This recipe was inspired by the Persian dish sabzi polo. You can use brown basmati rice instead of white basmati, just top with extra water and cook for 15-20 minutes more
Award-winning food writer Anna Jones is widely credited with introducing Britain to more modern vegetarian dishes.
See more of Anna Jones’s recipes
Anna Jones
Award-winning food writer Anna Jones is widely credited with introducing Britain to more modern vegetarian dishes.
See more of Anna Jones’s recipes
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Ingredients
200g basmati rice
200g shelled broad beans, fresh or frozen
50g cashew nuts, roughly chopped
50g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
25g sesame seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, peeled and finely sliced
½ tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
a few sprigs each of parsley, dill, mint and coriander
a pinch of saffron
50g barberries*, dried sour cherries or raisins
about 1 tsp flaked sea salt
juice of 1 lemon
natural or coconut yogurt to serve, optional
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Soak the rice in a bowl of warm water for 15 minutes. If using frozen broad beans, put them into a bowl, cover in boiling water and leave to sit for a few minutes, then drain and pop out of their skins.
Meanwhile, warm a large frying pan (one with a lid) over a medium heat and toast the nuts and seeds without oil. Toast, shaking the pan every so often, until they’re golden and fragrant. Tip into a bowl and put the pan back on the heat.
Add the oil to the pan, then the sliced shallots, turmeric and cinnamon. Fry for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the shallots have completely softened and the spices have released their aromatic oils.
Pick the leaves from the stems of the herbs and chop the stems finely, then add these to the pan of shallots and cook for a couple of minutes. Put the leaves in a bowl and leave to one side for later.
Drain the rice in a sieve and run under the tap until the water runs clear. Add the rice to the pan and toast, stirring for a couple of minutes until it crackles and pops. Keep the rice moving to distribute the heat evenly so it doesn’t burn.
Add the broad beans, saffron and dried fruit. Add a generous amount of salt – I use about a teaspoon. You’re not cooking the rice in stock which adds saltiness, so be brave with the salt as it will help the rice take on flavour from the spices.
Cover the rice with just enough boiling water to coat (about 400-500ml, depending on the size of your pan). Put the lid on, turn the heat to its highest setting and follow this method: high cook, low cook, no cook. Cook for 5 minutes on a high heat, then turn it down to the lowest heat and cook for 10 minutes, then turn the heat off and, without peeking, leave the lid on for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, roughly chop the herb leaves, then stir them through the rice with the lemon juice and toasted nuts and seeds. Serve immediately and include yogurt for spooning over if you like.
Tip
*Dried barberries are a tart little fruit frequently used in Persian cuisine. Buy online at souschef.co.uk, £3.75 for 75g.
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Roughly mash the blanched broad beans – you can do this with a food processor, chop them up with a knife or crush them in a pestle and mortar. Mix together with the small raw beans, the pecorino, lemon juice, oil and some of the mint, finely chopped.
Congri is traditionally made with red beans in some Latin American countries and black beans in Cuba. The difference between congri and your basic black beans and rice dish is that everything here is cooked together.
Persian steamed rice is usually made using white Basmati rice that is a long grain rice. The grains hold their shape better during the steaming process and don't stick together. This results in a fluffy steamed rice with long grains.
TIP: Make them faster by boiling (use the same beans/water ratio as above) for 5 minutes, then leave to soak for 1 hour. Drain and rinse the beans well. Discard the soaking water. Peel each bean so they slip out of the skins, by gently squeezing them.
Broad beans like their soil to be slightly acidic (pH 6.0 to 7.5). Prepare your soil a couple of weeks before planting seeds with plenty of organic matter and a good general fertiliser. Soak your seeds for at least 12 hours before planting, I add a pinch of Epsom Salts to the water to speed up germination.
Pick them before the 'scar' goes black (probably a bit late now). Failing that it helps to know that most of the bitterness is in the skins, so blanch or cook them depending on intended use, plunge into cold water, then skin. Use cold in salads, or return to the pan to finish off cooking if wanting them hot.
The idea behind soaking dried beans is that it makes the beans cook more quickly and evenly. It's also been posited that soaking beans breaks down some of their complex sugars, making them easier to digest.
The combination of beans and rice creates a complete protein. Beans alone and rice alone both lack certain essential amino acids. If eaten together, however, each contributes what the other is missing to form a complete protein.
These winning sides contain amino acids that blend together to make complete proteins. Most people do not get enough complete protein in their diets. When you eat plenty of rice and beans, you can easily get lean protein. Eating more protein can help you build muscle mass and maintain a healthy weight.
What is Sumac? Sumac is derived from the dried and ground berries of the wild sumac flower and is used in Persian cooking as a seasoning for a number of dishes including kababs, rice and salads. It is a tangy spice with a sour and acidic flavour reminiscent of lemon juice.
Basmati is a go-to for making a pilaf, biryani, plov, or the classic Persian dish called chelow. This variety also commonly serves as a base for curry. Jasmine rice is what shoppers usually look for when picking up ingredients for fried rice, com do (Vietnamese red rice) and hung kao mun gati (Thai coconut rice).
The kind of rice used is important. My Iranian friends only use Basmati rice (affiliate) for all their Persian rice dishes, and it's what is used in this recipe. Two steps to prepare the rice for this tahdig recipe: Wash the basmati rice very well under cold running water until the water runs clear.
Dried fava beans are also known as field beans, horse beans or even tic beans (a name for the very smallest varieties). In US English however the name fava refers to fresh broad beans, infamously washed down with Italian wine.
The beans (also known as fava beans, or fave or baccelli in Italian) are eaten raw, skins on, straight out of the pods. The slight bitterness of that outer layer of skin on the beans, a little more balanced in small, sweet, young specimens, is balanced by the sharp saltiness of the accompanying cheese and prosciutto.
Edamame beans are young soybeans which are usually eaten whilst still inside the pod. Unlike mature soybeans, edamame beans are soft and edible. Faba (fava) beans, or broad beans, are cream coloured, oval-shaped and usually flattened beans.
Before planting, soak your seeds in a glass of water overnight. The broad bean, much like regular beans and peas, has the ability to hold moisture that will aid its germination. A soaking will help increase its reserve as well as reveal any unviable seeds. Those that float to the surface should be discarded.
Broad beans are divided into three basic types - dwarf, long-pod and Windsor. Dwarf broad beans are typically considered best-suited to exposed sites, long-pod to early sowing and Windsor types thought best for flavour.
They ended up in garden salads, inside ravioli, mixed with ricotta and smashed broad beans on bruschetta and even as a bed under baked bream. When very small, pods can be eaten whole, either raw or lightly cooked. Any bigger and the beans must be shelled.
Take care to harden off your plants for a couple of weeks first, to acclimatise them to outdoor conditions, and prepare the ground as explained above. Space plants 15–23cm (6–9in) apart, either in single rows 45cm (18in) apart or in double rows 23cm (9in) apart.
Introduction: My name is Arline Emard IV, I am a cheerful, gorgeous, colorful, joyous, excited, super, inquisitive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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Prep time: 45 mins
