Albaloo Polo bah Morg - Sour Cherry Rice with Chicken

Rice with cherries and nuts on a white serving platter with gold serving spoons.

5 from 5 votes

Albaloo Polo bah Morg - Sour Cherry Rice with Chicken

Albaloo Polo is a Sour Cherry Rice made with pistachios, slivered almonds, and chicken. It's a beautiful and majestic Persian dish that has an unbeatable blend of flavors.

Prep Time30

Cook Time2 30

Total Time3

Course: Main, Main Course

Cuisine: Persian

Diet: Gluten Free, Kosher

Servings:

Calories: 1240kcal

Author: Candice Walker

Ingredients

Sour Cherry Syrup

1 lb. sour cherries fresh or frozen and defrosted
2 cups water
1 lb. sugar granulated or cane

Chicken

4 lb. whole chicken
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper or peppercorns
2 yellow onions quartered, skins OK
water

Rice

2 cups basmati rice
3 tbsp sea salt
water

Albaloo Polo

¼ cup oil flavorless, like canola or vegetable
9 tbsp sour cherry syrup
1 cup slivered almonds toasted
½ cup shelled pistachios toasted
1 cup sour cherries fresh or frozen and defrosted
½ cup chicken broth from poaching the chicken
2 pinches saffron optional but recommended, steeped in 2 tablespoons of hot water

Instructions

Sour Cherry Syrup

Pit 1 pound of sour cherries, add them to a pot with 2 cups of water and 1 pound of sugar. Turn the heat to low and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Simmer for 20 minutes until the cherries are soft. Take the cherries out of the syrup, and simmer to reduce the syrup down until it sticks to the back of your spoon. Then, add the cherries back in and bring to a boil. Then turn it off.

Steam the Chicken

In the meantime, add the chicken to a pot with 2 quartered onions, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper or peppercorns.
Add just enough water to cover the chicken, bring to a boil, lower to a light simmer, and simmer for about 1 hour, until fully cooked through.

Cook the Rice

Bring about ⅔ of a pot of water to boil with 3 tablespoons of salt.
In the meantime, wash rice 3-5 times with cold to lukewarm water until water runs clear.
Add rice to water and gently stir. Bring water back to a boil, then remove the lid to keep it from overflowing. When the rice is al dente, strain it into a colander.
Taste rice – if it tastes salty, rinse it with cold water. Shake the colander to remove as much water as possible.

Bringing the Albaloo Polo together

Add 1/4 cup of oil to a pot and heat oil over medium heat. Then layer the albaloo polo bah morg. Set aside 1-2 tablespoons of each of the toasted nuts.
Bottom Layers: ⅓ of the drained rice, then 3 tablespoons of sour cherry syrup, then ½ of the chicken pieces, then ½ cup of toasted slivered almonds.
Middle Layers: ⅓ of the rice, then 3 tablespoons of sour cherry syrup, then the rest of the chicken pieces, then ½ cup of toasted slivered almonds.
Top Layers: 1 cup of sour cherries, the rest of the rice, then ½ cup of pistachios.
Put the pot on high heat, cover, and look for steam to start to collect on the inside of the lid. Once it does, pour in a half cup of strained chicken broth.
Next, add the final 3 tablespoons of sour cherry syrup over the top of the rice.
Form the rice into a dome by pressing it away from the edges of the pot. Using the stick/stem of a kitchen utensil, make 6 deep holes in the rice, then put the lid back on. After 10 minutes, turn the heat down to low heat.
Cook the whole dish over low heat for 1 hour.
If you are adding the recommended saffron, grind the saffron using a pestle and mortar. Then, steep it in 2 tablespoons of hot water while the albaloo polo is cooking. When the rice has finished cooking, pour the steeped saffron and water over the top of the rice.
Mix the whole dish together by fluffing it with two forks. Garnish with the extra toasted pistachios and almonds as the very last step. Noushijan!

Video

Notes

This recipe works best with fresh sour cherries. If you can't find them or they're out of season, you can also use frozen sour cherries, pie cherries, tart cherries, or bitter cherries. If using frozen, make sure they are completely defrosted before using them.

You can purchase sour cherry preserves in syrup as a shortcut for the syrup, but not the cherries. I usually make the syrup the day before.

Note: Do not use the sour cherries in the sour cherry preserves or syrup. The cherries in this recipe are meant to be sour, and the sweetness of the syrup cherries will overwhelm the dish with sweetness.

Note: Do not boil the chicken. You want to reduce the water to a simmer as soon as possible. Boiling the chicken will yield tough and dry meat.

Nutrition