Persian Rice Is The Most UNDERRATED Rice Ever

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We're making Barberry Saffron Rice ( Zereshk Polo ba morgh زرشک پلو با مرغ ) today which we're serving alongside some delicious Saffron Chicken (Khoresh-e Morgh مرغ مجلسی). I'm a HUGE fan of Persian food and this Persian Rice is one of the best rice recipes I've tried! The Barberry rice gives you a little hint of sourness that works perfect with the Persian Chicken.
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0:00 Intro
0:17 How to make Persian Rice
2:56 Making Saffron Rice
3:57 Preparing Barberries
6:47 Serving Zereshk Polo
7:16 Persian Chicken recipe
9:47 Taste Test & Outro
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Makes 4 Servings

Steamed Rice:
2 Cups (400g) Persian Rice (Hashemi, Sella, Domsiah) or Long Grain Basmati rice
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 Tsp Salt

Saffron Rice:
1-2 Cup Steamed rice
20 Threads of Saffron (0.2g)

Barberry Rice:
1 Cup Saffron Rice
1/2 Cup Dried Barberries
2 Tbsp Water or Saffron Water
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Sugar

Sliced pistachio for garnish

Persian Chicken - Khoresh Morgh:

1 Medium Onion
1 clove garlic (optional, very few recipes use it but it rounds the sauce)
30-40 Threads of Saffron (0.3g)
1Kg Chicken Legs
50g (4 Tbsp) Tomato Paste
3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 - 2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Black Pepper
1 Tsp Turmeric
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Directions:

Steamed Persian Rice:
1- Wash your rice thoroughly with room temp water, draining and replacing the rice until the water runs clear, this takes about 3 washes
2- Soak the rice for about 10 minutes in clean room temp water
3- Meanwhile fill a large pot with loads of water (2-3L) and bring to a boil. Add 2 Tsp of salt when boiling
4- Drain the soaked rice and add it to the pot. Allow to boil for about 4-6 minutes
5- Check the rice every minute, when it is 70% of the way cooked, with a little crunchy core but soft outsides it is ready
6- Remove the rice, and run it under cold water to completely cool it down
7- Place the oil inside your pot and place your now cooled rice on top
8- Turn the heat up to medium, and cover the pot with a lid
9- Once it heats up and builds steam, turn the heat to low. Wrap the lid in a clean kitchen towel and place it on the pot
10- Steam for 15-40 minutes until the rice is perfectly fluffy

Saffron Rice:
1- Place the saffron in a mortar and crush it with a little salt until it forms a powder
2- Pour over hot water and dissolve the saffron
3- Place the steamed rice in a bowl, and pour over enough saffron to achieve your desired colour
4- Mix well

Barberry Rice:
1- Thoroughly wash your barberries, then soak in clean water for 10 minutes
2- Melt butter in a pan over medium heat, drain and add the barberries
3- Add the sugar and water, then heat until the water evaporates and barberries are plump
4- Mix part of the barberries with part of the saffron rice

How to make Zereshk polo:
1- Layer the white steamed rice on a plate
2- Fork over some saffron rice
3- Place barberry rice on top
4- Garnish with sliced pistachio

How to make Persian Chicken:
1- Remove the skin from the chicken legs, and make saffron extract
2- (optional) Blanch the chicken in boiling water for 5-10 minutes
3- Heat oil in a pan and place the chicken in. Sear for 3-5 minutes per side until golden
4- Remove the chicken and add the onion diced to a medium dice. Saute for 5 minutes until softened
5- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add tomato, salt, pepper, turmeric
6- Cook off the spices for a minute then add 1/2 cup of water
7- Make saffron extract, then place the chicken back in the pan, and add water until most of the way up the chicken
8- Simmer over medium-low heat for 30-40 minutes flipping halfway through
9- During last 10 minutes, baste the chicken with the sauce regularly. If the sauce is too watery, remove the chicken and reduce it

[jimmerd]

did you make those search results during the ad? they're pretty funny!

[fatemehnoferesti]

as an Iranian person, to cook the rice, after washing the rice with warm water, we soak in with hot water and add salt as much as it tastes salty.after 3-4 hours( if the rice loses the water add more) we boil it as you said, then,we do not put in the cold water!! we drain it in a basket and pure the cold water on that. then we cook it first with high flame for about 5-7 minutes and then for 40 minutes with very low flame.

[thismissivemisfit]

My late paternal grandma used to tell me that kids who eat the crispy, burnt rice from the bottom of the pot will grow up to be very smart. I totally believed her back then as a naive child and learned to love eating it as I grew older.

However, the 'becoming smart' part was just a lie adults tell children so that no food is wasted 😂😅

[g.s.]

The tip for fluffy rice is :
1. Not overcook the rice during the first stage (and if you think you did so, immediately add a cup of super cold water to it)

2. Add one tablespoon of lemon juice to the rice while it cooks (so first stage)

3. Thank you so much for the video. It truly makes me happy to see such good recreations of Persian recipes.

[judithbraun]

a little trick for beginners: put baking parchment paper in the bottom of the pan. You can get your perfekt crust without the Rice sticking to the pan.

[__lawrell]

I'm not Iranian, but it's pretty important to mix the very bottom layer of rice with some saffron water to get a beautiful tahdig. It's also common to use flatbread like lavash for the tahdig. I like to give the tahdig a bit of a head start by letting just the bottom layer fry for a few minutes on medium before adding the rest of the rice and reducing the heat to low to steam.

[sheikhaal-romaihi]

My Persian friend uses rose water to cook the berries. Very very very delicious

[samuelcohen]

I had the pleasure of living with a Persian (their preferred way to reference their heritage) for an extended time and enjoyed this dish often. Some of the crispy rice on the bottom of the pot *which is called "tadig" was always given to me because I was a guest. The rest was given to the youngest members of the family. There is no dish like it anywhere else in my experience (which is, luckily for me, extensive), especially with saffron and barberries.

[singingturmeric]

Yes, Persian and Afgan rices are the best specially when they both top it with what is called Tah Degi, which means a bit crispy rice that forms at the bottom of the pot makes it even more delicious. Both Afghans and Iranians love this.

I will make some in my next video

[mrstabil]

Not persian but iraqi and we do the same type of rice. I've had many tries replicating the fluffy rice my mom makes. The key is soaking longer (at the very least 30 minutes) and then letting it steam for longer (even though I've never had the patience to wait for longer than 30 minutes). Btw basmati is completely fine, it's all we and every persian family I know have ever been using.

Great video btw, always looking forward to your next recipes.

[panajotov]

I absolutely love how everyone is respectful in the comments. I usually stay away from rice videos' comments, they can be quite toxic. Amazing job, thank you for the video!

[tamarlidar]

Not persian, but here's how I do it:
I wash the rice like you did, then soak it - for for much longer than 20 minutes. I'd say at least 45 minutes to an hour. Then, I boil it for a very short time, maybe three minutes. Once the grains start rising up, I take the rice out. I then put it up back in the pot just like you did, but I wrap the towel over the lid from the very beginning, and start with a medium heat for about ten minutes, then turn it down to minimum for about 40 minutes. I avoid opening the lid anywhere in between, as I don't want any of the steam to escape. This ensures that the grains are fluffy and separated from one another, but also keep their form.
Hope this helps. I've been following your channel for quite some time now, and tried many of your recipes, they are all wonderful!

[DrBrunoRecipes]

Looks amazing 👌🏻 Greetings from Scotland 😊 Have a great day everyone 🌻

[NicePersonNumberSeven]

I made this. You undersold the chicken. It is really nice. Your instructions are superb, as always.

[ElJosher]

It is always cool to see how different cultures cook rice. I’m puertorican and our method is different from both east and central asian methods of cooking rice. We don’t (at least I and other people I know) clean rice here. Since we use oil or fat when cooking it, it doesn’t get extremely clumpy. It does maintain a slight stickiness that allows it to stay put on the fork.

[m.r.jarrell]

If you have a garden or plants, use the rice water to water them. It has loads of nutrients that the plants need!

[Dinckelburg]

My favourite rice for this dish is either Sofra sella or Anjoman. The grains are incredibly long and delicate

[jordynchristophides]

Great job with this one! I've always had trouble making Persian rice, so this helped a lot! And the production quality keeps getting better and better. Thank you Obi!!

[ninah]

This is legitimately my new favourite YouTube channel.

[shaghayeghdeliran]

Wow! I love this dish. You've done a great job. Making the Persian rice perfect is not easy! After many years of trying still can't make it as fluffy as my moms. She soaks it very long (a few hours at least) and never leaves the pan while boiling it.