Persian Jeweled Rice

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Rice doesn't get much better than this. Easier to prepare than Fatet Lamice, it is much more delicate, a crown jewel in the thousand year old Persian cuisine. This rice is served at Persian weddings. It is the king of rices and the rice of kings. If you are serious about rice you owe it to yourself to try this at least once in your life.

Persian Jeweled Rice Javaher Polow
For 6 as a royal side dish
3 cups Basmati rice
2 organic oranges
1 large carrot
1 cup dried barberries
1/2 cup raisins
1 onion
1 cup blanched whole almonds or almonds and pistachios
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp dried rosebuds
3 tbsp green cardamom pods
pinch of saffron diluted in 1 glass water
150 gr butter
2 tbsp yoghurt

Barberries (Berberis, épine-vinette) are dried tart berries with an intense red color. They become stale and dark after a few months so you could substitute them with fresh pomegranate seeds and keep, in my opinion, with the dish's spirit.

Peel a large carrot and continue to peel the flesh to obtain long, flat carrot strips. You can also use a very flat knife with a very steady hand or a mandoline.

In a small saucepan combine the orange rind with 3 cups water and bring to a boil. Strain. This step helps getting rid of the rind's bitterness.

Combine one cup sugar with one cup water (picture), bring to a boil and add both orange rind and carrot strips. Boil gently for 10 minutes, strain and reserve. This process partially candies the orange and carrot.

Jeweled rice called for a magical spice mix called advieh, which you can easily make by grinding together 2 part cinnamon, 1 part cumin seeds, 2 part rose petals and 3 part cardamom pods. Remove the pods. Here I used spices bought at Istanbul's spice market. The resulting powder is intensely fragrant.

Wash the rice in twice its volume in water, wash and strain. Do this as many times as needed for the water to be totally transparent. like for the Pakistani Pulao, This process gets rid of the microscopic rice dust that would turn your royal dish into Vietnamese sticky rice. It takes only a few minutes.

Boil the rice in salted water until it softens but remains slightly crunchy, 9-12 minutes. Stir to ensure grains are fully separated, strain and reserve.

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large pan with a tight fitting lid. This is important as it will prevent the rice crust from sticking - add more rather than less. Mix 4 tbsp of the partly boiled rice with 1 tbsp yoghurt and a drop of saffron water. Spread this mixture in a layer at the bottom. It will turn into a delicious golden crust, the hallmark of Persian rice dishes.

Add a generous amount of advieh on top and pour the rest of the melted butter and saffron water and half a cup water. Cover tightly, possibly using a towel wrapped all around the top of the pot to prevent any leakage. Cook over low heat for about 45 minutes.

While the rice finishes cooking, prepare the garnish.

Soak 1 cup barberries and half a cup raisins into 2 cups warm water for 20 minutes. Thinly slice an onion and gently fry it in 2 tbs/25 gr butter until soft and brown.

Add the strained barberries and raisins and cook for one more minute. Reserve.

Prepare a large serving platter, if possible of Persian or at least Arab origin. Carefully pile the rice in a nicely shaped mound and garnish with the Berberis-raisin-onion mixture and nuts.

Above another version with pomegranate seeds and rose petals on top although the composition can become visually cluttered.

A good deal of what makes this dish royal is its presentation. Be careful when laying the berberis on top and take some time to make a nice ring of nuts all around the rice.

Above you see the first time I tried this recipe, with a roasted chicken cut in pieces around. The berberis bays were probably over the hill and quite dark, but a very convincing dish already.

The rice at the bottom of the pot will form a delicious golden crust, crunchy and flavored with saffron. This is the part Persians all desire, the gratin, the duck skin, the crust on a leg of lamb. They call it tah-dig. Scrape it and serve one piece on each plate.

I served this with my Fig-stuffed quails - a resounding success! You can prepare the candied carrot and orange rind and toast the nuts the day before to gain some time.

I found this recipe in New Food of Life, Ancient Persian & Modern Iranian Cooking & Ceremonies, one of the most amazing cookbooks ever, written by Najmieh Batmanglij, a New-York-based Persian powermama. She first wrote her book in France where she had fled the bearded thugs who took over from the Shah in 1979, and then translated it into English when she settled in the USA. The book tells you in great details and very practical recipes how Persians prepare both regular and festive food. This Jeweled Rice is on the cover of the book. Each recipe is so well explained that you could give it as a reference in a cookbook-writing class. She carefully lists a number of alternative ingredients and explains the whys of each step. Warmly recommended!