Makes 4 servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours 45 minutes

2 pounds lamb shanks and 1 pound lamb breast
2 onions, peeled and quartered
6-8 cups water
1 cup dried kidney beans
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chopped fresh parsley or 3/4 cup dried
3 cups chopped scallions or 3/4 cup dried
1 tablespoon dried or 4 tablespoons chopped fresh fenugreek leaves
3 tablespoons oil
4 whole dried Persian limes (limu-omani), pierced, or 1/4 cup lime juice
5 large potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks
1 onion, peeled and sliced, for garnish

1. Place meat, onions, and 6 cups of water in a large pot or a large, heavy Dutch oven. Bring to boil, skimming the froth as it forms. Add beans, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours over low heat.
2. Briefly saute parsley, scallions, and fenugreek in 3 tablespoons oil and add to the large pot.
3. Add Persian limes or lime juice. Simmer 30 minutes longer. Add 2 more cups water.
4. Add potatoes, cover, and simmer over low heat for another 45 minutes or until the meat and potatoes are tender. Add more warm water if necessary and simmer until the meat is done. Adjust seasoning.
5. Remove all of the stew ingredients, using a slotted spoon. Separate the meat from the bones, and mash the meat and the vegetables together to make the paste called gusht kubideh. Iranian cooks would use a mortar and pestle but a food processor may be used instead. Stop processing before the paste becomes smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pile it up on a platter. Garnish with onion slices.
6. Reheat the broth and serve in a bowl as soup. Serve the gusht kubideh with Persian pickles (torshi), a platter of scallions, radishes, fresh tarragon, basil, mint (sabzi-khordan) and lavash or pita bread. Nush-e Jan!

Variation: This dish may also be made with veal or beef, either with the bone in or with a piece of bone added to the pot for flavor.

Note: Dried Persian limes (limu-omani) are available in Persian food specialty shops.