Baghali Polo

An update to my previous post on one of my favorite dishes, Persian green rice (baghali polo). My friend read the post and shared her recipe with me. She also clarified that baghali polo is the rice dish with dill and fava beans and sabzi polo is a rice dish that is prepared with a variety of herbs (including parsley, cilantro, dill, green onion stems or chives, and mint among many others) and is usually served with fish.

Here's the baghali polo recipe she sent:

First, prepare the rice.
• Soak rice in salted water for a few hours prior to cooking [check the rice package to determine amount you need; she uses brown basmati rice]
• Boil salted water in pot you are going to cook your rice [the amount of water doesn't need to be an exact amount since the rice won't be soaking up all of the water as is typical when you cook rice]
• Once water boils, drain previously soaking rice and add rice to boiling water
• Check in about 5 minutes, the consistency of the rice should be soft on the outside, but hard in the core/middle - I guess you could call it "Persian" al dente for rice. If rice kernel is soft, you have gone to far and rice will turn out mushy
• Drain rice and pour water from tap on top of rice and drain again
• In your pot, add 1 to 2 tablespoon of oil (canola, olive, enova, butter, etc...choose your fat). Also, add enough water to have it cover the bottom of the pot about 1/4". You can also use a saffron and water mixture instead of plain water (saffron-infused water prepared by grinding up saffron threads in hot water and left to infuse). Depending on how much saffron you add to the water, the saffron/water mixture can be burgundy to yellow in color. I prefer it on the burgundy side, which means more saffron. The combination used on the bottom of the rice pot can vary greatly. Optional: You can add potatoes in the bottom, or bread, onions, so you get that in the bottom in addition to the rice. [I prefer just rice and fava beans.]
• Add drained rice

To make the baghali polo, alternate dried dill [because it is stronger in flavor than fresh dill] and [cooked] fava beans [or lima beans] in between layers of rice. Then cook on medium heat for about 12 minutes and then on low for 45 minutes and then you should have tadeek (the crunchy rice on the bottom) and cooked rice.

When serving make sure you mix up the dill and fava beans and enjoy....

Reading the recipe makes it sound a little on the labor-intensive side for me, but it's very much worth the effort. It can be a main dish or side dish.

Saturday in New York/Wilmington

Saturday morning in New York, we got up early and headed to Tom Colicchio's casual restaurant, craftbar, on Broadway in the Flatiron District (NoHo). The vegetarian selection was small, but thoughtful and I settled on the Brioche Pain Perdu with Vermont Maple Syrup (aka French Toast). Along with maple syrup was a dish of fresh lemon preserves which I happily spread on my toast with just a tiny bit of the syrup. It was delicious.

After brunch, we wandered our way over (way over) to the other side of Manhattan to browse the selection of chocolates at Jacques Torres on Hudson Street. I chose a custom box of chocolates from a large selection that included a key lime granache-filled white chocolate "Lovebug" and a passion fruit granache-filled dark chocolate heart. I also picked up a small bag of dark chocolate covered almonds dusted in cocoa powder for a special someone. It was hard to leave without buying out the store.

We were fairly tired from our trek across the island to the chocolate store, so we took a cab back to Washington Square Park, home of NY Dosas, another recommendation from my friend, Celine. I got lucky to be there on a Saturday when there was not a huge line. Yes, it's a food cart, but each dosa (a southern Indian crepe made of lentils and filled with various things such as potatoes, onions and peas, popularly known as a masala dosa) is prepared to order and takes about five minutes to cook. I ordered the Pondicherry Dosa, filled with the usual curried potatoes as well as some other vegetables (carrots, peppers and a few others). It came with a side of chutney and lentil soup. At just $5, it's a real bargain in comparison to many restaurants in the area, and just as tasty, though you'll have an audience of a cast of interesting characters and animals if you opt to stay in the park to eat.

Not long after lunch at the dosa cart, it was time to head back to Wilmington, Delaware for the evening, where my friend and her husband live. She's of Persian descent and knew that green rice was one of my favorite dishes, so she surprised me with a dinner that included Sabzi or Baghali Polo that evening. The recipe I linked to includes several other herbs, but as far as I know, she only uses fresh dill. A couple of other tweaks: use basmati rice for the base (I've used wild basmati instead of white and it's just as good and healthier), olive oil instead of vegetable oil, and in a pinch, lima beans can be substituted for fava beans. It's an excellent dish and very hearty, though she did prepare some chicken for the carnivores as well as a salad and roasted broccoli. I'd never had roasted broccoli before, but was convinced to try it when I told her that I eat broccoli, but don't like it and she assured me I would like it this way. Try this simple recipe if you have a hard time swallowing broccoli, too because it really does alter the flavor in a positive way. She roasted it long enough to have a few crunchy spots on it, which was a nice touch, texture-wise.

So now, it's back to Nashville and my regular food for a while. Though I did treat myself with a trip to McNeil's to get fresh tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, a seedless watermelon, and "Peaches and Cream" bi-color corn on the cob. It'll be a yummy week.