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Baghali Polo | Persian Rice with Dill and Broad Beans | igotitfrommymaman.com

Baghali Polo

Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Persian
Keyword Baghali Polo, broad beans, dill, Persian rice, Rice
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  • 400 g basmati rice 2 cups
  • 100 g frozen or fresh broad beans 1 cup
  • 1 bunch fresh dill or 20g (0.7oz) dried dill
  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1/4 tsp saffron
  • 1 tbsp salt + extra to taste
  • 2 ice cubes

Instructions

Prep the ingredients

  1. If you are using fresh dill wash it and spread it out on a clean kitchen towel to dry.

  2. Transfer the ice cubes in a glass and sprinkle the saffron over them. Set it aside to bloom. Alternatively combine the saffron with a few tbsp freshly boiled water and let it sit in a warm place.

  3. Wash the rice by transferring it to a bowl, adding water, moving it around with your hand, rinsing the water, and repeating these steps 3 to 4 times.

  4. Pre-cook the broad beans in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes. They should still have a bit of bite to them when you try them, so they don’t turn to mash in the rice later on. Shock them with cold water to interrupt the cooking process.

  5. If you are using fresh dill chop it now.

Parboil the rice

  1. Bring a large pan of water to boil and dissolve 1 tbsp of salt in it. Don’t worry, you will wash most of the salt off the rice later. Trust me, if you use any less your rice will taste bland.

  2. Add the rice to the pan and keep the water boiling. Let it parboil 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.

  3. Once your rice is parboiled, drain it in a colander and rinse it with cold water to interrupt the cooking process and wash off the excess salt.

  4. Layer the ingredients
  5. Cover the bottom of a coated pan with ghee or vegetable oil. Add 1 tbsp of water to it and give it a quick shake. Then add some of the broad beans and dill to it. Now add one layer of rice. You can taste the rice now and add a little more salt if necessary. Add another layer of beans and dill, then more rice and so on until all your ingredients are used up. Finish with a layer of broad beans and dill.

  6. If you like, you can combine a few more tbsp vegetable oil or ghee with 3 tbsp water and pour it over the rice.

  7. Poke a few holes through the rice to the bottom of the pan using the back of a wooden spoon. This way the moisture can evaporate more easily. Turn the temperature to medium to high. 

  8. Once you see steam rising from the pan, cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel and firmly close the pan with it. Reduce the temperature to low and let the rice steam over low heat for about 45 minutes. 

Arrange and serve your Baghali Polo

  1. After 45 min you can touch the outside of the pan with a wet kitchen towel. If it makes a sound like ‘tshhh’ your rice is done.

  2. You can submerge the bottom of the pan in a sink filled with cold water to make the rice and tadig come off easily. Just a fair warning, this might not be the best practice when using expensive coated pans. If you have a good quality pan, the rice shouldn’t stick and if you have a less valuable pan you might as well risk it – at least that’s what I’ve been doing and the coating is still intact.

  3. Transfer a small part of the rice into a bowl and combine it with the saffron water. Arrange the yellow saffron rice on top of the Baghali Polo. You can serve the tadig (crispy bits) separately. 

  4. Again, if you prefer the easier and more nutritious version of Baghali Polo Kateh style, take a look at my Nokhod Polo recipe and simply replace the peas with parboiled broad beans.

  5. Now you can serve your Baghali Polo with decilious Mahiche. Enjoy!