I was served this exciting dish by Iranian friends who live near me in London. As the golden crust was broken, the rice, stained patchily with red cherry juice, tumbled out with little meatballs and cooked cherries. Fresh sour cherries are used in Iran in their short season. They are pitted or not, and cooked with sugar until they are jammy. I use dried pitted sour cherries without sugar, with delicious results.
Recipe information
Yield
servse 6
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Wash the rice in warm water and rinse in a small-holed colander or large strainer under the cold-water tap.
Step 2
Soak the sour cherries in water to cover for 15 minutes. (If they are of a moist variety they don’t need soaking.)
Step 3
Put the ground meat and grated onion in a bowl and add salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Mix well and knead to a soft paste. Roll into balls the size of large cherries. Fry them briefly in 2 tablespoons of the butter or oil over medium heat in a large skillet for about 10 minutes, turning them or shaking the pan, to brown them all over.
Step 4
Toss the drained rice into a large (9–10-inch), heavy-bottomed, and preferably nonstick pan of boiling salted water and boil for about 10 minutes, until partly cooked and still a little firm. Then drain quickly.
Step 5
Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter or oil in the bottom of the pan and mix with a ladle of the rice. Spread alternate layers of rice and meatballs, then drained cherries, beginning and ending with rice. (You should have 3 layers of rice.) Pour the remaining butter or oil all over. Steam, with the lid on, over very low heat for about 20–30 minutes, until the rice is tender.
Step 6
For serving, see box on page 351. Garnish with the slivered or chopped almonds and pistachios and a dribble of sour-cherry syrup or jam.
Variations
Step 7
Use 1 pound of fresh sour cherries, pitted or not.
Step 8
Mix 1/4 teaspoon good-quality saffron powder or crushed threads with 1 tablespoon hot water and stir into the butter or oil.
