Havij Polo — Carrot Rice with dates

Havij Polo — Carrot Rice with dates. Independently written modern Persian halal variation, with broad culinary inspiration from Najmieh Batmanglij, Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian…

• 300 g basmati rice
• 25 ml olive oil
• 4 g salt
• 0.2 g saffron threads
• 1800 ml cooking water
• 350 g carrots
• 100 g onion
• 20 g sugar
• 1 g ground cinnamon
• 40 g dates

1. Rinse rice until the runoff is nearly clear; soak in cold water for 30 additional minutes, then drain. Remove stones and chop the dates finely. Steep saffron in 30 ml of the measured hot water for 10 minutes.
2. 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.
3. Cut carrots into fine strips. Soften chopped onion in 5 ml of the measured oil for 5 minutes; add carrots, sugar, cinnamon, variation ingredient and 100 ml of the measured water. Cover and simmer 10 minutes until tender, then reduce excess liquid. 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.
4. 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.
5. Photo: Topsy turvy — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Havij_polo.jpg Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 Resized and converted to JPEG; no crop. Carrot rice illustration; garnish and variation ingredients may differ.