Persian cooking: recipes · Polo & dami: rice dishes

Shekar Polo شکر پلو

Name: Shekar Polo
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Persian
Ingredients: 400 g basmati rice; 150 g sugar; 2 tbsp saffron threads, ground and dissolved in 4 tbsp hot water; 40 g flaked or slivered almonds; 30 g pistachios, chopped; 1 tsp ground cardamom; 60 g butter; 4 tbsp oil; salt (to taste)

Sweet festive rice from Shiraz with sugar, saffron, almonds and pistachios, served with chicken.

⏱ 90 min

Ingredients

700 g basmati rice
265 g sugar
3½ tbsp saffron threads, ground and dissolved in 4 tbsp hot water
70 g flaked or slivered almonds
55 g pistachios, chopped
1¾ tsp ground cardamom
105 g butter
7 tbsp oil
salt (to taste)

Method

Boil the sugar with 100 ml water, saffron and cardamom into a syrup. Toast the almonds and pistachios briefly in butter.
Wash the rice, soak in salted water for 1 hour, then parboil in plenty of boiling salted water for 6–8 minutes and drain.
Put the rice in the oiled pot and drizzle the syrup over it.
Cover the pot with a lid wrapped in a cloth and steam for 10 minutes over medium heat, then 45 minutes over low heat.
Sprinkle with almonds and pistachios and serve with chicken.