Adas Polo — Lentil Rice with pistachios

Name: Adas Polo — Lentil Rice with pistachios
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: persian
Ingredients: 300 g basmati rice; 25 ml olive oil; 4 g salt; 0.2 g saffron threads; 1800 ml cooking water; 150 g dried brown lentils; 100 g onion; 1 g ground cinnamon; 25 g pistachio kernels

Adas Polo — Lentil Rice with pistachios. Independently written modern Persian halal variation, with broad culinary inspiration from Najmieh Batmanglij, Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern…

300 g basmati rice
25 ml olive oil
4 g salt
0.2 g saffron threads
1800 ml cooking water
150 g dried brown lentils
100 g onion
1 g ground cinnamon
25 g pistachio kernels

Rinse rice until the runoff is nearly clear; soak in cold water for 30 additional minutes, then drain. Finely chop the pistachios. Steep saffron in 30 ml of the measured hot water for 10 minutes.
Bring 1400 ml of the measured water and half the salt to a boil. Cook rice for 5–7 minutes until the outside softens but the centre stays firm; drain.
Simmer lentils separately in 300 ml of the measured water for 20–25 minutes until tender, then drain. In a small pan soften finely chopped onion in 5 ml of the measured oil for 6 minutes; stir in cinnamon and lentils. Fold the variation ingredient through the lentils. Heat oil in a heavy nonstick pot, spread 2 tablespoons of rice across the base, then layer remaining rice with the additions and variation ingredient. Add saffron water, remaining salt and 70 ml of the measured water; unused cooking water is discarded.
Cover tightly and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, then on the lowest heat for 30–35 minutes. Rest off heat for 10 additional minutes. Fluff the upper rice and lift out the golden crust separately. Serve four portions. Cool leftover rice rapidly in shallow containers and refrigerate at 4 °C within 1 hour; use within 24 hours.
Photo: MRG90 — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adas_polo.JPG Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 Resized and converted to JPEG; no crop. Lentil rice illustration; the added fruit or nut variation may not be pictured.