Persian Polo
Guide
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Cooking time: 1.5 hours
- Difficulty: 1/5
Overview
Rice is the staple food of Iran, and is the main ingredient of most Iranian recipes, especially Khoreshts (Stews).
There are a few different ways Iranians make their Polo these days, including using rice cookers; however I will be presenting the traditional way of making Polo. This is arguably more labour-intensive and time-consuming, but like most things Persian cooking, the more time spent, the better the end results.
You will want the longest form of Basmati rice you can get your hands on. In Iran, the longer the grain of rice, the more appreciated it is. Traditionally in the North of Iran (especially in Gilan), smoked rice is used, which adds aroma and a distinct flavour to the rice. Unfortunately for most of us without access to such smoked rice, we’ll have to do with Indian/Pakistani Basmati rice.
The sign of a well-cooked Iranian Polo is a thick layer of crunchy, brittle, almost-burnt rice at the bottom of the pot called Tahdig. A well-made Tahdig is the ultimate prize that kids fight over and steal from each other’s plates, most of the times in competition with adults; almost like pork crackling in the UK & Australia.
Ingredients
- 200 ml (6.5 fl oz) of uncooked Basmati rice per person
- A few strands of saffron (the real stuff not the food dye)
- Salt
- 30 g of butter per person
- 1 egg yoke
Preparation
- Wash the rice in a large pot and drain
- Make saffron water
Method
Fill a large pot with cold water and add the uncooked rice to it. You’ll want this pot to be very large and fill 3/4 of it with water. You’ll want the rice to have as much room as possible to “grow”, if your pot is small or you haven’t used enough water, the rice will not expand to its optimum length.
Add a good amount of salt. You’ll need to add more salt than what you are normally comfortable with, as most of this salt will get washed out later. Taste the water to make sure it is decidedly “salty”.
Leave on high heat and bring to boil.
Boil the rice for a few minutes (the exact time depends on the toughness of your rice) until it is half cooked. Test a few grains with your fingers to check its firmness. You want the rice to lose its initial toughness, but not completely crush in between your fingers.
When half cooked, drain in a drainer.
Add 1 egg yoke, about half of the butter and some of your saffron water to the bottom of a large non stick pot. Spread the mixture to evenly cover the bottom of the pot.
Add the half cooked rice to this pot. Mix some of the saffron water in between.
Add the rest of the butter and the rest of the saffron water at the top.
Wrap the pot’s lid in a large tea towel, like you are wrapping it with wrapping paper. Firmly place the lid on the pot (I know this is strange, but trust me!)
Put the pot on a very large heat but on its lowest setting. If you’ve got a heat spreader, you can use that. You want the heat to be evenly applied to the bottom of the pot. Make sure your heat is not high or your rice will burn.
Leave the rice cooking for about 1 hour. Don’t touch it, don’t remove the lid, don’t check on it, don’t stir it. Just leave it.
After about 1 hour, turn off the heat. Leave the pot to “sit” for 5 minutes.
Wearing heat-resistant gloves, flip the pot upside down on to a large tray. Hopefully your pot is actually non stick and the whole thing has come out with the Tahdig on top, looking like a cake!
Your Tahdig should be dark brown. That’s not burnt, that’s how it’s meant to be. If it is black, that’s burnt. Use lower heat next time. If it is not quite brown or crunchy, use higher heat next time. It might take a few trial and errors until you find the optimum settings based on your rice and heat.
Enjoy the Polo with whatever you’re going to have it with!