Persian cooking: recipes · Regional specialities & fish
Gheymeh Nesar قیمه نثار
Festive rice dish from Qazvin: small cubes of meat with saffron, barberries, pistachios, almonds and orange peel over saffron rice.
Ingredients
- 1000 g lamb or beef fillet
- 2½ onions
- 2½ tsp turmeric
- 1000 g basmati rice
- 100 g barberries (zereshk)
- 75 g pistachios, chopped
- 75 g flaked or slivered almonds
- 5 tbsp orange peel, in thin strips
- 2½ tsp ground cardamom
- 2½ tsp rose water
- 5 tbsp saffron threads, ground and dissolved in 4 tbsp hot water
- 150 g butter
- salt (to taste)
Method
- Cut the meat into small cubes and fry with the onion and turmeric, then braise with a little water for 1 hour until soft and the liquid has almost evaporated.
- Blanch the orange peel, toss with the pistachios, almonds and barberries in butter, add cardamom, rose water and saffron and mix with the meat.
- Cook the rice as chelow.
- Plate the rice and scatter the meat and nut mixture over it (“nesar” means “to scatter”).