Persian Orange Rice With Almonds Recipes

ORANGE PERSIAN RICE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a small dutch oven, or medium sized sauce pan, over medium heat.
• Add rice, stirring constantly until rice is lightly browned.
• Add salt, raisins, red pepper flakes, grated ginger-root, chicken broth, and orange juice.
• Bring to boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Add fresh parsley (optional), grated orange zest, and toasted almonds.

PERSIAN ORANGE RICE WITH ALMONDS

Steps:

• Peel and chop oranges. Remove as much of white as possible from inside of rind by scraping gently with a sharp knife. Sliver rind as thinly as possible. Blanch rind and set aside. In a blender puree oranges, garlic, ginger, saffron, chiles, curry powder, cinnamon, dill, orange juice, sugar, and anise. In a large, heavy skillet or casserole with a tight-fitting lid, melt butter. Gently saute orange rind for 1 minute. Adjust heat to keep butter from burning. Pour in contents of blender and broth and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add rice and stir. Smooth top of rice and cook until done. Stir gently to fluff; add almonds, pistachios, and parsley, and fluff again. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pile into a serving dish and serve hot.

SHIRINI POLOW

Steps:

• Wash the rice in warm water and rinse in a colander under the cold tap.
• Sauté the chicken in 3 tablespoons of the butter or oil with salt and pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of the saffron for about 15 minutes, until the chicken is tender but still pink and juicy, turning the pieces to color them lightly all over. Then cut into small pieces.
• Sauté the carrots in the same butter or oil for 10 minutes, or until tender, stirring and adding salt and a few tablespoons water.
• Boil the rice in a large (9-10-inch) heavy-bottomed preferably nonstick pan for about 10 minutes, until still a little underdone, and drain quickly. Add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon saffron to 2 tablespoons of the butter or oil and mix into the rice in the colander. Pour the 2 remaining tablespoons butter or oil in the bottom of the pan and sprinkle alternate layers of rice and chicken with carrot, candied peel, and nuts in the pan, starting and ending with a layer of rice. (You should have 3 layers of rice.)
• Stretch a clean cloth over the top of the pan, put the lid on, and steam over very low heat for 20-30 minutes. The cloth will absorb the steam and help the rice to retain its fluffiness.
• For serving, see box on page 351.
• To make candied peel, use the peel of 3 oranges with as much of the white pith removed as possible. Slice peel into thin strips and make a note of the weight. Simmer without sugar in about 1/2 cup water until soft. Then add sugar equal to the measured weight, and cook until the water is reduced and the strips of peel are sweet. The peel of bitter oranges is particularly good to use for this dish.

PELOW SHIRIN - FESTIVE PERSIAN RICE DISH

Steps:

• For candied orange peel:.
• Coarsely grate orange peels and put in a small saucepan.
• Cover with 1 liter water and bring to a boil, then drain and repeat this process (to reduce the bitterness).
• Cover peels with the sugar and add 1 L water.
• Bring to a boil and then simmer, stirring.
• After 15 minutes, taste it. It should be very sweet syrup. If it's not, add sugar. If it's too thick, add some water.
• Simmer until rind looks translucent around the edges and is swimming in sugary syrup.
• For roasted chicken:.
• Put whole chicken into an oven roasting dish and drown in the orange concentrate and pats of margarine.
• Cover and roast in 375°F oven until cooked (approx 1 1/2 hours).
• When it is done, let it cool slightly in the covered pot until you can safely peel off the skin and cut into bit-sized pieces.
• Drown the pieces in the chicken's sauce until it is time to serve.
• For carrot mixture:.
• Heat 50g margarine and oil in frying pan and sauté the carrots for 5 minutes.
• Add the cinnamon, then add any of the optional dried fruits or nuts and cover and simmer a few minutes longer, until everything has softened.
• Add the candied orange peel with its syrup.
• For rice:.
• Rinse rice until no longer starchy (water should be clear, not milky).
• Boil rice with 4 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt, then simmer for 7 minutes. Do not remove the lid, rather leave the rice to cook in the steam for 1/2 hour.
• Putting it all together:.
• Drain carrot-orange mixture, keeping syrup to be drizzled on according to taste.
• Add the carrots and chicken pieces to the rice and serve.