Lubia Polo Recipe (Persian Green Bean Rice)

Step 1

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan or a pot. Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Step 2

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion until golden brown, add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Add in the turmeric, cayenne pepper, curry, cinnamon and salt to the ground beef and cook for a 5 minutes.

Step 3

Add in the tomato paste and water. Mix well until everything is combined. Stir in the green beans and bring it to a low simmer. Cover and cook until the green beans are fully cooked, about 20 minutes. Add in more water if needed, the mixture shouldn't be dry. Taste to make sure the flavors are to your liking. Turn the heat off and put the mixture aside.

Step 4

To make the rice, bring a pot of water with the salt to a rolling boil. Wash the Basmati rice two to three times to discard excess starch.

Step 5

When the water starts boiling, add the rice and boil for about 6 minutes until the rice is par cooked or al dente. The rice is ready when you're able to break a rice grain into two pieces using your thumb and index finger, but the rice still has to be hard in the middle. The outer layer is soft but the grain is still hard in the middle. (See more notes about this on How to make Persian rice and tahdig. )

Step 6

Turn the heat off and place a colander in the sink. Lift the pot and pour the rice into the colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.

Step 7

Place the pot back on the burner and turn the heat to medium high. Once the bottom of the pot is dry, pour 3 tbsp vegetable oil into the pot and arrange the potato slices so they cover the bottom of the pot.

Step 8

Scoop one third of the rice into the pot over the potatoes. Layer with some bloomed saffron and one third of the green bean mixture. Repeat until you're out of rice and filling, make sure the rice is shaped like a mountain, meaning you have more rice in the middle than around the edges. Poke holes in the rice using the end of a wooden spoon or spatula.

Step 9

Pour 1/3 cup water around the edges, wrap the lid in a clean kitchen towel and place it on the pot (This is for the towel to absorb the steam, resulting in a fluffy rice). Turn the heat to medium high (but not too high) and cook the rice for about 15 minutes. Lift the lid to see the steam escape and then pour 3 tbsp vegetable oil on the rice.

Step 10

Cover again and cook for another 30 minutes until the rice is fully cooked and the flavors are fully combined. Fluff the rice a bit to have the filling and rice mix completely.

Step 11

Serve with Salad Shirazi and plain yogurt sprinkled with dried mint.