Soybeans With Garlic and Dill
I first ate a version of this wonderful dish at Gilaneh restaurant in Tehran, on a late spring day at the end of May, weeks before Iran’s presidential election and the disputed voting results that brought turmoil to the city.
On that day, nothing could have been more peaceful than lunch by an open window two stories above a bustling street: lamb kebabs, chicken in a tangy pomegranate sauce and a dish of beans in a buttery sauce tinted pale yellow from turmeric and flecked with garlic and dill.
The restaurant used fava beans. The chef, Hamid Gharibzade, explained how he made the dish, called baqala qataq. Later on, Maryam Zomorodi, a caterer I had met, cooked it in a friend’s home kitchen. “In northern Iran, it is a common dish, a daily dish, eaten with eggs and rice,” Ms. Zomorodi said. She cooked it in a blue-green clay pot, called a gamaj, and swore that the dish was far tastier when cooked that way than in a metal pot.
Tweaking the restaurant’s recipe, Ms. Zomorodi sautéed a mound of thinly sliced onions, as the beans were cooking.
Back home in New York, I wanted to adapt the quick-cooking recipe, which takes about 25 minutes, for year-round preparation. Instead of using fava beans, which are both seasonal and tiresome to peel, I used frozen shelled soybeans (edamame). The simple dish, whose secret lies partly in the lavish amount of butter, merrily survived the change.
Recipe: Soybeans With Garlic and Dill Adapted from Hamid Gharibzade, Gilaneh restaurant, and Maryam Zomorodi, Tehran
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon turmeric
4 tablespoons minced fresh dill, or 2 tablespoons dried dill
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen shelled edamame (soybeans)
Cooked rice for serving, optional.
1. Fill a kettle with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, place a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, and add olive oil and butter. Heat until bubbling. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 8 minutes.
2. Add garlic and sauté until pale gold, about 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, turmeric and dill. Stir for 1 minute. Add edamame and enough boiling water to barely cover beans.
3. Simmer until beans are just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, using a slotted spoon to drain any excess liquid. If desired, serve with rice.