See Also: Casseroles · Chicken / Poultry · Rice
Persian Rice with Chicken (Shireen Polo)
From Dorothy McNett's Recipe Book at www.dorothymcnett.com. This is typically sweet, but I have already reduced the amount of sugar in the orginal recipe (2 cups!) to 1/2 cup. This is (was) an authentic Iranian recipe and I have changed the cooking procedure so that it can be readily prepared. This is so fabulous done this way, retaining all of the natural goodness and flavors of the carrots, rice and chicken.
3-4 medium carrots
1/2 cup unsalted butter
zest (strips of the peel) of two oranges
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup finely chopped pistachios
1 teaspoon saffron or pulversized saffron threads
2 cups long grained rice
4 cups water
2-3 pounds chicken, cut into serving pieces
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 large onion, sliced
2 cups water or broth
2-3 tablespoons pistachios
Slice carrots into slivers 1 inch long and about 1/8 inch wide. In batter bowl, combine carrots, butter and orange zest. Cover with a plate and microwave 4 minutes. Add sugar, almonds, pistachios and saffron. Cover and cook 1-2 minutes more. Stir to dissolve the sugar, set aside. In a ceramic or glass casserole, combine rice and water. Cover. Microwave 5 minutes on high, and then on half power for 10 minutes, or until rice is tender. Stir in the carrot mixture and set aside.
If using a whole chicken, cut it into serving sized pieces. If using pre-cut selected pieces, there will be more flavor if you use parts that still have the bones, such as the thighs and breasts. Remove the skin. In heavy bottomed saute pan, heat the olive oil. Add the chicken pieces, sprinkle with salt. Cook over medium high heat, turning to brown evenly on all sides. When browned, arrange the onion slices over the chicken and pour in the water or broth. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook gently for about 15 - 20 minutes or until chicken is done and very tender.
To serve, remove the bones from the chicken. Spread half of the rice and carrot mixture over a beautiful platter. Arrange the chicken over it, and then mound the rest of the rice on top and sprinkle with pistachios.
Recipe created 2009-07-07.
