Morassa Polo — Jewelled Rice with courgette

Name: Morassa Polo — Jewelled Rice with courgette
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; 30 g dried barberries; 50 g raisins; 120 g carrots; 10 g orange zest; 120 g courgette

Morassa Polo — Jewelled Rice with courgette. 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
30 g dried barberries
50 g raisins
120 g carrots
10 g orange zest
120 g courgette

Rinse rice until the runoff is nearly clear; soak in cold water for 30 additional minutes, then drain. Cut the courgette into 1 cm pieces. 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.
Cut carrots into thin strips and simmer in 100 ml of the measured water for 10 minutes until tender. Rinse and drain barberries and raisins; combine with carrots, orange zest and the variation ingredient. 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: Hamid3 — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D8%B2%D8%B1%D8%B4%DA%A9_%D9%BE%D9%84%D9%88_,_%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%86%D8%A7_,_%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86_,_1392_Zereshk_Polo,_Azna,_Iran.jpg Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 Resized and converted to JPEG; no crop. Barberry rice illustrates a related Persian rice dish, rather than this jewelled rice formula. The carrot, orange and vegetable additions may not be pictured.