World Travels - Armenia

Little did I know that delving into the vegetable dishes of Armenia would lead me to discovering some intriguing combinations and a wonderful use of apricots.  Apparently the apricot is the national fruit of Armenia and has been cultivated there since ancient times. [1] Some even suggest that Alexander the Great took Armenian apricots and introduced them to Greece and the surrounding Mediterranean region.  Apricots were first cultivated in China over 4,000 years ago but they seem to have embedded themselves into Armenian culture with festivals celebrating the apricot and even a musical instrument - the "tsiranapokh" which mean apricot tree pipe.

One of those surprising apricot recipes was for an apricot and red lentil soup - Tsirani Vosp Apur which providing hearty but tangy flavour.  In season you use fresh apricots and dried during the winter so it will be interesting to try this with dried apricots and see how it makes a difference.

Tsirani Vosp Apur

Ingredients

• 1 shallot
• 1 carrot (cut in small dice)
• 1 cup of dried red lentils
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• ½ tbsp ground coriander
• 2 fresh apricots de-stoned and cut into large pieces
• 4 cups of vegetable stock

Instructions

1. Dice the shallot and fry in a little olive oil in a large saucepan.  Fry for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the diced carrot and fry for another 5 minutes.

3. Add the spices and mix with the shallot and carrot and then the red lentils.

4. Ensure you coat the red lentils in the shallot/carrot/spices and add 2 cups of vegetable stock. You can add a few diced tomatoes at this point if you want but this is optional... I left them out for this dish.

5. Add the apricots and give it a stir through.  Keep the mixture 'soup-like' by adding more vegetable stock.  I ended up using 4 cups of stock in the end and could easily have added another cup as my soup ended up quite thick.

6. Cook for another 15-20 minutes and then you can liquidise the lentil and apricots together.

7. Serve with a little drizzle of pomegranate molasses or lemon a squeeze of lemon juice.

Courgettes with Pistachios and Basil

One of my resources was the excellent 'The Armenian Kitchen' where I was able to source a couple of great vegetable dishes including this one for grilled courgettes with pistachios and basil... it was so quick and easy to prepare.  Find the recipe here - https://thearmeniankitchen.com/zucchini-with-pistachios-and-basil/

Easter Spinach Salad

I just used vegan yoghurt instead of Greek yoghurt in my version of this fresh spinach salad.  Find the recipe here: https://thearmeniankitchen.com/easter-spinach-salad/

I ended up eating the courgettes and spinach salad with a few olives after the very filling red lentil and apricot soup.

John Bilezikjian - A Thousand and One Nights

References

[1] Armenian Geographic - Symbols of Armenia - https://www.armgeo.am/en/armenian-apricot/