Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It's all about getting together with the people you love and care about. Spending time together, telling stories, laughing, giving thanks and of course eating delicious food and mouth-watering sweets. Like many Iranians I do add my own Persian cooking touches to the Thanksgiving menu. I feel the meal is not complete if there's no rice to go with it! Out of an array of Persian rice dishes, there are two that I think would complement the Thanksgiving feast. Rice with dill and Lima beans is a great choice which I have written about here. Another great choice is the sweet rice (shirin polow) which is usually served with chicken and goes well with turkey too.

 

Ingredients:

  

2 cups long grain rice

2 cup carrots, shredded

1 cup barberries, picked over, rinsed

1 cup orange skin, slivered

1/2 cup unsalted pistachio, slivered

1/2 cup almonds, slivered

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon powdered saffron dissolved in 2 tablespoons of hot water

2 tablespoons oil for the carrot mixture

3 tablespoons oil for the rice

1 cup of water for the mixture

3 tablespoons salt 

Dash of cinnamon

Water

 

Method:

 

To prepare the orange skin slivers, peel about three oranges. Gently remove the white layer, cut the the thin layer of the orange skin into slivers. Rinse with cold water, place in small pot, add a cup of water and boil for 5-7 minutes, drain.

In a skillet add 2 tablespoons of oil, saute the barberries for 2-3 minutes, add the carrots saute lightly for an additional 2 minutes, add the orange slivered peels. 

Sprinkle the sugar on top, pour a cup of water and cook on low heat for 15 minutes. 

Add the liquid saffron and cinnamon to the mixture. 

Barberries can be found in Persian stores. Dried cranberries are a good substitute if you can not find barberries where you are.

Wash rice with cool water a few times. Soak in 4 cups of water, add salt and set aside for a couple of hours.

In a large non stick pan that has a tight fitting lid, bring 4 cups of water to a rapid boil. Drain rice and pour into boiling water. Bring water to boil for 10 minutes. Test to see if the rice is ready. Rice should be firm in the center and soft on the outside. Strain and rinse with cool water.

Wash the pot and return to heat, add 3 tablespoons of oil, with a large spatula place the rice into the pot, add a layer of the mixture, continue building it into a pyramid shape. In order to release the steam make 2-3 holes in the rice with the bottom of the spatula. Cover and cook for 10 minutes on medium-high heat until rice is steaming, lower heat and steam the rice for another 50 minutes.

Serve rice on a platter. Gently remove the crusty bottom (tah-dig) and serve on a separate platter.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Recipe and photo by: Azita