Reshteh Polo Recipes

RESHTEH POLO | PERSIAN NOODLE RICE

Steps:

• For making Reshteh polo with chicken, you need to cook the chicken breasts first. To do so, fry the onions with a mixture of oil and butter. Roast the chicken with 2 tablespoon of onions and condiments like pepper, turmeric and salt. When the chicken changes color to white and a bit golden, add some (about a glass) water to it, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer.
• When the chicken is cooked finely, almost 5 millimeters of the liquid is left in the pot. Rest the chickens of the pot and let them cool a bit. Then shred the flesh and return the meat to the previous pot. Add some butter, brewed saffron and roast them a bit.
• Add the cinnamon to the roasting shredded chicken breasts. Let the particles absorb the remaining water then remove the meat and put aside. The chickens should not be too dry.
• Clean out the pot you cooked the meat in and pick another one. Pour water in both and bring to the boil. Add some salt and oil to the water, put Reshteh noodles and rice separately in the bowls. Better to break the noodles beforehand. Parcook noodles (as in Macaroni) and rice. Rinse the Reshteh noodles and add them to the parboiling rice and stir. Rinse them all and put aside.
• Pick a pot and grease with oil. Cover the surface of the pot bottom with the potato rounds to have potato tahdig, or pieces of bread instead. Pour half of the rice and noodles into the pot and spread it evenly over the bottom. Spread the meat mixture evenly over the layer of rice. Then spread the remaining rice evenly over the meat. Top the rice mixture with a little butter and turmeric then steam the polo. Pour the brewed saffron on top of the content. In order not to have dried noodles, add half a cup water to the pot. (Traditional Reshte Polo itself does not contain chicken breast. Adding shredded meat is optional.)
• Place the pot on high heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to low and steam for about 45 minutes. Then remove the pot from the heat.
• Meanwhile polo is steaming, prepare the raisins. Grease a pan with some butter and roast the raisins in it. If you want, sprinkle some cinnamon on raisins while roasting. If you do not like raisins, replace it with barberries. Soak the barberries for 15minutes and rinse afterward. Heat some butter or oil in a pan and roast them. If sour taste of barberries bothers you, add ½ of teaspoon sugar to them and stir. Use them for a garnish. Your polo is ready.

RESHTEH POLO

Steps:

• For the rice and noodles: Sprinkle the saffron on the ice cubes and set aside to melt. This will be your bloomed saffron.
• Rinse the rice in a bowl a few times until the water runs clear. Drain and set aside.
• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the vermicelli and saute until the noodles turn deep brown but do not burn, 6 to 8 minutes. Set aside.
• Fill a 6-quart pot halfway with water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons salt and the rice. Simmer over medium heat until the rice is al dente (if you press a grain between your thumb and index finger, it should break but still be firm in the center), about 7 minutes. Add the vermicelli to the pot and cook for 1 minute. Drain the rice and vermicelli in a colander and rinse briefly with cold water. Reserve the pot.
• Peel the potato and cut it into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Add the vegetable oil to the reserved pot and sprinkle with the turmeric. Arrange the potato slices over the bottom of the pot. Spoon a third of the rice and vermicelli mix over the potatoes and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Repeat with half of the remaining rice and vermicelli mix and another 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and pinch of salt. End with the remaining rice and cinnamon and another pinch of salt.
• Set the pot back medium heat. Poke 5 holes in the rice using the end of a wooden spoon. Wrap the lid in a kitchen towel and cover the pot. Cook until the rice is tender and the potatoes are easily pierced with a paring knife with no resistance, 25 to 35 minutes.
• For the toppings: Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Saute the raisins until plump and shiny, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl. Heat the vegetable oil in the same skillet. Add the onions and saute until golden and tender, about 10 minutes.
• When the rice mixture is ready, transfer 1/2 cup of it to a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of the bloomed saffron and mix with a spoon. Spoon the remaining rice onto a platter and arrange the potatoes around it. Top with the saffron-flavored rice, onions and raisins.

RESHTEH POLO (TOASTED VERMICELLI RICE)

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a medium-sized, preferably non-stick saucepan with a lid, over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook for around 8 mins, until softened, then add the vermicelli and turn to coat in the oil. Tip in the butter and stir until melted. At this point you want the butter to help toast the vermicelli to a lovely even brown colour without burning the butter or the vermicelli.
• Once the vermicelli is browned (not just golden) add the rice, some salt and pepper, and mix well together until evenly combined. Pour over 800ml cold water, cover with a lid and cook on a medium heat (low if using gas) and cook for 30 mins, until the rice on top is cooked. Fluff up with a fork and serve. It's desirable to have 'tahdig', which is Persian for a crunchy rice crust that you can serve in pieces atop the rice.

RESHTEH POLO - PERSIAN RICE WITH NOODLES

Steps:

• In a large pot, saute onion until nice and golden.
• Remove pits from dates and dice them.
• In another pot, saute the reshteh noodles in butter until golden. Keep an eye on them, as they burn easily.
• Prepare your basmati rice according to my "Persian Rice" recipe. When you add the rice to the water, add the reshteh noodles too.
• Once the onion is nice and golden, add one tablespoon butter. Add turmeric and cinnamon. Give the pan a nice stir.
• Add dates and raisins. Give the pan a stir.
• Add orange peel. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Note: if the ingredients seem kind of dry, add a tablespoon of butter.
• After draining your rice and reshteh noodles, place 2 tablespoons canola oil in the bottom of the rice/reshteh pot and add enough water to cover the bottom.
• Add one layer of rice/reshteh noodles to the pot.
• Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of advieh spice (or bouillon).
• Place half of the date-raisin-orange-peel-onion mixture on top.
• Repeat with another layer of rice/reshteh noodles and the remainder of the date-onion mixture.
• End the layering with the rice-reshteh noodles.
• With the end of the spatula, make 5 holes to circumference the rice.
• Cook covered on high for 10 minutes.
• Ground the saffron and dissolve in 1/4 cup of hot water. Add 1 tablespoon butter t the saffron and mix well. Pour the saffron mixture over the rice.
• Cover the top of the pot with a towel and cover with the lid. Steam rice on low for one hour.
• Once the rice is done, place the rice in a dish and sprinkle the almonds and pistachios on top.
• At the bottom of your pot you will find a crunchy rice delicacy Persians love, called tadigh. Break it into pieces with a spatula or spoon and serve in a separate dish.