RFCJ RECIPE ARCHIVE
Posted by : Lita Lotzkar Persian Chicken Polo - meat
500 g Rice, basmati Onion (to taste) 5 tb margarine or oil 1 lg Chicken, roasting, jointed Salt & black pepper 1 tb Raisins or more 150 g Apricots, dried 1 ts Cinnamon, ground Fry the onion in 3 tb of margarine or oil until golden, add the chicken pieces and brown on all sides. Season to taste with salt and pepper, add raisins and appricots, and continue to cook for a minute or two longer, turning the fruit in the fat. Sprinkle with cinnamon, cover with water and simmer gently, covered, until the chicken is very tender and the sauce reduced. Bone the chicken if you like. Wash and boil the rice according to the recipe for chilau but do not steam it. Put 2 tb melted margarine or oil at the bottom of a large heavy saucepan. Spread half of the partly cooked rice over this, cover with the chickem pieces, pour the rich fruity sauce over them and cover with the remaining rice. Cover the pan with a cloth, put the lid on tightly, and steam over a very low heat for 20 to 30 minutes. The cloth will capture the steam rising from the rice and help to make it fluffy. Serve all mixed together. Archivist's note: The Persians developed a two-step process for cooking rice to produce fluffy, separate grains along with a crisp crust on the bottom of the pan. This technique is called "chelou." The name gets changed to "polo" when meat, chicken, vegetables, or fruit gets added to the rice recipe. Chicken polo is given a sweet treatment and is particularly associated with Rosh Hashanah in Persia.
