Persian Rice Pilaf & Chicken: Zereshk Polo Morgh

 

I've seen various recipes for this dish and they are all similar. Persian cooks often take their time and complete several steps in the preparation. Some people make more of the fruit and nut mixture and then  mix it throughout all of the rice, while others do as I've done here, and they put a small amount of the fruit and nuts mixed with some cooked rice on top of each serving or platter of cooked rice. The rice should not come out all sticky or clumped together, but rather more as individual grains. 

 

This is much more of a dinner than just a dish, so there's a lot going on here and I know it might look intimidating, but it really isn't difficult. Persians generally use barberries in this. Barberries are used in various parts of the world, and they are a tart berry from a type of evergreen bush. They are not terribly common in the United States, but they can be easily found online, if you want authenticity, or if you just want to try something new. I substituted dried sour cherries, but you can also use dried cranberries (preferably unsweetened) in addition to, or instead of, dried cherries and raisins. Persians often use skinless chicken, but you can use skin-on chicken (note: if I use skinless chicken in a particular recipe, I sometimes add the removed skin to cook alongside the skinless chicken to add flavor; I leave it in large enough pieces that it can be fished out, but if you are using skinless chicken for health concerns, that's a totally different matter). The red pepper isn't much, so it won't leave your mouth smoking. I use pistachios, but almonds (skins removed) can also be used as a substitute, or almonds can be used along with the pistachios. Saffron is an expensive spice from crocus flowers. If you don't have saffron and you don't care to buy it, you can substitute turmeric, in addition to the amount I already have in the recipe. The cardamom pods should be crushed or slit to allow the flavor of the seeds inside to easily be released.    

 

Ingredients:

 

4 whole chicken legs (that is the drumstick and thigh together)

2 cups basmati rice

6 cups water seasoned with 1 tablespoon salt to cook the rice initially

1/2 cup water to finish cooking the rice

1 teaspoon saffron in 1/4 cup hot water (divided use after soaking)

2 tablespoons olive oil + 2 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped white or yellow onion

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon salt

2 whole slightly crushed and opened cardamom pods

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 good pinch ground red pepper (Indian, cayenne or other)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 cup chicken stock

3 tablespoons butter

1 heaping teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup shelled and lightly roasted pistachios

 

Soak the basmati rice in some cold water from the faucet while you do other things for the recipe. Grind the saffron into a powder. A mortar and pestle is good for this, but you can use a spice grinder. Put the saffron into a small cup and add 1/4 cup hot water, stir and let it sit while the rice finishes soaking. In a large skillet, add the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and saute for 2 minutes. Add the salt, black pepper, pinch of ground red pepper, ground cinnamon, cardamom pods, ground turmeric and tomato paste; stir the spices and tomato paste to mix everything together well. Now snuggle the chicken pieces in among the onion/spice mixture. Cook for about 2 minutes, then keep turning the chicken pieces to coat them with the mixture. Cook for 4 or 5 minutes, then add 1 cup chicken stock, stir, cover the skillet with a lid or foil, turn the heat to low and let cook until the chicken is done and tender, removing the cover/lid on occasion to stir and to turn the chicken pieces. Add 1/2 the saffron water, stir and let cook just like 3 minutes. In a pan, add 6 cups water and 1 tablespoon salt, bring to a full boil. While the water is coming to a boil, drain the soaking rice, and once the water is fully boiling, add the rice to the water. Cook for 6 minutes ONLY (taste a piece of rice, the rice should still have some firmness to it, the rice does NOT have to absorb all of the water at this stage the way we normally cook rice, so much of the water will be drained off). Pour the water and rice into a colander and once the hot water runs off, place the rice and colander under the faucet and let cold water run on it for a few minutes (this stops the cooking process for the rice). In the pan you just used, add the rice back in and 1/2 cup water over very low heat, cover. Let the rice finish cooking and absorbing all of the water (this time as we more typically cook rice). Remove from the heat, but put the lid back on, let the heaping rice sit covered for 15 minutes. While that is ongoing, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet over low heat, add the dried cherries (barberries or dried cranberries), golden raisins, pistachios (I lightly dry roasted the pistachios briefly, but that's certainly optional), 1 heaping teaspoon sugar and the rest of the saffron water. Stir and toss the fruits and nuts in the sweetened mixture. Now add 5 tablespoons of the cooked rice to the fruit and nut mixture and stir and toss to mix everything together very well (the rice will take on the color of the sweetened mixture). Serve by placing some of the cooked white rice on each plate, then topping each with some of the fruit/nut/seasoned rice mixture. Place a whole chicken leg next to the rice dish and add a little of the chicken sauce over the chicken pieces.  

 

           

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Cadence-This word is related to "chance" and to "case" (the noun form meaning, "the state or condition of something, something that happens;" as in, "in this case," "a court case," also the grammatical sense, "nominative case, accusative case, etc"), both words of Latin origin borrowed by English from Latin-based French, and it is related to "cadaver," a word borrowed by English from Latin. "Cadence" goes back to Indo European "khad/kad," which had the meaning, "to fall." This gave Latin "cadere," which meant, "to fall." A participle form of this verb, cadens, produced Latin "cadentia," meaning, "something that falls out, the falling out of dice (the action of such)." This passed into Italian as "cadenza," meaning "falling," but also, "the ending of a piece of music" (from the idea of "rising and falling of the rhythm and sound to end a song). This was taken by French (the basic form came from Latin, but with the extended meaning taken from Italian), and English borrowed the word in the late 1300s "seemingly" from French, but almost certainly with Italian (and perhaps Latin?) influence. It is possible that the borrowing was from Italian, but the spelling was then influenced by French. "Cadence" has since expanded the meaning to the rising and falling of one's voice in speech.