SHEREEN (SWEET) POLO - ALMOND, CARROT,
ORANGE PILAU:
INGREDIENTS: |
Sugar Syrup:
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ whole saffron
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tbls corn oil
- 3 cups julienned carrots
- ½ cup dried orange peel
slivers
(see Albaloo Polo, Note)
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup blanched almond
slivers
- 2 tbsp rosewater, or to
taste
- 3 tbsp shelled pistachios
Rice with Tadiq:
- 2 cups raw rice,
well rinsed
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 cups hot water
- 5 tbsp corn oil
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
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DIRECTIONS: |
1. Grind the ½ tsp sugar and whole
saffron together, using mortar and pestle, until they are quite
fine. Add the cardamom and grind everything together smoothly.
Set aside.
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2. Heat the oil in a pan, add the
carrots, and stir-fry over low heat for about 5 minutes,
stirring frequently to brown them slightly. Set aside in the
pan.
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3. Cover the orange peel with boiling
water for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
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4. Put the 1 cup of sugar and the ½
cup water in a pan and simmer over moderate heat for 2 minutes
to dissolve the sugar. Add the almonds, cooked carrots and
orange peel and continue cooking for 2 minutes more.
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5. Remove the
mélange from the heat
and stir in the rosewater, pistachios and the saffron mix. Set
aside.
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6. To prepare the rice, cover it with
cold water and salt; let soak for ½ hour. Pour off nearly all
the lightly salted water, leaving about ½ cup. Bring the 4 cups
water to a boil over moderate heat, and add the rice and
remaining liquid. Cook for 8 minutes, drain, and rinse under
cold water. Set aside briefly.
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7. Put 3 tbsp oil in a large enough
pan with the turmeric. Shake the pan briskly to mix. Pour in the
rice to cover the oil and shape the top into a pyramid. Cover
the pan and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
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8. Uncover and sprinkle remaining 2
tbsp oil and 2 tbsp water over the rice. Cover the pan with a
cloth kitchen towel and the pan cover. Cook over very low heat
for ½ hour to allow the rice crisp (tadiq) to form. Some cooks
let the tadiq form by cooking for 1 hour but the lesser time
seems to work.
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Serve the rice on a platter,
decorated around the top with pieces of tadiq, which must be scooped
out from the pan bottom. The warm sugar syrup melange is served
separately. Each diner spreads as much of the melange as he wants
over the rice. |
Serve warm with the chicken stew
(Albaloo
Polo - Cherry Pilau with Chicken). Serves 6 with other
dishes.
Source: Sephardic
Cooking by Copeland Marks |
|
Serves 6 - 8 |
BON APPETIT!
!בתיאבון |