Albaloo Polo with Chicken Recipe _ Persian Sour Cherry Rice

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Iranian Albaloo Polo is one of the most popular traditional Persian dishes and is often served at formal gatherings and special occasions. Although many people attribute its origin to Azerbaijan, others believe it originated in Shiraz.

The exact origin of Albaloo Polo is not known for sure, but it is clear that this traditional Iranian dish is prepared in different ways across the central and northern regions of the country.

Every year, with the arrival of summer and the ripening of sour cherries, Albaloo Polo becomes popular once again.

Of course, many people freeze sour cherries during summer so they can enjoy their unique flavor in other seasons, especially in winter. But without a doubt, Persian Albaloo Polo made with fresh sour cherries has a flavor of its own.

Albaloo Polo is served in different ways, most commonly with meatballs or chicken. Both versions are delicious and filling, and the choice depends on your personal taste. In addition, whether this dish is prepared sweet or sour also comes down to individual preference.

Albalo polo For 4 people

preparation time:45 minute

cooking time:1 hour

How to make albaloo polo with chicken? 

Ingredients :

Seedless sour cherries (you can use more or less)	3.5 ounce
Cubed chicken fillet (you can add more or less, or use meat)	5.2 ounce
Medium onion	1 pc
Garlic	3 cloves
Brewed Persian saffron	2 tablespoons
Red pepper, cinnamon, salt, paprika, lemon juice, vinegar, turmeric powder	as needed
Oil,	as needed
Pistachio or almond slices	as needed
Sugar	2 tablespoons

Instruction :

1. First, soak the rice for 2 to 3 hours. Now, you can cut the chickens into any size you like. I cut the chicken into cubes.

2. Grease the bottom of the pan with oil, put the chickens in it, and close the pan for a few minutes until the chickens change color a little. Then we add turmeric powder, cinnamon, paprika, red pepper, and spices to the fillets and sauté until all the fillets are flavorful.

3. We close the pan lid over the same low heat. We give time for the chickens to drain.

4. Now, we pour the chopped garlic cloves on the fillets and put the lid on the pan again until the smell of garlic comes out a little.

We add a cup of boiling water plus three medium bay leaves to our chicken and let it cook for twenty to half an hour until the water evaporates completely.

When the water from the chicken fillets evaporates, we remove the bay leaves and start flavoring them.

5. In this step, I added some saffron, but you can not do this because, according to the ingredients we used to cook the chicken, our fillets have a very good taste and smell.

6. You can go to the sour cherries until the chickens are cooked. Pour them into a pan, add a spoonful of oil, and then reduce the heat.

7. Add two spoons of sugar and mix a little by little. At this stage, you must be patient and wait until the sour cherries turn color and drain some water. The sour cherries will take 10 to 15 minutes to cook in the cherry juice.

After that, place a filter in a suitable bowl and pass the cooked sour cherry through the filter to remove the juice. I pour some rice into cherry juice to have pink rice for decoration.

8. Then, pour the rice with one tablespoon of salt, two tablespoons of oil, and three cups of water into a pot and set the heat to medium. After 7 to 10 minutes, rinse the rice. (The cooking time is approximate and depends on the type of rice you have)

9. Now, it’s time to mix the ingredients with the rice. Please pick up a suitable pan and pour a little oil into it. Could you put it on the flame to make it hot? Now, pick it up from the flame and start pouring it layer by layer with rice and ingredients.

 

10. The first layer is rice, then pour a layer of cooked sour cherries and, if you desire, almond and pistachio slices. Continue this until the rice and ingredients are finished.

In the last layer of ingredients, we add sour cherry juice to the rice so that the natural flavor of the sour cherry goes into the rice, and we put the lid on the pot until our food is cooked.

11. Put the lid on the pan and increase the flame. When the rice steams rise, decrease the flame and let it cook for 45 to 1 hour.

12. When it’s ready, you can pour it into the desired dish and start decorating the food with cooked chicken. (Note: If you have time or enjoy the taste of fried onions with this dish, you can slice the onion, fry it until it turns golden, and use it for decoration.)

• This is our albaloo polo. Because few people make this dish and its taste is unknown, you can introduce one of the most special and delicious dishes to your guests.
• Albaloo polo is served along with Torshi Albaloo, Mast o Musir, and Salad Shirazi.

 

Notes :

 

We can use various methods to prepare this delicious food with chicken. The first method is to use a piece of chicken to add a whole chicken thigh or breast to this food, or place it at the bottom of the pot.

• Albaloo polo with frozen sour cherries:

Considering that many Iranian families are interested in this Pilaf, if the cherry season is over, they can no longer use this delicious food.

This issue has caused them to freeze fresh sour cherries in the summer so they can cook authentic and traditional Iranian food in season and on occasions.

However, the question arises of whether the frozen cherries used in this dish will give the food its usual taste. In this case, it can be said that the taste and aroma of the cherry are preserved well in the freezer and give the same taste.

So, our advice to the people who are interested in this product is that they must buy large quantities of sour cherries in the summer season and put them in the freezer so that they can use this food in other seasons and at parties and gatherings.

• Albaloo polo with cherry jam:

If you decide to prepare albaloo polo for your party and ceremony, and sour cherries are not available, you can use cherry jam in such a way that when you rinse the rice, pour a layer of rice and a layer of cherry jam, and at the end, first pour the rice into a dish and decorate it with fried meatballs.

• Try to pit the sour cherries in such a way that they retain their appearance.
• Never add water to cook sour cherries. Because it gives back a lot of water when cooking.
• When serving, set aside a small bowl of sour cherries to garnish the rice.
• For saffron rice, mix some white rice with a little brewed saffron and some butter.
• The rice should be brewed for 40 minutes to an hour.
• You can also use cherry jam to prepare this Persian food in other seasons of the year. Pour some jam into a strainer and separate the syrup. Pour the jam over the drained rice and let it brew similarly.

FAQ :

1. What should we do if the bottom of the Albaloo Polo pot starts to burn?

When making Albaloo Polo, the sour cherries release juice into the pot, which can cause the bottom to burn more easily. That is why it is better to make a layer of tahdig at the bottom of the pot. It does not matter whether you use bread or potatoes for the tahdig. This helps prevent the rice from burning.

2. What should we do to preserve the appearance of sour cherries in this dish?

To preserve the appearance of the sour cherries in Albaloo Polo, do not cook them for too long, or they may become too soft and lose their shape.

3. If we do not have fresh sour cherries, can we use sour cherry jam in this dish?

Yes, you can use sour cherry jam instead of fresh sour cherries in Albaloo Polo.

4. How many calories are in Albaloo Polo?

Each tablespoon of Albaloo Polo contains about 50 kilocalories of energy.