Lubia Polow

I made a Persian rice dish last night for dinner. This one is a simple one that doesn't take a lot of time, I think from start to finish it was about 40 minutes. I don't think I have it quite to where I want it yet though, so I may be adding to this recipe in the future or modifying it. The biggest problem I have is that I can't get the right amount of salt, I am typically short on salt for this recipe. Also, I think that the addition of a couple of cloves of garlic and a little saffron would do wonders. But I digress, here is the recipe as I made it last night.

1 lb beef or lamb (cut into bit sized pieces)
3 cups rice (basmati, washed)
6 oz tomato paste
2 cans green beans
1 onion (sliced or chopped)
salt + pepper to taste
potato (sliced into thin pieces)
oil

Cook washed rice for 6-10 minutes, you want the rice to still be a little firm. Make sure that you salt the water as the rice is cooking. Strain the rice and blanch with cold water, set aside.

While the rice is cooking, saute your onion in a little oil. After is turns a light brown, add your meat, salt and pepper to taste. Brown meat and add in tomato paste and green beans plus enough water to cover. It should have the consistency of a thick stew. Simmer for 10 minutes and add in salt and pepper again to taste if necessary.

In a large non-stick pot or cast iron pot, put enough oil to cover the bottom of the pot and turn stove onto med. heat. Put a layer of potato slices to cover the bottom of the pot then add a couple of scoops of rice and a little salt and oil, fold in a couple of scoops of meat/green bean mixture and repeat until it is all gone. Cover your pot and reduce heat to simmer. Let it cook for about 20 minutes. This will steam the rice the rest of the way to completion and fry the potatoes on the bottom.

Flip the pot upside down onto a serving platter and serve with pita and cucumber yogurt sauce (recipe to follow soon hopefully).

I might come back to edit this recipe in the future. This dish is really one of my favorites, and I want to get it just right. I am thinking that the addition of garlic and maybe saffron will do the trick. Plus, don't forget to salt the rice, otherwise it will be pretty bland.