Ordering up some soya milk from her Iranian husband Jamshid (“third fridge along, dear”) to complete her decaf tea, flame-haired Sally Butcher settles into the battered sofa of her Persian food shop’s tiny office.

Above her colourful, patchwork-dungareed figure is a map labelled ‘Veggiestan’, stretching from the Middle East into Asia, the region that has influenced her cooking.

For the past 10 years, the Essex-born cook turned retailer has been exploring Persian cooking (and beyond) with help from her long-suffering mother-in-law Afsaneh.

“It’s taken perseverance to learn these lessons,” Butcher explains. “She’s quite a reluctant teacher. I have to stand next to her and bombard her with questions.”

Her second cookbook Veggiestan is an ode both to this journey and her deep love of vegetables.

“In Iran, they’re very happy to make a dish out of one vegetable and not overcomplicate it. They’ve also got different ways of cooking them – and in general I find they work better,” she explains.

In Middle Eastern cooking, meat is regularly saved for special occasions, meaning that everyday veg preparation can often be more interesting.

Butcher’s recipes use eye-popping ingredients such as dried limes, rose water and harissa paste to blow life into her food.

“I’ve always eaten broccoli crunchy, al dente style,” she says, recalling her first Iranian cooking revelation.

“I was merrily cutting up the florets and lobbing the stems into the bin, and my mother-in-law was horrified.

“She got them out of the bin, washed them off, and peeled the outside off, leaving the core to be served with salt. Apparently we throw away the best bit!”

Afsaneh then suggested Butcher barbecue her sweetcorn, and dunk it in salted water (“so much nicer than boiling and slathering it in butter, I discovered”), and also recommended cooking broad beans well past al dente.

“They tend to boil them for a good hour to make them tender and more flavour comes out. I think Britain’s obsessed with the idea of ‘destroying the nutrients’, but actually it’s about making sure they taste right.”

Over the years, Butcher’s role in helping her customers buy the right ingredients at her London-based shop Persepolis has given her an insight into modern cooking habits.

“From what little I know of other people’s pantries, they could do with throwing all their spices away and getting new ones from a proper spice shop, such as ours, or an Indian shop. Then keeping them in airtight jars and using them more.

“The core spices are turmeric, cardamom, cumin, coriander and saffron, which is very expensive at the moment but fairly important. With those you can do so much.”

Many well-known chefs have been experimenting with Middle Eastern flavours for years, she says. And it makes her smile when products Persians have been cooking with for decades are “discovered” by celebrity chefs.

“Some have just discovered the spice ‘sumac’, and that’s really, really funny. But Nigella, for example, has been using sumac for a long time. I’m a huge fan of hers.

“Also, there are ingredients like barberries and dried limes, which I’ve been using for years, that are all coming into fashion now.

“Ironically, barberries are also indigenous to Britain. Mrs Beeton refers to them in her cookbooks for use in jelly and to go with rich game. So if you find a barberry tree, go pick it!”

Here are three of Butcher’s recipes to try. And visit foratasteofpersia.co.uk if you need to buy any ingredients.

Peppers filled with moghrabieh

(Makes 8)

8 large, pretty green capsicum peppers

200g moghrabieh (or barley or risotto rice)

Olive oil, for frying

1 red capsicum pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2tsp paprika

½tsp cayenne

1tsp cinnamon

¼tsp ground saffron, steeped in boiling water

500ml vegetable stock

Large handful fresh coriander, chopped

Large handful fresh parsley, chopped

1tbsp fresh dill, chopped

Salt and pepper

150ml tomato juice or passata

Trim the base of the green peppers very slightly so that they will sit up rather than all fall down. Then cut off the tops: retain them but discard the seeds. Blanch the peppers plus their ‘lids’ for a couple of minutes, and then drain and arrange them snugly in an oven dish.

Blanch the moghrabieh for about 5 minutes in boiling water, and then drain – this will stop it from becoming gloopy.

Heat some oil in a frying pan, and when it is hot, slide in the chopped red pepper, onion and celery. When they have softened, add the spices followed by the moghrabieh, stirring well so that all the globules get coated. Add the saffron to the vegetable stock, and then add this, bit by bit, to the moghrabieh until it is all absorbed. You will in all likelihood need to add a little water as well: the moghrabieh should be soft but not mushy, and the process should take about 25 minutes. Once it is cooked, take it off the heat, stir in the herbs and season to taste.

Spoon some of the mixture into the cavities of each of the peppers, topping them off with one of the blanched lids. Pour the tomato juice around the base of the vegetables, cover the dish with foil and bake on 190C/Gas Mark 5 for around 30 minutes.

If you wish you can sprinkle some Parmesan over the hot dolmeh. Serve with warm bread and yoghurt or cacik. Like most dolmeh, they are also great cold for picnics.

Qorma-e-zardak (Afghan carrot hotpot)

(Serves 4)

2 medium onions, chopped

Oil, for frying

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1 Scotch bonnet chilli

1cm knob of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

1tsp ground turmeric

½tsp ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground coriander

Pinch ground cloves

600g baby carrots, scrubbed or grown-up carrots, peeled and chunked

300g daul nakhud (yellow split peas)

1tbsp tomato paste

3 large tomatoes, chopped

Salt, to taste

2tbsp sour grape juice or 2 tsp vinegar

500ml water or veg stock

Just fry the onions in a little oil in the bottom of a big saucepan, and add in the garlic, chilli and ginger. When the onions have started to soften, add in the spices, carrots and split peas, followed a couple of minutes later by the paste and fresh tomato chunks. Sprinkle in some salt, add either the vinegar or sour grape juice, and then enough water to cover all the ingredients. Bring to the boil and then set to simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the carrots and peas are cooked through.

Serve over plain white rice, with yoghurt and bread. And maybe salaata (Afghan salad).

Salaata

(To serve with Afghan Hotpot)

3 small continental cucumbers (or half a regular)

3 tomatoes

3-4 spring onions

Half a bunch of fresh coriander, trimmed

Handful fresh mint, trimmed

1 small regular onion

2 small, hot green chillies (optional, of course)

Salt

Juice of 1-2 lemons

Just chop all the ingredients together: we’re talking bigger than a salsa here but much smaller than a regular chunk. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with lemon, and then cover and pop it in the fridge for about 30 minutes (to let the flavours mingle and get to know each other).

Khoresht-e-gheimeh khalal (Barberry and almond casserole)

(Serves 4)

2 onions, peeled and chopped

Oil for frying (sunflower, to be authentic)

1tsp turmeric

6 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and quartered

1tbsp tomato paste

2-3 dried limes, washed and pricked

120g barberries, washed and sorted

100g nibbed almonds

4 large tomatoes

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fry the onions in a little oil in a saucepan, and as they start to soften, add the turmeric, stirring well. Add the potatoes, the tomato paste and the dried limes, and then enough water to cover all the ingredients with 1cm to spare. Bring to the boil, spoon in the barberries and the almonds, and set to simmer.

Once the potatoes are al dente (about 10 minutes should do the trick), halve the tomatoes and lower those in, and season the casserole to taste. Top up the liquid levels if it looks a bit dry. Allow to bubble gently for a further 20-25 minutes, or until the potatoes are really tender and the tomatoes soft.

Serve with brown basmati rice, plain yoghurt and fresh herbs. Bah-bah! (Persian for ‘Yum’!)

• Veggiestan by Sally Butcher is published in hardback by Pavilion, priced £25. Available now.