What Ash Reshteh Leaves on Carpet
Ash reshteh (آش رشته — Persian noodle soup) is one of Iran's most iconic comfort dishes, traditionally prepared at Nowruz (Persian New Year), during winter, and on special occasions. It is a thick, hearty soup made with reshteh (thick Persian wheat noodles), spinach, flat-leaf parsley, fenugreek leaves, leek, green onions, chickpeas, kidney beans, and lentils, simmered in a flavoursome stock with turmeric and black pepper. The signature finishing touch is kashk (کشک) — a thick, sour, tangy paste made from dried fermented whey (similar to concentrated dried yoghurt or very sour labneh) — stirred in and drizzled on top, along with crispy caramelised onions fried in oil. Dried mint fried in oil is another common garnish. On carpet, ash reshteh creates a dense, thick spill: the turmeric colour in the broth requires two peroxide rounds; the kashk whey protein responds to enzyme treatment; the fenugreek leaves create a distinctively persistent aromatic profile on carpet fibres; and the caramelised onion and fried herb garnish oil need cornflour. A genuinely thick stew — the noodles and legumes make it one of the denser Persian soup spills.
What You Will Need
- Spoon (for noodles, legumes, and vegetable pieces)
- Cold water
- Clean white cloths or paper towels
- Cornflour (one round for kashk oil and caramelised onion frying oil)
- Enzyme carpet cleaner (protease enzyme)
- Dish soap (one teaspoon per 250ml cold water)
- Hydrogen peroxide 3% (two rounds for turmeric curcumin colour)
- Baking soda (overnight for fenugreek and herb aroma)
Step 1: Remove Noodles, Legumes, and Herb Pieces
Collect reshteh noodle pieces with a spoon — the thick wheat noodles will have absorbed the turmeric broth and will transfer yellow colour on contact. Chickpeas, kidney beans, and lentils can be scooped. Spinach and herb pieces should be collected without pressing into the pile. If the white kashk swirl has pooled separately from the yellow broth, collect the thick kashk paste with a spoon before blotting — it contains a high concentration of whey protein and souring acids that can set into carpet fibres if not collected promptly.
Step 2: Blot the Turmeric and Herb Broth
Blot the ash reshteh broth from the outer edge inward. The broth is yellow-green from the turmeric and green herbs — on pale carpet this is a visible stain. Apply cold water and blot twice more. Ash reshteh is a very thick, starchy soup — the noodle cooking liquid and legume starch make it denser than a broth-based soup and somewhat slower to spread.
Step 3: Apply Cornflour for Frying Oil
Ash reshteh itself is a low-fat soup — the main fat component is the oil used to fry the caramelised onion garnish and the dried mint garnish. Apply one cornflour round and vacuum. If a large quantity of the fried onion garnish (with its oil) made significant carpet contact, apply a second round to the garnish-contact zones specifically.
Step 4: Apply Enzyme Cleaner for Kashk, Legume, and Noodle Protein
Apply cold water and blot. Apply enzyme carpet cleaner and allow 20 minutes. Kashk (dried Persian whey) is the primary protein concern in ash reshteh — kashk is a concentrated whey protein product (made by boiling and drying yoghurt or buttermilk until very thick and sour), and its casein and whey protein respond well to protease enzyme. Legume protein from chickpeas, kidney beans, and lentils also responds to protease. The reshteh wheat noodle starch responds to any amylase component in enzyme cleaners. Follow with dish soap to emulsify the garnish oils. Blot and rinse.
Step 5: Treat the Turmeric Colour (Two Rounds)
The yellow colour in ash reshteh comes from turmeric — curcumin, the same colour-fast pigment as in Indian turmeric dishes. Apply hydrogen peroxide 3%, allow 10 minutes, blot and rinse. Allow to dry fully, then apply a second round. Two rounds are the standard for turmeric curcumin. The green herb colour (spinach chlorophyll, parsley chlorophyll) is a much less colour-fast pigment that typically oxidises and fades to near-invisible within 24–48 hours — it is incidentally addressed by the peroxide treatment.
Step 6: Treat the Fenugreek and Herb Aroma Overnight
Apply baking soda over the fully dried area and allow overnight. The dominant and most distinctive aroma in ash reshteh on carpet is fenugreek (شنبلیله — shanbalileh). Fenugreek leaves (and seeds) contain solotone (4,5-dimethyl-3-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone) — the compound responsible for the characteristic maple-syrup-meets-curry aroma. Solotone is a persistent aromatic compound on carpet fibres. The dried mint garnish (fried in oil) contributes mentol and menthone compounds. The caramelised onion contributes sulphur-based aroma compounds. One overnight baking soda application addresses the combined ash reshteh aromatic profile for a typical spill. For a very large spill with generous fenugreek, a second overnight baking soda application the following evening is worthwhile.
Turmeric Colour or Kashk Residue Remaining?
The thick texture of ash reshteh — packed with noodles, legumes, and kashk — can leave a dense residue in carpet pile that is hard to fully lift at home. We can connect you with a local carpet cleaner in the Sutherland Shire.
Find a Matched Local SpecialistSutherland Shire Cleaners is a local matching and referral service. We connect you with local providers — we do not supply cleaning services directly.
Frequently asked
The ash reshteh was a very traditional Nowruz version that included a very generous amount of fresh kashk stirred in at the end, then a thick swirl drizzled on top — far more kashk than in a typical weekday version. The kashk has a very strong, very sour smell — almost like very pungent aged yoghurt or sour cream. Does an unusually high kashk quantity in the spill create a more difficult odour to remove?
Kashk (کشک) has a significantly stronger and more sour aroma than fresh yoghurt or cream because it is a concentrated, dried, and often aged fermented whey product — the lactic acid concentration is very high and the volatile fatty acid compounds from the extended fermentation create the characteristic pungent, tangy smell. A generous kashk spill on carpet creates an intensified version of the dairy-sour aroma. The enzyme step is the primary treatment for kashk protein (casein and whey — both respond well to protease). For the sour aroma, baking soda is effective at absorbing lactic acid and acetic acid volatile compounds from the kashk fermentation. If a very generous kashk quantity was spilled, apply the baking soda in two rounds: one overnight application, then vacuum, then a second overnight application two evenings later. The kashk aroma compounds are water-soluble and also respond to the thorough rinsing after the enzyme step — a good cold-water rinse after the dish soap step removes a significant proportion of the dissolved lactic acid from the kashk before the baking soda treatment.
The ash reshteh was made with home-dried kashk (خانگی — khanegi, home-made) rather than commercial kashk. Home-made kashk is made by straining yoghurt through cloth, then sun-drying the strained solids into a dense, very sour paste or ball. The home-made version has a much stronger, more pungent aroma than commercial kashk. Is the treatment different for home-made kashk?
Home-made (khanegi) kashk is typically more pungently sour and more concentrated than commercial kashk because the home drying process produces more variable moisture content and the fermentation is less controlled — which usually means higher lactic acid and acetic acid concentrations. For carpet treatment purposes, the difference between home-made and commercial kashk is one of intensity rather than kind. All the same compounds are present (casein protein, whey protein, lactic acid, acetic acid, volatile fatty acids from the fermentation) — home-made kashk simply has more of them per gram. The treatment protocol is the same (enzyme step, baking soda overnight) but with the expectation that the baking soda step may need a second round for a home-made kashk spill. The protein treatment (enzyme dwell for 20–25 minutes) is the same — protease addresses casein and whey regardless of the production method. The most practical difference when dealing with home-made kashk is the texture: it is often sold or stored as a dense ball or chunk rather than a smooth paste, and if a piece of solid kashk breaks apart on carpet, collecting the crumbled solids promptly (before they dissolve into the carpet with warm moisture) prevents the concentrated acids from spreading.
The ash reshteh included a very generous amount of the fried dried mint garnish (nana dagh — نعنا داغ) — crispy mint leaves fried in oil until dark green to black — along with the caramelised onion garnish. A large quantity of the oil-blackened mint was mixed into the spill. Does charred/fried dried mint in the garnish create any additional stain or odour challenge?
Fried dried mint (nana dagh) is made by heating dried mint leaves in oil until they become crisp and deepen from bright green to a very dark olive-green or blackish-green — the Maillard reaction and caramelisation darken the mint colour significantly. The two components of the garnish create different challenges: (1) the frying oil from the garnish is addressed by the cornflour step (extend to two rounds if generous garnish quantity); (2) the darkened dried mint colour — the deep olive-green to black caramelised colour from the fried mint is very minor as a stain component; the quantity of fried mint per serving is small and the darkened mint colour does not create a significant additional carpet stain beyond what the hydrogen peroxide step addresses. The primary aromatic compound in dried mint is menthol and menthone — these are volatile and dissipate relatively quickly from carpet. Heavily fried dried mint loses much of its fresh menthol aroma (the heat drives off the volatile menthol) and instead develops more nutty-caramelised aromatic compounds that are addressed by the overnight baking soda treatment. No additional protocol adjustment is needed for the nana dagh garnish beyond extending the cornflour to two rounds if a generous oil quantity was present.