The Best Persian Food in Mashhad

The traditional dishes of Mashhad are very diverse and sheep meat is used in the composition of many of these dishes. Khorasan’s sheep meat, especially in Mashhad, has been known for its high quality for a long time. For this reason, many pilgrims and travelers, must visit Torghabe and Shandiz around Mashhad to eat shishlik. Shishlik is one of Mashhad’s most famous dishes. And they will definitely enjoy a Shishlik with saffron polo.

We Iranians always give special importance to eating, especially when we are traveling, we tend to try new flavors. This city is one of the big cities of Iran, which has a great variety of traditional dishes. If you travel to this city to visit Imam Reza and visit the attractions of Mashhad, we suggest you to dedicate at least one of your main meals to the traditional food of this city. So, you could enjoy eating the delicious food of this region in the east of Iran. If you want to know about the ingredients and properties of Mashhad traditional food before eating it, we suggest you to read this article to the end.

Shishlik

Shishlik is a type of kebab that is made from six pieces of meat that are traditionally and usually from sheep. Shishlik means skewered kebab, and now many people mistakenly think that Shishlik means 6-piece kebab.

The cooking method of this kebab is slightly different from other kebabs and it has its own cooking method. Although this kebab comes from Central Europe, Western Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia, it has its fans in Iran. Today this food has become one of the most popular dishes of Mashhad and even in different cities of Iran. Shishlik has different and especial cooking method in Iran in comparison with all other parts of the world.

In fact, Shishlik kebab is cooked in different cities of Iran in the form of pieces of meat. But in Mashhad, which has the most famous type of Shishlik, the meat is pulled on a skewer along with the ribs and grilled on charcoal. Shishlik skewers may be completely made of meat or fat pieces or mixed with pieces of meat and fat. It also cooked with vegetables such as pepper, onion and tomato.

Yatimche

Yatimcheh is one of the traditional Iranian foods that is cooked in most regions of Iran. But Yatimche of Mashhad has an important difference. That is the absence of meat in the composition of this dish. Yatimche is very easy to cook and its ingredients are easily available everywhere.

The ingredients used in Yatimche are beans, lentils, cinnamon, turmeric, eggplant, chickpeas, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Tomatoes, curd and mint are also used to make this dish juicy and colorful. The main thing is the eggplants you use, because they must be sweet and meaty. This nutritious food is a good choice for vegetarians and vegans.

Reshte Polo

Reshte Polo is one of the famous Iranian foods, which is cooked in different ways in different parts of Iran. This dish is also very famous in Mashhad. This dish is cooked in Nowruz (Persian new year) in Mashhad. People believe that cooking this food will bring fortune in the start of new year.

The necessary ingredients for Reshte Polo are meat, dates, saffron, onion and raisins, and chicken or mutton is also used in addition to this delicious food.

Shole

Shole is one of the oldest traditional dishes of Mashhad and even Iran. The cooking of this food dates back to the Qajar period. Shole as the first Iranian dish which cooking is more than a century old and has been registered as a national Iranian heritage.

Shole has a very high nutritional value due to the nutritious raw materials used in it. The main ingredients of it are very similar to ash. Legumes such as pinto beans, mung beans, lentils and white beans are used in this food. But the main difference between it and Ash is in the beef or lamb meat that they put in it. Moreover, very aromatic spices such as ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg are used in Shole.

This traditional food is cooked on religious occasions, especially during the days of Muharram and Safar (two of the four sacred months of the year for Muslims), and is distributed among the people.