Persian Rice With Barberries (zereshk Polow)

Total Time: 2 hrs 10 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 1 hr 10 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice (the kind you have to soak a long time from a iranian shop)
• water
• 1/2 cup dried barberries (found in iranian shops)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons saffron water (persian saffron water)
• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon advieh persian mixed spice (advieh - persian spice mix)
• sea salt, to taste

Recipe

• 1 wash rice several times until water runs clear.
• 2 soak rice with salt to taste for at least an hour.
• 3 bring a pot of water to a boil add salt to taste and add drained rice.
• 4 once boiling, cook 10 minutes.
• 5 while the rice cooks, gently scoop the rice from the bottom of the pot and bring to the surface and release. do this step several times. note: do not stir.
• 6 place a colander in the sink. you will want to choose a colander where the holes are small so that the rice won’t escape.
• 7 check the rice to make sure it is cooked. it should be soft and cooked but not mushy. drain rice in colander.
• 8 rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
• 9 pick over the barberries and remove any stones you may find and then soak in water for 5-10 minutes.
• 10 rinse barberries after soaking.
• 11 in a skillet melt 1 tablespoon of butter then add the barberries. add the sugar and give it a nice stir so that the barberries are coated with butter and sugar.
• 12 you will see that they will start to plump up! add 1 tablespoon saffron water and let the barberries absorb the liquid for about one minute. remove from heat.
• 13 melt remaining butter in a heavy pot, stir in a 1/2 tbs saffron water and a couple large spoons of rice. pat down somewhat. this will for the tahdig crust.
• 14 sprinkle advieh and top with some barberry mixture.
• 15 repeat layers until the last layer is rice, reserving about 1/4 of a cup of barberries for garnish.
• 16 create 3-4 holes in the rice with the bottom of your spoon.
• 17 cover and cook on medium-high 10 minutes or until crust would be formed but not burnt.
• 18 melt 1 tbs of butter and mix with 1/2 tablespoon of saffron water and 1 tablespoon of water. pour all over rice.
• 19 cover tightly and cook 1 hour on low.
• 20 serve rice in a platter and top with the reserved barberries serve with iranian chicken with turmeric, saffron, and lemon juice for a delicious combination.
• 21 enjoy!