Welcome to the 4th day of Hanukkah and to our 4th recipe and country! Today we are (virtually) traveling to Iran, with one of my favorite rice dishes, adas polow.
And please be sure to come back tomorrow to see where in the world we are going to during Hanukkah. So far I shared recipes from China, Peru and Poland!
It’s true that I may have an obsession with rice. Its so beautiful, humble and versatile, the staple of many cultures and cuisines. I grew up on rice living in Hawaii and everyone had a rice cooker in their kitchen.
These days, rice is still a staple in our diet..but we branch out from the simple into more exotic. I’ve talked about my favorite Persian store here in So Cal…the place I buy my rose water and pomegranate molasses…it’s heavenly! The store also has an amazing food court where we’ll have lunch often..huge piles of Persian rice, tahdig and my favorite, adas polow, sometimes I’ll get char-grilled chicken or falafel with pickled turnips…I am so in love with those flavors.
This is {my} very humble take on adas polow, also known as rice with lentils. I wanted to serve it vegetarian style for Hanukkah, but I hear adas polow is also made with ground meat or chicken as an entree with itself. Last year, during this time I shared Persian jeweled rice and I thought it would be nice to share such a beautiful, exotic and presentable rice dish during the holiday season again.
For this dish, step by step photos are in order…hope this helps you to create this gorgeous rice dish for your holiday!
Method:
1) Pour rice into a large bowl and fill with water. Rinse several times until the water runs clear, about 6-7 times and then soak the rice for 1 hour.
2) In a small pot, add lentils and 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook lentils for about 10-15 minutes or until liquid has evaporated and lentils are tender. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
3) In another pot, add rinsed rice and 4 cups of water. Boil rice until it is half way cooked and soft on the outside but firm on the inside, about 10 minutes. You don’t want to cook the rice fully because it will continue to cook later. When done, drain and rinse the rise. Set aside.
4) In another small pot, drizzle olive oil and saute chopped onion until caramelized. Then add barberries (or dried cranberries if that’s what you can find), salt, 1/4 tsp turmeric and cinnamon. Toss to combine and remove from heat and set aside.
5) Finally (last pan, promise), drizzle a large skillet with olive oil so it coats the bottom. Add 1/4 tsp turmeric and lay potatoes in an even layer.
6) Mix lentils and rice together and add that on top of potatoes.
7) Then add the barberry-onion mixture and figs and lay on top of rice.
8) Drizzle saffron water over the top of everything and poke holes with the back of a large wooden spoon. This will help the steam to escape and the bottom to get crispy.
9) Next, cover the lid with a clean towel and close lid on pan. Cook on high for about 10 minutes so the potato gets crispy then decrease heat to low for 20 minutes so the rice is fully cooked.
10) When done, remove lid and serve rice with potato tahdig on the side.
Adas Polow (Persian Rice and Lentils)
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 3/4 cup green lentils
- 1/2 onion chopped finely
- 1 Yukon gold potato sliced thin and soaked in water
- 1 cup barberries or dried cranberries
- 1 tsp turmeric divided
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- salt to taste
- 1 cup dried figs chopped (about 6-7 figs)
- Small pinch of saffron soaked in warm water
- Water for rinsing and cooking.
- Olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
- Pour rice into a large bowl and fill with water. Rinse several times until the water runs clear, about 6-7 times and then soak the rice for 1 hour.
- In a small pot, add lentils and 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook lentils for about 10-15 minutes or until liquid has evaporated and lentils are tender. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- In another pot, add rinsed rice and 4 cups of water. Boil rice until it is half way cooked and soft on the outside but firm on the inside, about 10 minutes. You don't want to cook the rice fully because it will continue to cook later. When done, drain and rinse the rise. Set aside.
- In another small pot, drizzle olive oil and saute chopped onion until caramelized. Then add barberries (or dried cranberries if that's what you can find), salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Toss to combine and remove from heat and set aside.
- Finally (last pan, promise), drizzle a large skillet with olive oil so it coats the bottom. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric and lay potatoes in an even layer.
- Mix lentils and rice together and add that on top of potatoes.
- Then add the barberry-onion mixture and figs and lay on top of rice.
- Drizzle saffron water over the top of everything and poke holes with the back of a large wooden spoon. This will help the steam to escape and the bottom to get crispy.
- Next, cover the lid with a clean towel and close lid on pan. Cook on high for about 10 minutes so the potato gets crispy then decrease heat to low for 20 minutes so the rice is fully cooked.
- When done, remove lid and serve rice with potato tahdig on the side.
Notes
Be sure to check the other world cuisine recipes we visited earlier this week!
Day 1- China: Chinese Beef Stew
Day 2- Peru: Yucca Latkes
Day 3- Poland: Polish Poppy Seed Cake
First off, lemme just say I’m totes jelly that you grew up in Hawaii..buh-YOU-tee-ful! I need to take a vaycay there. And second, I LURVE rice…could eat it in all forms all day ee’ery day, and this recipe looks otherworldly! Also: those potatoes?! I want them in my life.