Zereshk Polo Morgh is one of those dishes that one would try while exploring Persian cuisine. It’s a staple dish on almost every Persian restaurant menu. Tender chicken pieces cooked in tomato paste sauce served with saffron rice and sauteed barberries.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 chicken pieces(thighs or chicken breasts)
- 4 cups of rice
- 1 cup barberry(zereshk)
- 2 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 1 onion
- 4 teaspoon bloomed saffron
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- Oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- Salt and pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1
Rinse the barberries with cold water to remove any dirt or debris. Drain, and set aside.
Step 2
Rinse rice until the water is clear. Soak rice in a large bowl of water. Add 1 tablespoon salt and stir to dissolve. Let it sit for 2 hours.
Step 3
Fry chicken pieces in hot oil until the skin is crispy and golden.
Step 4
Add chopped onion into the saucepan and fry for a couple of minutes until soft and golden. Then add tomato paste, salt, turmeric and pepper and stir for a few minutes.
Step 5
Put the chicken pieces in a pot. Pour the tomato sauce on top add 2–3 cups of boiling water and cover the pot. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam on the surface. Allow the chicken pieces to cook with gentle heat for about 1 to 1.5 hours. Add 2 teaspoons of bloomed saffron 10 minutes before you turn off the heat. The sauce for this recipe should be thick. If the sauce is too thin, remove the chicken pieces from the pot and boil the sauce until thick.
Step 6
Drain the soaked rice. Add fresh water into a pot. For every cup of rice add two cups of water. Place the pot on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of salt to the boiling water.
Step 7
Add drained rice to the pot of boiling water and give a quick stir. The rice is done after 8–10 minutes when it begins to rise to the top and the water comes back to a boil. Check the rice is cooked by trying a grain.
Step 8
Break one grain in half. Rice should be soft on the outside but slightly hard in the middle. Pour rice into the colander to drain; then set aside.
Step 9
In a large pot heat 2 tablespoons of oil or butter. Arrange potato slices or Lavash naan. Pour the drained rice back into the pot. Place the pot on medium-high heat directly on the stovetop. Cover the pot and cook until the rice begins to steam. Then lower the heat and cook for one hour or until the crust forms.
Step 10
Put 2 tablespoons of butter or vegetable oil in a small frying pan on medium heat. Add barberries to the pan and saute for 1 or 2 minutes.
Step 11
Take 5 or 6 tablespoons of cooked rice and mix it with 2 teaspoons of bloomed saffron and set aside. Serve Persian rice on a plate and top it with saffron rice and barberries. Put chicken pieces on a plate and serve it with rice. Serve the Zereshk Polo sauce in a small bowl.
Reference: https://yummynotes.net/zereshk-polo-recipe/
