Ash-e Anar | Iranian Pomegranate Soup with Meatballs

Finely chop 250 g onion and cook it in the oil over medium heat until golden. Reserve a spoonful for the topping. With the pot still on the heat, sprinkle in the turmeric and stir for 30 seconds.

Knead the ground meat with 80 g grated onion, turmeric, and salt; do not squeeze out the onion juice, which helps bind the mixture. Roll into 15–16 hazelnut-size meatballs. Larger meatballs will fall apart in the soup.

Drop the meatballs into the soup one at a time and do not stir for the first 5 minutes; stirring too soon will break them apart. Add the chopped parsley, mint, and green onions. Cook over low heat and adjust the salt and black pepper.

Pour in the pomegranate juice and sugar, and keep the soup just below a boil for 10 minutes. Taste it: if the pomegranate is too tart, add another 5 g sugar; if it tastes too sweet, squeeze in a quarter of a lemon. The soup should turn a deep purplish red; if it turns brown, the pomegranate juice has boiled too long.

Melt the butter in a small skillet, remove it from the heat, and stir in the dried mint; mint burns in hot oil within seconds, so do not leave it on the stove. Divide the soup among bowls and drizzle with the mint butter and the reserved fried onion.