jewelled rice

Morasa Polo - Persian Jewelled Rice

basmati rice (525 grams)

barberries (40 grams)

raisins (50 grams)

dried bitter orange peel (25 grams)

pistachios

tbsp slivered almonds

vegetable oil

tbsp sugar

saffron

tbsp salt + extra to taste

Cover the dried orange peel in water. Before you go to bed, drain the water and cover it with fresh water to let it soak over night. The next morning drain the water and cover them with fresh water once more to let it soak until you start preparing Morasa Polo.

The evening before:

If you want to serve your Morasa Polo with Saffron Chicken, start with the chicken first. While it is simmering and doing its magic in the pan, you can prepare the rice.

On the day:

Prepare the saffron by combining it with a few tbsp freshly boiled water in a glass. Set it aside in a warm place until the rice is ready to serve.

Bring a large pan of water to boil and dissolve 1 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.

Add the rice to the pan and keep the water boiling. Let it pre-cook until the rice corns are soft on the outside but still have bite in the centre. 

How long this process takes depends on your rice. I’m using Tilda basmati rice and it only takes 3 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.

Put a coated pan over medium heat. Cover the bottom with 3 tbsp vegetable oil. Add 1 tbsp of water to it. You can also add a little saffron water to it, if you want the tadig (crispy part) to be yellow. Give the pan a quick shake. Then add the rice to it in a heap or pyramid shape.

Poke a few holes through the rice to the bottom of the pan using the back of a wooden spoon. This, along with the heap/pyramid shape, will help the water, that’s still in the rice, evaporate.

Once you see steam rising from the pan, line the lid with a clean kitchen towel and reduce the temperature to low. Let the rice steam for about 1 hour over low heat.

Prep the rice

Try the bitter orange peel that you have left to soak in water. If it still tastes very bitter, you can boil it in water for a few minutes and try them again. You can repeat the process a couple of times, if necessary. Once they taste slightly bitter and orangey, they’re ready.

Heat a small pan with the sugar and 2 tbsp water in it. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the bitter orange peel to it and let it caramelise for up to 10 minutes.

Caramelise the dried orange peel

Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee in a small frying pan. Briefly fry the raisins in it, for only about 10 seconds until they bloat. Set them aside for later.

Prepare the raisins

Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee in the same small frying pan. Briefly fry the fry the barberries in it, for only about 10 seconds. You don’t need to add any sugar as you would for Zereshk Polo. In this case the barberries give the dish a nice sour taste, that balances out the sweetness of the raisins and caramelised orange peel.

Prepare the dried barberries

After 1 hour of letting the rice steam, you can touch the outside of the pan with a wet kitchen towel. If it makes a sound like ‘tshhh’ your rice is done.

If the tadig doesn’t come out of the pan easily, you can submerge the bottom of the pan in a sink filled with cold water. 

Transfer a small part of the rice into a bowl and combine it with the saffron water until it is evenly distributed and the rice has a bright yellow colour. Arrange the yellow saffron rice on top of the white rice. You can serve the tadig (crispy bits) separately. 

Decorate the rice with the bitter orange peel, raisins, barberries, slivered almonds and pistachios.

Serve your Morasa Polo with delicious Khoresh-e Morgh. Enjoy!

Combine all the ingredients

Recipe video above. This gorgeous, vibrant Persian saffron rice is perfumed with spices and studded with dried nuts and fruit. Featured in post with fish koftas. See in post for a list of suggestions for other things to serve this with!

Jewelled rice pilaf

water

tbsp (30 grams) ghee or butter ((Note 2))

fennel seeds

tsp cumin seeds

onion (, finely diced)

garlic (, minced)

cinnamon

tsp all spice

cardamom powder

basmati rice ((Note 3))

vegetable stock (, low sodium (or chicken))

tsp cooking/kosher salt

bay leaves ((preferably fresh, else dried))

lemon

cranberries

apricots

golden raisins

pistachios (, toasted (Note 5))

almonds (, toasted (Note 5))

tbsp (30 grams) ghee

pomegranate (, seeds only (Note 6))

tbsp roughly chopped toasted pistachios ((Note 5))

Soak saffron - Grind saffron into a powder using a mortar and pestle (Note 1). Mix in boiling water then set aside while the rice is cooking.

Sauté - Melt ghee or butter in large saucepan over medium high heat. Add fennel and cumin, then stir for 30 seconds. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes. Add cinnamon, cardamom and all spice, then stir for 30 seconds. Add rice and stir for 1 minute to coat in the beautiful flavour.

Cook rice - Add the stock, bay leaves, lemon, salt, fruit and nuts. Stir, bring to a simmer, then put lid on. Reduce stove to low (should still be simmering gently around edges), and cook for 14 minutes. Do not peek or stir!

Rest - Quickly check to ensure liquid is absorbed. Remove from the stove (lid still on) and leave for 10 minutes.

Yellow! Pour over half the saffron water then very gently fluff the rice using a rubber spatula (so you don&#39;t break the long rice strands). Once mostly mixed through, add remaining saffron water and ghee. Gently toss until the rice is all yellow.

Serve - Tumble onto serving platter. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, coriander, pistachios and serve with fish koftas.

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Morasa Polo - Persian Jewelled Rice

Jewelled rice pilaf

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