Zireh Polo or Cumin Rice is one of the most nutritious and delicious traditional dishes of the Kerman province. It is prepared with black cumin or a mixture of black and green cumin. Since cumin is one of Kerman's most famous spices and souvenirs, the people of this region use this unique spice in most of their dishes.
Kerman is located in the southeast of Iran and is famous for its long history and strong cultural heritage. The city is home to many historic mosques and Zoroastrian fire temples.
You can prepare Zireh Polo with chicken, meat, or minced/ground meat. However, Cumin Rice in its traditional form is a simple dish that is cooked without meat and completely vegetarian. In this recipe, I show you how Maman’s version with chicken is made.
If you like the taste and the aroma of cumin then you’ll definitely enjoy this dish.
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Time
Prep: 5 min
Cook: 1 h 30 min
Total: 1 h 35 min
Ingredients (for 4 portions)
400g / 2 cups basmati rice
2 chicken breasts
115g / 3/4 cup brown raisins (Keshmesh Poloei) or sultanas
2 onions
5 tbsp melted ghee or butter
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp slivered pistachios
2 tbsp cumin seeds (I used green cumin seeds)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp saffron
3 ice cubes to bloom the saffron
2 tbsp salt + extra to taste
Method of cooking Zireh Polo
Bloom the saffron
Transfer the ice cubes to a glass and sprinkle the ground saffron over them. Set it aside to bloom. Alternatively, combine the saffron with a few tbsp of freshly boiled water and let it sit in a warm place.
Preparation
Skin off and wash the onions. Cut the onions in half. Roughly chop one of the onion halves. We will use this to cook the chicken. Finely slice the 3 remaining onion halves. Keep them aside.
If the chicken breasts are big, cut them in half so that they cook faster. Wash the knife and chopping board that you used for chicken to avoid cross-contamination.
Cook the chicken
Gently fry the roughly chopped half onion in 1 tbsp butter over low to medium heat for 5 min. Add the tomato paste and black pepper. Let these four ingredients get to know each other. Add the chicken breasts. Add 1 1/2 cups freshly boiled water. Add salt, close the lid and let it simmer for about 45 minutes.
Parboil the rice
Meanwhile, bring a large enough pot of water to boil and dissolve 2 tbsp salt in it. Don’t worry, you will rinse most of the salt off later.
Wash the rice in a bowl by adding cool water to it, moving it around with your hand, draining the water, and repeating this process 3 to 4 times to remove the rice starch as much as possible. This results in fluffier, less sticky rice.
Add the rice to the pot and keep the water boiling. Let the rice parboil until the rice corns are soft on the outside but still have a bite in the center.
How long this process takes depends on your rice. I’m using Tilda Pure Basmati Rice and it takes 4 minutes for the rice to cook to this stage. It might take anything from 3 to 7 minutes.
Once your rice is parboiled, drain it in a strainer and immediately rinse it with cold water to interrupt the cooking process and wash off any excess salt.
Layer and steam the rice with cumin
Place a non-stick pot over medium heat. Cover the bottom with 4 tbsp of vegetable oil.
Now, add one layer of rice to the pot, then sprinkle some cumin seeds over the rice. Continue layering this way, until all the rice and cumin seeds are used up. Finish with sprinkling cumin seeds on top.
Poke a few holes halfway through the rice with the back of a wooden spoon. This helps the moisture evaporate and allows the rice to cook evenly. Once you see steam rising from the rice, cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel, press it firmly on the pan and reduce the heat to low.
Let the rice steam for 45 to 50 min over low heat.
Prep the other ingredients for the topping
Gently fry the sliced onions in 3 tbsp of vegetable oil for about 20 minutes until golden. Remove and set them aside.
Once the chicken breasts are cooked, remove them from the pot. You can remove the onions and use the sauce to serve with your Zire Polo.
Pull the chicken breasts apart like pulled pork. You can shred the chicken the old-fashioned way with two forks while still hot. Or shred the chicken with your fingers as soon as the chicken is cool enough to handle safely.
Heat 4 tbsp of butter in a pan. Fry the pulled chicken for about 5 minutes.
Add the golden sliced onions.
Wash the raisins and add them to the pan followed by slivered pistachios.
Add a few teaspoons of saffron water to it and combine everything well using two spatulas. Let them fry together for a few minutes more. Salt the mixture to your taste.
Combine the ingredients
After 45 to 50 min the rice is steamed and ready. Remove the lid and replace it with an upside-down plate. Carefully flip the pot over. If the tahdig doesn’t come out of the pot easily, you can submerge it in a sink filled with a little cool water. This usually does the trick.
Transfer the tahdig onto a separate plate. Remove about a quarter of the rice and combine it with the saffron water, until it’s turned evenly yellow.
Arrange the Cumin Rice with the saffron rice, pulled chicken, onions, and raisins. Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed this recipe! If you have any questions please let me know in the comments, I’m always happy to help.
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