↑ Fresh, large sour cherries cooked with sugar will be plump in the rice. This time, the preserved sour cherries were smaller than usual, and in the photo look more like raisins. Nonetheless, they gave their cherry like fragrance, flavor and beautiful, deep maroon color to the rice (and they do not taste anything like raisins).
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It is sour cherry season. Lucky are those like Azita of Fig & Quince who can obtain fresh ones from DC and make Sour Cherry Syrup Drinks (sharbate albalu) or the blog, My Kitchen Witch, who has a tree in her backyard and just made Cherry Chutney. Persians/Iranians go crazy about sour cherries as they do for pomegranate. Albalu/sour cherry for summer and anar/pomegranate for winter. Here is a beloved Persian/Iranian sweet mixed rice, Albalu Polo/sour cherry rice which I made with sour cherry preserves. This rice dish by itself, is a vegetarian/vegan dish. It is however, commonly served with meats. Petite seasoned meatballs go very well, added in cooked layers before steaming.
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Albalu Polo • آلبالو پلو • Sour Cherry Rice
Recipe by: Fae’s Twist & Tango (fae-magazine.com)
INGREDIENTS
• 1½ cups basmati rice
• salt
• 454 g/ 16 oz bottled sour cherry preserves (pitted) [1]
• ½ tsp cinnamon powder
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted or vegetable oil for vegan
• vegetable oil
• 1 large tortilla bread or lavash for tah-dig /bottom of the pot
• smidgen (1/32 tsp) ground saffron diluted in 3 Tbsp hot water
For garnish (optional)
• 1 Tbsp slivered pistachios
• 1 Tbsp roasted slivered almonds
[1] If using fresh or frozen cherries… for each 454 g/ 1 lb of ‘pitted’ cherries, add ½ cup sugar and cook over high heat for 30 ~ 40 minutes.
DIRECTIONS
To soak the rice
◊ Although today, clean fine rice is available, some imported rice brands may contain small, non-rice particles which must be picked-over before washing. Also, some brands may need to be washed with extra agitation until water is clear. Put the rice in a large enough bowl with plenty of water and rub the rice between two hands to scrape off any powdery substance. Drain in a fine-meshed colander. Rinse the rice until clear water runs through.
◊ Put the washed rice in a bowl, add 1 Tbsp salt, cover with water level 3 cm/ 1″ above the rice, stir gently and set aside for more than an hour. This can be done in advance and soaked for 3+ hours. (Note: A faster step for cooking rice is… wash rice and soak without salt for 30 minutes. Add the salt to boiling water and follow the next steps.)
◊ Open the jar of sour cherry preserves and drain with a sieve over a bowl. Keep the liquid, it will be used later. (Yields about 200 g/ 7 oz of solid fruits.)
To boil the rice
◊ Have a fine meshed colander ready in your sink, one with legs, so that it doesn’t touch the sink bottom.
◊ In a non-stick pot (9 cups capacity) bring 5 cups of water to a boil. Drain water from the soaked rice and add to the boiling water. Keep your attention on the pot or else the foam from the boiling rice may overflow.
◊ As the rice starts to boil briskly, lower the heat to medium-high (or a tad lower) and occasionally, gently stir the rice in a circular motion. After a couple of minutes, taste the boiling water (carefully) to insure the salt content is to your taste. Add salt if needed.
◊ In a few minutes, after rice begins bubbling like a fountain, it boils slower/thicker. Test/bite a grain to check its hardness. Do this repeatedly, as timing is very important. As soon as there is no more hardness in the center of the rice (but still firm), drain rice in colander waiting in sink. It is better for rice to be a tad under-cooked than over-cooked. Rice should not sit in the colander more than a minute (it will continue cooking and be sticky soft). At this point, you must act quickly.
To steam the rice:
◊ Rinse the non-stick pot used for boiling. Add 2 Tbsp oil.
◊ Use one layer of flour-tortilla to cover the entire bottom of the pot. For mixed rice, especially ones with sweet ingredients, this tah-dig is recommended to avoid fast burning of sugar by lining the pot.
◊ Sprinkle one-fourth of boiled rice on to the tortilla. Spread/sprinkle/drizzle third of sour cherries, third of cinnamon, fourth of butter, ½ Tbsp of saffron and 1 Tbsp of syrup from the preserve. Repeat this two more times and finish with last fourth of the rice. Drizzle the rest of the butter, saffron and 1 Tbsp of the syrup over the last layer of rice.
◊ Cover the pot with one sheet of paper towel and put the lid on tightly. On medium-low heat, steam for 45 minutes.
◊ Dish out the rice, a spatula at a time and sprinkle on the serving dish/platter (keeping the tah-dig intact at the bottom of the pot). Drizzle the rest of the saffron and 1 Tbsp of syrup on top of the dished-out rice and garnish/sprinkle with pistachio and almonds.
◊ Loosen and dish out the tah-dig with wooden or non-stick, pot-safe spatula and serve in a different dish.
~ Noushe jan • نوش جان ~
↑ Serving suggestions: With saffron Cornish hen; also a great poultry stuffing
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So, what’s cooking in your kitchen?
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Divine, my kind of thing ! I ve got to go and live in Iran 🙂
Divine indeed. No, just find yourself an Iranian friend who can cook, close by. 😀 )))
Im definitely going to try one of your rice dishes ! Making my mouth water 🙂
This rice looks so delicious – and I’m not a rice person!
This sour cherry rice looks delicious, so full of wonderful flavour 😀 Cheers Choc Chip Uru
Looks fab!
Oh my, looks divine!
This looks great, I love the brightness of the pistachios against the richness of the rice & cherries!
Thank you, Mary, it really does make the rice look more beautiful.
Another wonderful recipe!!
Yum! Can’t wait to try this!
Wow – that is mouthwatering! I love sour cherries – this is a great versatile dish
what an interesting idea to add cherries.. definitely something i need to try. thanks for sharing!
Do give it a try, Thalia. With sour/tart cherries, it makes the perfect combination with the butter flavored rice.
Love the contrast of savory with the sour cherries, thanks for sharing!
Love cherries in rice!
A lovely sour cherry Rice dish,…looks very scrumptious too!
I liked your page on Facebook. Could you like my page too!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sophies-Foodie-Files/447612992047337
Hi Sophie, Thank you very much, and I was now able to ‘Like’ your Facebook page.
It looks great! <3
Very nice, Fae, and thanks for putting me on to the other recipes.
Good to see you, Tonette! Hope all is well. <3
I’m totally in for this recipe! Rice and cherries, what amazing combo!
Fae, how absolutely delicious this looks and I’m thinking it would go well with my cherry tart!
Looks like a wonderful dish, Fae!
I think you know I LOVE rice dishes Fae. And now I’ve got another one to try! xox
Oh yes, Sweet Lidia! I will introduce more for your variety. 🙂
Delicious!!
bah bah bah, what a divine polo! May your hands not ache! ;D & Fae, you totally made me chuckle and nod in agreement by stating that Persians are as into sour cherries as they are into pomegranates. True, true, true! I hope you will get the chance to try some fresh ones very soon. Maybe once TinyWhiteCottage’s cherry trees are planted and bear fruit! xo
Speaking of chuckle… If I had my own back yard, I would have gone to Washington State to get one. xo 🙂
My mouth is watering just reading your ingredient list. I know I would love this dish and could make a meal just out of this alone. Have a super weekend. Take care, BAM
I know you would love the dish… and your sons, if they like sweet/savory dishes. 😛
Fae, that sounds – and looks- amazing. Hope to try it out soon!
R
Hi Radhika! Yes, this is along your preference, and even a delightful side to go with your wonderful dishes. 🙂
I love this! Thanks for the mention.
Thank you for the lovely chutney recipe. 🙂
What an awesome recipe, Fae! I have bookmarked this one and can’t wait to make it! You are such a wonderful chef! 😀
Oh Sweet Julianna, you flatter me. 😀 )))
Such a beautiful dish Fae. I am thinking of planting a sour cherry tree in our front yard. The city is giving them away to encourage tree planting in neighborhoods! 🙂 I think it would be a wonderful idea considering they are a bit hard to find in the markets, and I do love sour tart cherries. This is such an attractive dinner. I love the whole roasted chicken.
By all means, get at least two trees. One for you and the other for the birds. 🙂 In the photo, the poultry looks big, but it is a 700g/1.5 lb Cornish-hen, boiled/steamed (water half way) in saffron, salt and few cuts of onion (first facing down and turned half way).
I absolutely love sour cherries! I have made this with dried sour cherries that my mom somehow obtained, I love all the “sweet rice” dishes and since my father is not a big fan she went ahead and sent the cherries to me! Looks delicious, I love the colors all together so pretty. I have made tahdig only with potatoes not with pita, should try that soon 🙂
Use a thin pita, otherwise flour tortilla or lavash are thinner and turn crispier. I have never seen dried sour cherries. Did you need to soak them before boiling with sugar?
Would it be possible to use dried sour cherries instead? I bought a pack of them several months ago and don’t know how to use them. Perhaps I’ll try and boil them with sugar, like you suggest with fresh. They’re tiny, almost black with their stones intact (they’re from Iran). As they’re quite expensive it would be a shame to waste them. 🙂 Besides, I do love cherries. But these are very, very sour!
Hi Johnny, I have never used dry sour cherries, but have heard people do use them for this rice dish. I think, it is best if first soaked (in just enough water) to get them plump, then remove the pits, and then cook them with sugar. Please let me know how it goes. 🙂
Your polo magic powers never cease to amaze me. Yes, a fantastic use for summer, sour cherries!
You are very kind Shanna! Polo is the first must for a Persian. 😀 ))) I found your blog when I visited to see your polo/tah-dig yummy dish. 🙂
I have never heared of sour cherries, Fae! I’m really intrigued and I’ll try to find them. Your rice recipe sounds wonderful!
This is the season, if you can find them fresh. Fresh ones are tart, and that is why it is more commonly referred as ‘tart cherries’ in the USA. Because of its tartness, they are used with sugar to create very decadent sweet-n-sour effect in drinks, desserts and here in rice. In my opinion, they are more desirable in taste than cherries prepared the same way. I do know, depending on the traffic of their customers, there are markets which do carry them, but unfortunately, not in my area.
I love sour cherries! I couldn’t find them anywhere for a while. Now I’ve got the whole box of them, and can’t wait to share some recipes as well. Rice with cherries sounds amazing!
Darling Vera, Please introduce your sour cherry recipes to us. I know they are going to be fabulous! 😛
Wow, I’ve tried rice with raisins but never sour cherries. Sounds delish!
Sweet Olga, It is different than raisins. Your kids would love them. Just make sure no pits, as sometimes, there are pit or two in the preserved ones too.
Oh I bet they will 🙂 They actually sell sour cherries in our local European stores without pits and I have some in my cupboard. I’ll give your recipe a try 🙂
This looks so good. I really love all of your polo recipes. This one looks perfect for me to start with! I love cherries.
Amanda, Give it a try, I am rooting for you! 😀 )))
I must be part Persian, Fae, because I, too, love tart cherries.You won’t believe the problems I’m having getting some this year, though. I’m afraid to blog about it because that may only further jinx the process. Hopefully, I’ll get my cherries this Saturday. If not, you’ll probably hear my screams. 🙂
Love the idea of mixing the cherries with your rice. i bet it’s delicious!
Well, you being of Italian descent, and I of Iranian, we ‘really’ know
good food! 😀 ))) I hope the cherries you get are the best, and we’ll see some used in art of cooking in your blog. 🙂
I have to confess to experiencing some of that tongue tingling sensation whilst reading your post. Also, I’m not a raisin fan in rice even though I like the sweet lift in a dish, so your post has given me a tasty alternative x
Oh yes, Deena. This does not taste like raisins. Totally different taste. Fresh plump ones are much better, but the preserved ones are very good too! 😛
Delicious Fae, I would love this with cornish hen, sour cherries are wonderful and I love Azita’s sharbat. I love your tip of layering the bottom of the pot with lavash before steaming, it’s a great idea and I will definitely try that.
Not only it is another delicious option for tah-dig, but also it has two more benefits. It helps to keep the volume of rice, especially when you are cooking small amount (to make rice tah-dig, it takes a lot from the rice to form tah-dig), and the reason I mentioned here, to avoid some ingredients burning at the bottom while the rice is being steamed.
Looks fabulous Fae!
It look divine! I like sour cherries and also use pitted preserved cherries in cooking and mainly baking. I have a question. Will it change the rice too much, if I steam it in a lined steamer?
Hmmm, I have a feeling, it may not be the same. The only way to know is to try it. Wouldn’t the oil/butter/liquid from cherries drip out of the rice? Please let me know how it turns if you intend to use your lined steamer.
I went through all my options of non-stick cookware, mainly wide casserole pots, and decided that for an authentic taste, I have to follow years of experience and simply buy new non-stick ceramic pot with the shape I need. I ordered the shape, I think would be most suitable. I hope I would be able to make this dish. I very rarely cook recipes, I usually cook from my head. First having the idea and then choosing ingredients and cooking style. But I have to have some understanding of the food I make. As much as I like rice and cook dishes we like, I am sure it’s all wrong to authentic and proper way to cook rice.
Many years ago I had rice, cooked by Iranian family living in Australia. 18 years later, I still remember not only the taste, but the whole experience. I was sure I would not be able to make it that good. I will try now, but I am still sure it would not be as good. Because I do not have the feeling that I know what I am doing. I will let you know.
Irena
It looks delectable Fae, this dish make me hungry, really hungry 🙂
I loveee albalu polo! But zereshk polo is my all time favourite! I miss it!!
Oh, you are an expert! Zereshk/barberry polo is favorite of many, many, especially if you like tangy in your bites. 🙂
How fabulous!
It’s amazing loved the combo for cherry rice….It sound different and delicious…
Yummy, I know what I’m making tonight 😛
Thank you very much for this interesting recipe, Fae. I will try it very soon and will line the pot with tortillas as you suggest.
A very nice recipe !! I like the idea of lining the pot with the bread. Shall implement it from now. Thanks for sharing…
Once you/your family taste that crispy fried tortilla/lavash, you will all fight over it. 😀 )))
I’ve had something like this and it is amazing!
Are fresh sour/tart cherries available where you live?
There are. My mom is the one who knows where to find them here though.