Amba: The Indian Pickle That Became a Kurdish Street Food Staple
Amba is a tangy pickled mango condiment from India that became a staple of Kurdish and Iraqi street food. Served with shifta, falafel, and kubbeh across Kurdistan.
Read article →Kurdish History Journal
The archive
Perde Pelav: The Kurdish Wedding Pilaf Wrapped in Secrets
Perde Pelav is a Kurdish wedding pilaf from Sîrt — rice sealed in dough symbolising family devotion. Always labelled "Turkish," its Kurdish origins are erased.
Read article →Torak: The Kurdish Sun-Dried Curd That Fed Nomads for Centuries
Torak is a traditional Kurdish sun-dried curd ball — a nomadic survival dairy product carried by herders on mountain migrations. Part of the same family as kashk and qurut.
Read article →Gezo: The Kurdish Mountain Manna From the Oak Forests
Gezo is Kurdish mountain manna — a wild-foraged sweetener from oak forests, produced by aphids for only days per year. Known historically as Kurdish manna, this tradition is endangered.
Read article →Qara Xerman: The Kurdish "Black Harvest" — Fire-Roasted Green Wheat
Qara Xerman is the Kurdish name for fire-roasted green wheat, meaning "black harvest." Known globally as freekeh, the Kurdish name and survival heritage are erased.
Read article →Khoresht Rivas: The Kurdish Rhubarb Stew Called "Persian"
Khoresht Rivas is a Kurdish rhubarb stew from Rojhilat (Iranian Kurdistan), always labelled "Persian" in English. Iranian sources say it is mainly cooked in Kurdistan.
Read article →Jajî: The Kurdish Mountain Cheese Sold Under a Turkish City’s Name
Jajî is a Kurdish herbed cheese made from sheep's milk and 25 wild mountain herbs. Sold as Van Otlu Peyniri, the Kurdish name never appears on the label.
Read article →Savar: The Kurdish Grain That Built a Mountain Civilisation
Savar is the Kurdish name for traditional processed wheat grain — the mountain staple erased under the generic Turkish label bulgur pilavı.
Read article →Kutilk: The Kurdish Dumpling the World Calls by Other Names
Kutilk is the Kurdish name for stuffed bulgur dumplings known internationally as kibbeh or içli köfte. The signature Kurdish version, kutilk daw, is cooked in yoghurt-garlic soup.
Read article →Yaprax: The Kurdish Stuffed Vine Leaf You Know by Another Name
Yaprax is the Kurdish name for stuffed vine leaves. Known internationally as dolma or sarma, the Kurdish version with fresh herbs, pomegranate molasses, and yoghurt is rarely credited.
Read article →Ser û Pê: The Kurdish Head-and-Foot Stew That Warms a Nation
Ser û pê is a traditional Kurdish stew of slow-cooked sheep head and feet, enriched with chickpeas, rice, and warming spices. A winter staple across all parts of Kurdistan.
Read article →Kürt Böreği: The Kurdish Pastry Turkey Tried to Rename
Kürt Böreği is a traditional Kurdish layered pastry created in 1800s Istanbul by a Kurdish migrant from Bingöl. The name is now being replaced with the euphemism Küt Böreği.
Read article →Qehweya Kezwanê: The Kurdish Coffee Erased by Turkish National Branding
Qehweya Kezwanê is a traditional Kurdish terebinth coffee once sold in France as Chicorée au Kurde before Turkish rebranding renamed it Menengiç Kahvesi.
Read article →The Republic of Ararat (1927–1930): The Kurdish State on the Mountain
The Republic of Ararat was a Kurdish state proclaimed on Mount Ararat in 1927, led militarily by Ihsan Nuri and the Xoybûn league, crushed by Turkey in 1930.
Read article →The Kingdom of Kurdistan (1921–1924): Sheikh Mahmud's State
The Kingdom of Kurdistan was a short-lived Kurdish state proclaimed by Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji in Sulaymaniyah in the early 1920s, crushed by British forces by 1924.
Read article →The Emirate of Soran: Rawanduz and the Mir Kor
The Emirate of Soran was a Kurdish principality centred on Rawanduz, famed for the warrior-queen Mir Xanzad and Mir Muhammad, the powerful 19th-century 'Mir Kor'.
Read article →The Emirate of Bohtan: The Kurdish Princes of Cizre
The Emirate of Bohtan was a great Kurdish principality centred on Cizre, ruled by the Azizan dynasty and home of the epic Mem û Zîn and Bedir Khan Beg.
Read article →The Bradost Emirate and the Siege of Dimdim
The Bradost Emirate was a Kurdish principality famed for the 1609–1610 siege of Dimdim, where Khan Lepzerin made a legendary stand against Shah Abbas.
Read article →The Principality of Palu: A Kurdish Emirate on the Murat
The Principality of Palu was a Kurdish emirate on the Murat River near Elazığ, kin to the Eğil princes and later home to Sheikh Said of the 1925 revolt.
Read article →The Mahmudi Emirate: Kurdish Lords of Hoşap
The Mahmudi Emirate was a Kurdish principality south-east of Lake Van, famous for Hoşap Castle, rebuilt by the Mahmudi lord Sarı Süleyman Bey in 1643.
Read article →The Emirate of Bahdinan: The Kurdish Princes of Amadiya
The Emirate of Bahdinan was one of the great Kurdish principalities, centred on Amadiya in Iraqi Kurdistan, lasting from the late 14th century until 1843.
Read article →The Mukriyan Emirate: Kurdish Lords of Mahabad
Mukriyan was a Kurdish emirate of the Mukri tribe centred on Mahabad (old Savojbolagh) in north-western Iran, later the cradle of the 1946 Kurdish Republic.
Read article →The Ayyubids of Hasankeyf: The Last Ayyubid Dynasty
The Ayyubids of Hasankeyf were the last surviving branch of Saladin's Kurdish Ayyubid dynasty, ruling a Tigris fortress-principality from 1232 to about 1524.
Read article →The Donboli Dynasty: Kurdish Khans of Khoy
The Donboli were a Kurdish tribe and dynasty who ruled the city of Khoy in north-western Iran as hereditary khans until their fall under the Qajars.
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