Sizdah Bedar
Sekanjebin the way Iran eats it, with lettuce for dipping: aragh, mint, cucumber and a splash of verjuice, tall and cold.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | ml | oz |
|---|---|---|
| Aragh sagi (Iranian raisin spirit) | 45 ml | 1½ oz |
| Mint sekanjebin · homemade, P06 | 25 ml | 0.8 oz |
| Fresh cucumber juice · homemade, J02 | 30 ml | 1 oz |
| Unsalted verjuice (ab-ghooreh) | 10 ml | ⅓ oz |
| Soda water | 60 ml | 2 oz |
Ounces are rounded; measure in ml for accuracy. Homemade items link to their own page.
highball
built over cubed ice
a heart of romaine standing in the glass and a cucumber ribbon
The story
Sekanjebin is the oldest sharbat in the Persian book, sugar or honey cooked with vinegar and mint, and the proper way to have it is not to drink it at all: you pour it in a bowl and dip leaves of crisp romaine, kahoo, on a hot afternoon or on Sizdah Bedar, the thirteenth day of Nowruz, when the whole country picnics outdoors. This is that bowl made into a highball. Our mint sekanjebin and fresh cucumber juice do the work; verjuice, the sour juice of unripe grapes, adds sharpness instead of more vinegar; and a romaine heart stands in the glass as garnish and spoon at once. The grape is in every part of it: the spirit, the verjuice, even the sekanjebin’s vinegar. Meymand Julep is the bourbon cousin and Persian Garden the gin one; this is the aragh.
Method
- Fill a highball with ice.
- Add the aragh, sekanjebin, cucumber juice and verjuice; stir 5 seconds.
- Top with soda and lift once from the bottom.
- Stand a romaine heart in the glass and add a cucumber ribbon.
How it tastes
Cold, green, sweet and sharp at once: mint and vinegar from the sekanjebin, cucumber water, the sour grape of verjuice, aragh underneath. Eat the lettuce last.
Persian taste: torsh-shirin (sweet-sour)
Pair it with
- Food: The Sizdah Bedar lunch: kahoo sekanjebin itself, kuku sabzi, ash-e reshteh.
- Sweet: Nothing; the drink is the sweet.
- Snack: Ajil-e Sizdah: roasted chickpeas, raisins and seeds
Variations
Bowl service
Skip the soda; pour over crushed ice in a bowl with a stack of romaine for the table.
Gin
Persian Garden, the cousin without the verjuice.
No alcohol
Leave out the aragh and double the cucumber juice: the original sharbat.
Balancing tips
- Verjuice brands vary in acidity; start at 10 ml.
- The romaine must be ice-cold and crisp.
- The soda is part of the recipe; do not stir after topping.
Allergens
- No common allergens.
- Contains alcohol. Please drink responsibly.
Development notes
- Status: original recipe draft v0.1, not yet taste-tested.
- Test sekanjebin at 20 and 25 ml.
- Try one drop of rose water.
Watch it mixed
Follow along
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Tehran, Sizdah Bedar picnics, imagined
