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Torshi Hafte Bijar – Pickled 7 vegetables recipe

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Hafte bijar torshi is a traditional torshi that’s been served in Iran for years. It’s a type of mixed vegetable pickle, so it’s also called torshi makhloot Hafte bijar and the golden mix.

Haft bijar torshi has a significant difference from other torshi makhloots (mixed vegetable pickles) and that is the use of aromatic herbs in it. When you chop these herbs, their rich taste and aroma seep into the torshi and create a fragrant miracle called Hafte bijar pickle.

Making this torshi is very simple. You just need to cut all the ingredients and the herbs. Mix them all together and add salt, turmeric, and spices. After that, pour them into a jar and add the vinegar.

I highly recommend making this torshi and serving it with your food. In this post, we will learn how to make another popular Persian vegetable pickle, so keep reading!

Why is it called torshi Hafte bijar?

This torshi is made of 7 types of fruits and vegetables, and 7 aromatic herbs. It also contains 7 types of spices.

As you know, 7 is a lucky and holy number in Iran, reminding people of 7 seas and 7 skies. Some say this torshi traces back to the Bijar region. It’s also made in the north of Iran and Gilan.

What are the 7 main ingredients of Hafteh Bijar pickle?

The 7 main ingredients consist of cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers, eggplants, bell peppers, onions, and sour potatoes.

You can use green beans too. Other than these 7 ingredients, there are some secondary ingredients you could use, like celery, shallots, and garlic which add to the aroma and flavor.

Hafte Bijar Ingredients
Hafte Bijar Ingredients

What are the 7 herbs used in torshi Hafteh Bijar?

The unique aroma and taste of this vegetable pickle are due to the aromatic herbs in it. The best herb combination for this torshi is made of the following herbs:

  • Basil
  • Mint
  • Parsley
  • Tarragon
  • Summer savory
  • Dill
  • Coriander

I didn’t have tarragon at home and I used 6 herbs that shown in below image.

Try to use fresh herbs, but if not possible, dry herbs would do too.

Use each of these herbs in equal quantity. 200 grams of each would suffice.

Herbs used in Hafteh Bijar
Herbs used in Hafteh Bijar

How to chop up pickled 7 vegetables’ ingredients?

You can dice the ingredients into small pieces (the picture below), or dice them bigger. This depends on your preference.

Hafte bijar chopped

I don’t small-dice the ingredients since I want them to pickle faster.

How is Haft bijar pickle made?

Preparing this torshi is pretty simple; none of the ingredients require cooking except the eggplants. To make an authentic and delicious Persian torshi Hafte bijar, follow these steps:

1- Preparation

Wash the cauliflower and let it dry. Cut it however you want to.

Wash the carrots and let them dry. Chop them too. Peel the skin if necessary.

Wash the cucumbers and dry them. Cut them into pieces.

Wash the eggplants and let them dry. Cut them with their skin intact.

Wash the hot green peppers and let them dry. Wash the bell peppers and dry them up. Cut them into matchsticks or any other desired shape.

Wash the celery and let them dry. Remove the leaves and cut the stems.

Peel the garlic. Wash and let it dry.

Wash the fresh herbs and leave them to lose the excess water and dry.

Peel the onions. Wash them and let them dry too.

You can place all the ingredients on a kitchen towel until they’re dry.

2- Cut the ingredients

Cut the cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers, eggplants, bell peppers, and celery.

Cut the ingredients
Cut the ingredients

3- Prepare the shallots

Peel the fresh shallots and slice them into rondelles.

Wash them and let them dry. There’s no need for further hydrating and softening. If you’re using dry shallot, soak them in water for 1-2 hours. Strain them and let them lose the extra water.

If you have too many shallots at home, check out the recipe for shallot torshi. Shallot has an otherworldly taste and making pickles with them is very innovative and great!

Dry shallots, before and after soaking
Dry shallots, before and after soaking

4- Prepare the onions

After drying the washed onions, make a cut on them with a knife. Make a plus sign (+) at the top of them so they can absorb the vinegar better. If the onions are tiny, you won’t need to do that.

Prepare the onions
Prepare the onions

5-cook the eggplants

Pour 2 cups of vinegar into a pot and heat it. When it starts boiling, add sliced eggplants.

Sliced eggplants
Sliced eggplants

Let them boil for 1 minute until they’re soft.

The other ingredients of this torshi don’t require boiling, but the eggplants do. If you don’t cook them beforehand, they don’t absorb enough vinegar and stay dry.

After a minute, strain them and put a plate underneath. Let the extra vinegar drop into the plate. We will use this in the end, so don’t throw it away.

Cook the eggplants
Cook the eggplants

6- chop up the herbs, celery leaves, and garlic cloves

After the herbs are dried from washing, chop them. Chop the fresh celery leaves with them too, alongside the garlic. You can also throw in all these ingredients into a food processor.

I used 6 kinds of herbs instead of 7, including basil, mint, parsley, summer savory, dill, and coriander. You can use garlic as a whole, but if it’s minced, it gives out more aroma.

chop up the herbs, celery leaves, and garlic cloves
chop up the herbs, celery leaves, and garlic cloves

7- Combine all the ingredients

Pour all the torshi ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine all the ingredients
Combine all the ingredients

Add the herbs, turmeric, spices, and salt.

Add the herbs, turmeric, spices, and salt
Add the herbs, turmeric, spices, and salt

Mix well until all the vegetables are in contact with the spices, herbs, and salt.

Leave the spicy green peppers and eggplants out. The eggplant is cooked and might get crushed as you mix the ingredients.

As you stir the vegetables with your hands, use disposable gloves since the turmeric color on your hands and nails is hard to get rid of.

Mix well
Mix well

8- Pour the ingredients into the jar

Pour all the ingredients into a jar. Add the eggplants and peppers as you do so. Shake the jar to make the contents more compact and make space for more vegetables.

I added one yellow apple in between the ingredients to soften the vinegar taste and give it a better flavor as well. You need to slice the apple into 4 pieces and take the seeds out.

Pour the ingredients into the jar
Pour the ingredients into the jar

9- Add the vinegar

In the end, pour the vinegar on the ingredients. If you want to reduce the intensity of the vinegar, dilute it with boiled water. You only need to boil some water and let it cool down, then mix it with the vinegar.

You can use 1 cup of water for every 3 cups of vinegar. You can even use a 1:1 ratio. The exact amount of the water depends on your preference and how strong the vinegar is. White vinegar usually has a stronger aroma and taste than red vinegar.

Add the vinegar
Add the vinegar

10- Shut the lid tight

Shut the jar’s lid tightly. If it’s not completely closed, use a piece of plastic beneath it, right on top of the opening.

Close the lid on the plastic to avoid air seeping into the jar. If the pickled vegetables are in contact with air, they will mold.

Shut the jar’s lid tightly
Shut the jar’s lid tightly

Store the torshi in a cool and dry place, like a cupboard. It should not be stored in a moist place or somewhere with direct sunlight.

If you’ve chopped the vegetables too small, the pickling process takes 10 days. If not, it takes around 3-4 weeks.

The longer the pickling process continues, the better it tastes!

Tips:

  • You can use Armenian cucumber instead of regular cucumber.
  • If the cucumbers are too small and thin, you can use them in the torshi without cutting.
  • In this recipe, you can also use green beans and sour potatoes.
  • Adding minced apple or quince to the pickle will give it a better flavor, and as I mentioned, it decreases the intensity of the vinegar’s smell and taste.
  • Among the herbs we used, dill has a sweet taste to it, so make sure you add enough salt.
  • The apple pieces that I used to remove the sharpness of the vinegar. Leave them in the vinegar, do not eat them.

Apple slices in the pickle

Torshi Hafte Bijar
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Torshi Hafte Bijar Recipe

Prep Time30 minutes
Resting time10 days

Ingredients

  • 1 Cauliflower medium
  • 5 Carrots
  • 3 Stalks of celery
  • 4 Cucumbers
  • 1 Bell pepper
  • 4 Eggplants small
  • some Fresh hot pepper (or pepper powder)
  • 10 Onions small (about 200 grams)
  • 100 grams Shallot
  • 2 Garlic heads
  • 200 grams Aromatic herbs (Basil, Mint, Parsley, Tarragon, Summer savory, Dill, Coriander)
  • 1 Apple Optional (for pickle flavor)
  • 2 tbsp Pickled spice
  • 4 tbsp Turmeric
  • Salt
  • 2 liters Vinegar White or red

Instructions

  • Wash the cauliflower and let it dry. Cut it however you want to.
  • Wash the carrots and let them dry. Chop them too. Peel the skin if necessary.
  • Wash the cucumbers and dry them. Cut them into pieces.
  • Wash the eggplants and let them dry. Cut them with their skin intact.
  • Wash the hot green peppers and let them dry. Wash the bell peppers and dry them up. Cut them into matchsticks or any other desired shape.
  • Wash the celery and let them dry. Remove the leaves and cut the stems.
  • Peel the garlic. Wash and let it dry.
  • Wash the fresh herbs and leave them to lose the excess water and dry.
  • Peel the onions. Wash them and let them dry too.
  • Cut the cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers, eggplants, bell peppers, and celery.
  • Peel the fresh shallots and slice them into rondelles.
  •  If you’re using dry shallot, soak them in water for 1-2 hours. Strain them and let them lose the extra water.
  • After drying the washed onions, make a cut on them with a knife. Make a plus sign (+) at the top of them.
  • Pour 2 cups of vinegar into a pot and heat it. Then add sliced eggplants. Let them boil for 1 minute until they’re soft.
  • Chop up the herbs, celery leaves, and garlic cloves.
  • Pour all the torshi ingredients in a large bowl. Add the herbs, turmeric, spices, and salt. Mix them.
  • Pour all the ingredients into a jar.
  • Pour the vinegar on the ingredients. Shut the jar’s lid tightly.
    Store the torshi in a cool and dry place. After 10 days or 3-4 weeks torshi is ready.

Conclusion: 

Pickled 7 vegetables is an authentic Persian torshi. You can chop the ingredients into very small pieces or leave them a bit bigger. This might not be as famous as torshi bademjan, or Persian pepper torshi, but it’s truly mouthwatering due to the use of aromatic herbs in it. Make sure to try making this vegetable pickle and serve it with your meals.

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2 Comments
  1. Maryam Rasekh says

    5 stars
    I made this 35 yrs ago when I married. The tradition was, I was told that women made this when they had a child, and served it on the wedding day. Because it was such a hit, I made 4 batches that year and stored it, only bringing it out for company. This year I am on the last jar. It’s time to make more ( I have of course, several jars of other torshi including pistachio as my family is originally from the Kerman region). Most cultures have a pickle form but this is probably the best recipe I’ve seen ( it’s very similar to my original) and regardless of who I serve it to, I always get rave reviews. Thank you for bringing out this lesser known but I believe best of the torshi.

    1. Alorecipes says

      Thanks for your attention and your comment. Yes, Hafte Bijar is one of the best Iranian pickles. The scent of the vegetables used in it is the most reason for its specialness the taste of chopped garlic and vegetables penetrates into the pickled ingredients. This is one of the best and most perfect recipes for Hafte Bijar pickle. Like other pickles if the longer the pickling process continue, It’s bring better taste.

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