This beautiful symbol of spring is called ‘Sabzeh Nowruz‘ which is the sprouted wheat ‘gandom’ grown for Sofreh Haftseen on Persian New year. Sabzeh is the symbol of rejunvination and new life and it is one of the ever present items on this very ancient ceremony. Nowruz, also spelled, Norooz, Norouz means ‘new day,’ and it is the celebration of the first day of spring. This post is a tutorial for growing Sabzeh. I have been using this technique in the recent years and it has worked every time, and some friends have requested that I post it here. I will point out all of the factors that I have experimented and observed over the years for growing a gorgeous, lush green sabzeh.
(Day 1) – Begin with some current year’s unpelted wheat, or ‘gandom e sabzeh.’ The freshness of the wheat berries is essential for successful sprouting and a full-looking sabzeh. Unpelted means, the outer bran layer is intact and this is the only kind of wheat that should be used for this purpose. It is usually sold in 12-ounce packages and is available at Persian Markets. The natural food stores also sell unpelted wheat for making wheat grass juice. It is a good idea to pick through the wheat and remove the broken pieces, the ones with black dots, and the thin and shriveled ones. These imperfect pieces don’t sprout and rot, which subsequently result in mold growth in the roots.
Select the dish that you are planning to use for your sabzeh. I recommend a shallow dish with sides instead of a flat plate; this helps keep the fine roots moist during the sprouting. Add enough dry wheat to cover the bottom of the dish, about 1/4 of an inch (1/2 cm). Transfer the dry wheat to a medium bowl and briefly wash it to get rid of any dirt; you will be using your dish later.
To soak the wheat: Add enough fresh water to cover the wheat by one inch. Soak for 24 hours over the counter away from the sun. At the end of this time the wheat will swell up to about twice its dry size. Change the water 2-3 times.
*Avoid using water from the water softener, which tends to stunt the growth of the wheat and results in spars and uneven growth.
(Day 2) – Line the bottom of your dish with a thin, cotton tea towel (I’ve used a large pastry cloth). Drain the soaked wheat and spread it evenly in the bottom of your dish.
Fold the cloth edges over the wheat. Soak the cloth completely by pouring fresh water all over it. Put your hand over the folded cloth, to prevent the wheat from shifting, and drain all the water from the dish; do this 2-3 times a day for 2 days. Keep the dish over the counter and away from the sun.
(Day 4) – Fuzzy white roots and white germinations are visible. Wait one more day so the roots interlock in the bottom while the sprouts continue growing upwards. Continue keeping it moist as described above.
(Day 5) – Unfold the cloth, cover the top of your dish with a larger flat tray or plate, and invert the sprouted wheat with the cloth. Remove the cloth; the fuzzy roots will be on top.
Place your dish on top of the plate and invert the wheat back into the dish.
Make a paper towel wet under running water. Place it over the sprouted wheat and tuck in the corners and completely cover the top. Store over the counter, away from the sun. Keep the paper towel very moist by spraying it as often as needed, to keep it from drying out.
(Day 6) – The sprouts have a light greenish color now.
(Day 7) – Remove the paper towel and move the dish by a window with indirect sunlight. Keep the sprouted wheat moist by spraying it several times a day. The roots should be moist but not sitting in the water; drain any excess water that accumulates from spraying. Turn the dish couple of times so all sides get the same amount of sun.
(Day 8) – The Sabzeh is about 2 inches tall. Keep spraying it regularly.
(Day 9) – Sabzeh Nowruz is the right height for Sofreh Haftseen (tahvil é sal) on the 9th or 10th day. You don’t want it too tall at this point, because remember, you will be keeping it for 13 more days, until Sizdeh Bedar. After the first day of Nowruz, spray the sabzeh once a day to keep the growth to a minimum.
I hope you will have a beautiful green sabzeh this year! I wish all of you a fantastic start to a Persian New Year that will bring you health, love, joy, and laughter! Please join me in a prayer for world peace and triumph of love over hate. Nowruz Mobarak!
I love growing this. I will try your technique. I have always just planted it in some potting soil. It lasts a very long time and is also nice to have in the dead of winter, something vibrantly green and alive!
Hello Celeste; we must share the same love for nature. I enjoy watching the process of sprouting seeds, and I agree, at the time that nature has still not quite woken up in most parts of the world yet! Spring is almost here and I thank you for your comment 🙂
Thank you so very much for sharing in pictures how to grow the Sabzeh. My mother in law got great pleasure in doing this for all of her children & grandchildren, unfortunately Maman is no longer with us. Her love she gave us was boundless, she loved Nowruz, she enough the preparations for the awesome day. Now her children are trying to continue the zest she had for Nowruz. Thank you so very much for the picture tutorials. Adeh Shoma Mobarak Homa Joon
Madeline jan, thank you for your heartfelt comment! God bless your Maman’s soul; she sounds so lovely, and all of us owe many thanks to those who’ve worked hard to keep these traditions alive. Nowruz e shoma ham mobarak azizam, have a wonderful new year!
Thank you for the wonderful and detailed instructions for the tradition. Your website is a delight and such an homage to the tradition of home-making.
Hello Lilith; I really appreciate your kind message. Thank you my dear!
Oh… how beautiful! I have never made wheat ‘sabzeh’. This is a great tutorial for one. Perfect! 🙂
Thanks for complimenting my Sabzeh 😉 I hope you will give wheat a try; it is actually my favorite!
Thank You,my dear!Do You know,how to cook it? In Azerbaijan we say Samany and I heard about ancient meal from it.
Dear Fatima; it sounds like your samany is our samanu, which takes a very long time to make. The process takes something like a week (from germinating unpelted wheat to the actual sweet product)! It is an ancient dish made for Nowruz and it is made by hours of stirring and cooking the juice of germinated wheat until it resembles a sweet brown pudding.
Happy that I’ve stumbled upon your blog. You have such nice recipes that I need to keep browsing. I remember in Egypt we used to do this project in class in the early days of spring too. Sometimes we sprouted beans as well. What a nice way to welcome spring. Thanks
Hello Amira, welcome to my blog! I think you will find many delicious recipes here and I hope you write to me when you make them 😉 I do love how so many cultures welcome spring by sprouting grains or legumes. Have an amazing spring!
Hello Homa,
I love growing green things-so beautiful and nutritious. I have been to Iran on holiday 5 yrs ago and enjoyed wonderful persian food. What would be a good recipe for this sabzeh? Polo? Or salad?
I live in Australia and we are now in autumn but Happy Nowruz to you and may the new year bring you many blessings
Hello Fiona; so glad you’ve visited Iran; I love it there! This sabzeh is part of the Persian New Year ceremony called Nowruz. I hope you’ll enjoy this post which elaborates about this ancient 3000 year ceremony: https://persianmama.com/nowruz-norooz-persian-new-year-celebration/
I can’t think of any Persian recipe for the green sabzeh, though the young, white germinated wheat is cooked into a thick brown substance called samanoo, which is one of the items on the haftseen table. Germinated wheat grass greens (about 8-10 days old blades) is an amazing antioxidant that some people seriously believe in and consume daily in their smoothies or as a potent super drink made up of pulverized and strained young green wheat grass in the form of a thick juice in small doses (1/2-1 ounce). I sincerely appreciate your Nowruz wishes dear Fiona!
Thank you for your instructions for growing Sabzi I look forward to giving it a try. I am a British lady married to an Iranian and have always tried to make sure my family enjoy both our celebrations and traditions.
Dear Jackie; I really appreciate your comment! I’m very happy that you will be using my method to grow wheat grass this year. Observing different cultural celebrations has also been a tradition in our family for as long as I can remember; my children have always taken part in all of them with joy and they wouldn’t have had it any other way. I wish you and your husband a very happy spring and Nowruz.
How can we keep the little sprouts from getting moldy? This is my second year celebrating. Last year, they didn’t grow too well because the roots molded.
Hi Marllori; Over watering is usually responsible for the mold growth; spraying the sprouts with small amount of cold water 3-4 times a day usually prevents the roots from sitting in water. Also, sometimes the grains might have gotten moldy before packaging. Another reason might be that the wheat is old and is left over from the year before; in this case the germination and sprouting is stunt and this causes the grains to rot and get moldy.
Tashakkuri ziyod baroi maqolai sabzeh
You’re so welcome dear Husrav!
Hello
This is absolutely amazing…Every year I plant lentils to celebrate spring in Egypt too but I have always known that the tradition is originally Persian… I always wondered why mine was not as glorious, now I know… I was using the wrong grain… hehehe… This year I’m doing it right ishaAllah… Thank you for the tutorial and have a very Happy Nowruz…
Dear Nehal. I apologize for the late response, I just saw your comment right now. It was sent to spam 🙁
Happy Nowruz! Happy Spring! I hope your Sabzeh has been green and healthy this year. Please keep in touch and have a great day.
Thank you for the detailed instructions. I have tried growing Sabzeh many times and it has never worked out. I usually wind up with mold before grass. Last year I came across your post and followed every detail. I had beautiful Sabzeh last year. I just rinsed and soaked the wheat grass seeds with my children for this year. They are so excited to watch it grow. Thank you from Chicago.
Hi Farheen from Chicago 🙂 Thanks very much for writing to me. It is so good to hear that my Sabzeh technique has worked for you. I know how frustrating it is to spend all the time and effort to grow sabzeh and have it all go to mold. My regards to your family and your children who are getting involved in the Nowruz preparation. I wish all of you a very happy Spring and Nowruz. Take care and keep in touch
How early should you start this to be ready for first day of norouz?
Hi Irene, to be on the safe side I would start it at the end of first week of March
Hi! I’m from Finland. It is interesting to read about Persian New Year traditions. Growing grass is a traditional Easter decoration in Finland.It is usually ryegrass (Rairuoho in Finnish). It is can be decorated with tiny yellow chicken to make the kids happy. We also have painted eggs for Easter..
We Finns have a traditional Easter dessert called mämmi. It is very much like the Persian samanu. Mämmi is made of rye and has a darker color than samanu. Cooking it takes a long time and it is baked in the oven in small cardboard boxes in the end of the process. The boxes have a pattern of birch bark. The boxes used to be made of birch bark in old times. Baking it makes it dryer than samanu. Nowadays we Finns usually buy it instead of making ourselves. It is enjoyed as a dessert with some sugar and cream.
Dear Milla, thanks so much for sharing this. I likewise love reading about Easter celebration in Finland and as usual I’m delighted to learn about the global similarities in our culture, food, celebrations, etc…
So happy to hear from you and please take care and keep in touch 🙂