Iranian Sweet Dish consisting of Lamb Paste

Question

I am trying to identify a dish I had a while ago while traveling in Iran. It was in Isfahan, and none of the languages I speak seemed particularly common with the locals, so I only got patchy details in addition to the actual experience of the dish.
The dish:

was served in a shallow plate, for dipping/scooping.
had a paste-like consistency, somewhat similar to hummus, but less chunky, more rope-y, and much more homogeneous.
was mainly sweet, with a slight hint of savoury taste and saffron.
was yellow-to-orange in color, I assume on account of saffron spicing.
was made (primarily or mainly) of lamb (I double-checked with the serving staff as well as other patrons).

I found it hard to believe given the taste and appearance, but after making sure everybody agreed on the fact that it was meat, both the consistency and the slight savoury taste made more sense. I don't know if it's eaten as dessert by the locals, but I would certainly think of it as dessert. It was very sweet.
Do you know:

what this dish is called?
how exactly it is made?

mbjb · Answer

As confirmed in comments, the dish is khoresht mast.
According to this recipe and this video, the main ingredients seem to be lamb or beef neck, yoghurt, sugar, saffron, rosewater, and garnishes of pistachios and barberries.

The lamb/beef is simmered with onion and turmeric then mashed and blended, and mixed with an egg yolk, yoghurt, and sugar. This is gently heated, to which saffron water and and (optionally) rosewater are now added. The mixture is then chilled, garnished, and served cool. The video explains everything quite well.

kopaka · Answer

I disagree with the accepted answer, as the question states it was a dessert, which does not apply to Khoresht-e Mast. I am Iranian myself and to me, it sounds more like a local form of Haleem. It's a sweet dish (dessert), which has creamy consistency, is always prepared with meat and thus, results in an as you called it "rope-y" paste. It's considered a dessert or breakfast, as it is really sweet and it has strong flavours of cinnamon, as well as saffron, rosewater and other typical, persian sweet flavours like pistachio. Check out the google results for "Halim/Haleem Persian" and consider, if this may fit your description better.

Answered by kopaka on February 1, 2021

pouyan · Answer

From your description, I believe what you ate was Khoresht Mast.
There is a picture of the dish on this page.

Iranian Sweet Dish consisting of Lamb Paste

3 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question