Baghali Polo ba Mahiche
A Persian rice dish genuinely distinct from the site's existing Zereshk Polo and Tahchin: zereshk polo is barberry-studded rice with a sweet-tart profile served with chicken, and tahchin is a baked, molded saffron-rice-and-yogurt cake with a crisp all-around crust, an entirely different format, while baghali polo is herb- and legume-forward, built on fresh dill and fava beans with no barberries and no baked-cake structure, traditionally paired with braised lamb shanks, mahiche. Real technique parboils the rice and layers it with dill and fava beans, steaming it over a butter base to form tahdig, the same core technique family as other Persian polo dishes but with a completely different flavor identity.
⚠ Contains: Dairy. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 3 cups basmati rice, soaked
- 2 cups fava beans, peeled
- 1 cup fresh dill, chopped
- 4 tbsp butter or oil
- 2 lamb shanks
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 tsp saffron, bloomed
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 cinnamon stick
Steps
- Braise the lamb shanks with onion, tomato, saffron, turmeric, and cinnamon in water until fall-apart tender, about 2 hours.
- Parboil the rice until just past al dente, then drain.
- Layer the rice with the fava beans and dill in a pot with butter on the bottom.
- Cover and steam over low heat until a golden crust, tahdig, forms on the bottom and the rice is fully cooked, about 45 minutes.
- Serve the rice with the braised lamb shanks on top or alongside.