Shirin Polo with Chicken Recipe _ Iranian jeweled rice

Shirin Polo is a traditional Iranian food that is generally served at weddings. In preparing this food, quality Iranian rice must be used so as not to lose its original taste. Preparing shirin polo is not an easy and quick task.

You must have relatively good cooking experience to be able to prepare this food well. This food is also known by other names such as Iranian jeweled rice and bride rice.

As mentioned in Iranian culture, serving this elegant food at special events such as weddings is customary. If you are also interested in cooking this food and learning how to prepare shirin rice, we suggest you not miss this article and stay with meals cook until the end.

My experience table:

History of shirin polo

Shirin Polo is one of the most popular and famous foods in the Middle East, especially in Iran and Afghanistan.

The history of this food dates back to ancient times. Historical sources show that this was served for the first time during the Sassanid Empire as one of the kings’ favorite foods.

This dish has been widely included in the tables of ceremonies and important parties of the Sassanids.

This polo is delicious like another Persian pilafs such as albaloo polo, loobia polo, and gheymeh nesar.

With the advent of Islam, traditional Persian rice pilafs became one of the most popular dishes in Islamic circles and were used to entertain guests. Also, this food was used in the Safavid Empire and the Qajar period in the following periods.

In international conventions related to preserving traditional foods, this food is known as one of the most popular foods in the Middle East. It is included in the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage foods.

Today, this food is served in many restaurants and food houses worldwide and has become one of the most famous dishes in the Middle East.

Now, we are learning about both ways and recipes together. So be with us in meals cook site in this article.

1. Shirin polo ba morgh

For: 4 people

Preparation time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Instruction:

1. Prepare orange peel and slices

Did you know that the recipe for this pilaf is the same as the recipe for cooking havij polo with meat or chicken?

To cook this Iranian sweet pilaf, soak it in advance. Soak almond and pistachio slices in some rose water to make this food.

Cut the orange peel into slices and boil it twice in water. Change the orange peel water every time and then keep it in cold water for about 30 minutes until its bitterness is taken.

Then rinse with cold water and boil in 3 tablespoons of sugar until they become jam. (You can use orange jam instead of orange peel according to your taste).

Saute pistachio and almond slices in a little butter. Grate the carrots with a coarse grater.

Then, first, cook it with two tablespoons of water; when the water is drained, fry it with some butter and sugar.

2. Cooking chicken

In the second step of preparing this Persian dish with chicken, you should cook the chicken with two onions, water, and good spices.

After cooking the chicken, strain the chicken broth and keep it. Mix 1 cup of this chicken broth with sweetened orange peel and brewed saffron.

3. Preparing ingredients for rice

Chop two onions and fry them until golden. When the onions are golden, shred the cooked chicken and add them to the onions. Fry the chicken well with the onions until they are fried. Add the roasted carrots.

Add chicken broth, orange peel, and brewed saffron in the last step. And add salt, pepper, and turmeric in the middle of frying. Allow the chicken broth to evaporate.

4. Combine ingredients with rice

Cook rice in water and drain. Now pour oil on the bottom of the pot and let it get hot. Then arrange your desired ingredients for tahdig and add a layer of rice and a layer of fried chicken.

Leave this traditional pilaf to cook. At the end of the brewing time, pour the roasted slices on the pilaf and serve the food. If you want, fry some barberry and pour it on the rice when serving.

If you use a meatball to make this polo, prepare the meat the same way as usual. Fry the meats and put them on top of the rice it cooks. The simple recipe for Iranian sweet pilaf is without almond and pistachio nuts.

2. Shirin polo with meat

To taste, you can use chicken or minced meat in the preparation of this pilaf. Here, we will teach you how to prepare this food with minced meat, which is very easy and fast. In this method, you must follow all the steps mentioned in the first part.

In addition to preparing meatballs, mix the minced meat with grated onion and necessary spices and knead well until it becomes uniform.

Roll the minced meat into small circles and then put the minced meat in the pan to fry. Let their juices dry and fry well on both sides. Like the previous method, put meatballs, barberry, and carrot on shirin polo and enjoy.

This polo is served by Mast o Musir, Salad Shirazi,  and Persian doogh.

Pistachios are very nutritious, with a 1-ounce (oz), or 28-gram (g), serving of about 49 pistachios containing the following nutrients (2Trusted Source):

• Calories: 159
• Carbs: 8 g
• Fiber: 3 g
• Protein: 6 g
• Fat: 13 g
• Potassium: 6% of the Daily Value (DV)
• Phosphorus: 11% of the DV
• Vitamin B6: 28% of the DV
• Thiamine: 21% of the DV
• Copper: 41% of the DV
• Manganese: 15% of the DV

sorced by: healthline.com

Notes :

• You can add crushed cardamom or cinnamon to this food to make it tastier.
• To cook this food with chicken, you can use it correctly, chop it finely, and combine it with rice.
• You can also add some raisins or barberry to the recipe of this Iranian pilaf with chicken.
• For saffron to get more color, it is better to brew it with ice. This will make your saffron take on more flavor than when you mix it with boiling water.
• If you want to prepare this polo with meatballs, you should mix the meat, grated onion, and spices well. Then, take some of the meat, make it into small circles, and fry it in some hot oil.
• Note that to make this traditional Iranian pilaf with meat, you must knead the meat with good ingredients so it does not spread during frying.
• The best way to decorate this pilaf is to decorate it with pistachio slices, almond slices, chicken or meat, barberry, or raisins after serving the food in the dish. It is better to pick up some rice for decoration while preparing the ingredients inside the rice and fill the surface of the rice with these ingredients. Decorating this food with saffron rice and barberry is also a good idea.
• You can reduce or increase the sugar in this food according to your taste.
• If you wish, you can prepare your food with saffron rice, make it with white rice, and finally put some saffron rice on the dish.
• Some people only use pistachio, almond, and orange slices to decorate this food. Mixing rice with these ingredients gives a wonderful taste to the food, and on the other hand, it makes the appearance of your pilaf more attractive.
• To use orange peel in food, you must put it in water. Then, change the water several times to completely remove the bitterness of the orange peel. Not paying attention to this issue can make your sweet pilaf taste bitter.
• Be sure to use first-class pistachio and almond slices to make this food because their flavor has a great effect on the food’s deliciousness.
• Adding some diced potato to this food also gives it a unique taste. For this purpose, you can combine potatoes with rice or use it to decorate the food.
• Before making rice, it is better to soak it in water and some salt for at least two hours so that your rice will grow better and the appearance of the food will be more attractive.

Did you like this recipe?

• Please share your experience about cooking this Persian dish.
• If you want vegetarian food, I suggest this dish without meat or chicken.
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