Persian cooking: recipes · Polo & dami: rice dishes

Albaloo Polo آلبالو پلو

Rice with sour cherries and little meatballs: sweet, tart and bright red.

⏱ 90 min

Ingredients

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  • 300 g basmati rice
  • 375 g sour cherries (pitted, fresh or jarred)
  • 75 g sugar
  • 225 g minced lamb or beef (with some fat)
  • ¾ onions
  • ¾ tsp saffron threads, ground and dissolved in 4 tbsp hot water
  • 38 g butter
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • salt (to taste)

Method

  1. Cook the sour cherries with the sugar for 15 minutes into a thick compote. Shape the mince with grated onion and salt into little balls and fry.
  2. Wash the rice, soak in salted water for 1 hour, then parboil in plenty of boiling salted water for 6–8 minutes and drain.
  3. Layer the rice alternately with the cherries (without syrup) and meatballs in the oiled pot.
  4. Cover the pot with a lid wrapped in a cloth and steam for 10 minutes over medium heat, then 45 minutes over low heat.
  5. Warm the cherry syrup with butter and saffron and drizzle over the rice.