Adas Polo Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup lentils
- 200 grams ground beef
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 pinches good quality saffron threads
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup Medjool dates pitted (optional)
- For the rice
- 2 cups basmati rice washed and drained
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- Vegetable oil
Instructions
Step1
Rinse lentils with cold water before boiling to remove any dust or debris. You can soak the lentils for one to two hours to speed up the cooking process.
Step 2
Wash the raisins and barberries and pat dry on kitchen paper.
Step 3
Cook on a stovetop, using 3 cups of water to 1 cup of lentils. Be sure to use a large enough saucepan as the lentils will double or triple in size. Bring to a boil, cover tightly, reduce heat and simmer until they are tender. For whole lentils, cook time is typically 15-20 minutes. Then set aside.
Step 4
In a large pan, heat the vegetable oil. Fry the onion until it’s golden. Add the ground beef and cook until it’s light brown. Add the salt, cinnamon, turmeric, and bloomed saffron. Stir until ground beef is cooked completely. Reduce the heat and add the raisins and dates and stir. Set aside.
Step 5
Pour 6 cups of water into a large nonstick pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Add rice into a pan filled with boiling water. After 6 to 8 minutes when it begins to rise to the top and the water comes back to a boil. Check the rice is cooked at the end by trying a grain. Break one grain in half. Rice should be soft on the outside but hard in the middle. Pour rice into the colander to drain; then set aside.
Step 6
Scoop one-third of the rice into the pot. Layer with one-third of the cooked lentils. Repeat until you're out of rice and lentils and shape it into a pyramid. Add 3 tablespoons of the bloomed saffron. Cover the pot and cook until rice begins to steam for 30 - 40 minutes.
Step 7
Transfer the rice to a serving dish. Serve with cooked ground beef mixture.
Reference: Adas Polo Recipe