to mean the most lovingly made.