Reshteh Polo ba Morgh – رشته پلو با مرغ is a traditional and popular Persian rice dish from the cities of Tehran, Mashhad, and Kermanshah. The dish immediately takes me back to my grandmother’s house, when the whole family gathered for the Norooz festival at her home, where we lived together for many years. It is an aromatic composition of rice, roasted noodles, caramelized onions, raisins, and dates, refined with aromatic spices such as saffron, turmeric, and cinnamon, and topped with rose petals and pistachio sticks. The brown noodles in the batter provide a crunchy Tahdig. Top it with a slowly braised saffron chicken fillet or without chicken for a filling vegetarian dish. Reshteh polo has warm properties.

Watch Preparation Video on Instagram 

PERSIAN TRADITIONS

Every culture celebrates its festivals with its traditions and customs. Here in Hessen in Germany, it is said that sauerkraut should be eaten on the first day of the new year to have enough money for the whole year. That’s why people in Hessen eat “Rippche mit Kraut” (pork ribs and sauerkraut) on New Year’s Day. In Persia, we believe that if we eat Reshteh Polo on Chaharshanbeh Suri – The Persian Festival of Fire or Shabe Yalda – Yalda Night or on the evening before Norooz, then we have clarity about what we need to do to recognize and achieve our goals and our path in life for the new year. For this reason, the person in the family who is currently struggling with problems is served the first plate. Sometimes, a piece of dried reshteh is also carried in the purse to fill it up with money.

اگر اول سال رشته پلو خوردی، کل سال رشته امور دستته

MORE RECIPES FOR NOWROOZ

During the first Nowrooz holidays, you can also enjoy Kuku Sabzi – Persian Herb Frittata کوکو سبزی, Sabzi Polo – Persian Herb Rice سبزی پلو ba Mahi Zaferani – Sea Bream Fillet in Saffron ماهی زعفرانی, Reshteh Polo or Baghali Polo ba Mahiche – braised lamb shanks with dill rice and broad beans. Reshteh polo is served with meatballs, chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, fish, or brown lentils. In Iran, a simple version of rice and noodles without any toppings is served for an everyday meal. You can find more posts related to Norooz in the Sidebar.

RESHTEH – PERSIAN NOODLES

Reshteh is Persian wheat noodles from flour, salt, and water. You can buy them in Persian grocery stores or online. We have two different types of reshteh, one is reshteh ash, which is white and we use for making soups (ash), such as ash-e reshteh. There is also a brown version, which is roasted giving it its color, we use this for Reshteh Polo.

Fried noodles are a common sight, but only Iranians have the idea of roasting noodles before using them. The word reshteh means string and stands for the path of life. Eating roasted noodles in this dish symbolizes taking control of our lives and what is ahead in the coming year. The roasted noodles in this recipe are broken into pieces before use and symbolize taking control of your life and fortune.

INGREDIENTS RESHTEH POLO

400 g Persian rice*

1 tsp salt

200 g reshteh noodles for polo*

INFUSED SAFFRON INGREDIENTS

1/2 tsp saffron threads*

25 ml boiling water or one ice cube

SAFFRON CHICKEN INGREDIENTS

1 onion

500 g chicken fillet

1/4 tsp saffron threads*

salt, pepper

TOPPING INGREDIENTS

2 large onions, cut into rings

2 tbsp butter

100 g raisins*

2 tsp cinnamon*

100 g fresh dates*, halved and pitted

2 tbsp ghee*, melted (optional)

1 tbsp pistachios, slivered (optional)

1 tbsp rose petals*, grated (optional)

PREPARATION RICE

Wash the rice well with lukewarm water until the water runs clear. Then soak for at least 1 hour with 1 tsp of salt, better 2 – 3 hours.

PREPARATION INFUSED SAFFRON

Finely grind the saffron in a mortar*. Either pour 25 ml of boiling water over it, cover, and leave to steam. Or pour the ground saffron over one ice cube and let it melt.

PREPARATION RESHTEH POLO

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan and add the rice, strained beforehand, and cook for 2 minutes.

Break the reshteh noodles into small pieces, add to the boiling water, and mix well. Cook for 3 – 5 minutes. The rice should now be al-dente.

Drain the rice and reshteh in a sieve and rinse with cold water.

Pour oil into a non-stick saucepan* or rice cooker*, add two tablespoons of the infused saffron, and mix well. Add the rice and reshteh and pile up in a cone shape, pressing a few holes into the bottom with the handle of a wooden spoon. Wrap the lid with a clean kitchen towel (not necessary with the rice stove from Reishunger) and steam the rice for 40 – 45 minutes at medium temperature.

PREPARATION SAFFRON CHICKEN

In the meantime, fry the onion in a pan with oil, cut the chicken fillet into small pieces, add, and fry on all sides. Season with saffron threads, salt, and pepper, turn once and cover with water. Cook the chicken fillet for approx. 30 minutes at a low temperature.

PREPARATION TOPPING

In the meantime, heat a little oil in a pan, fry the onion rings, and add 1 teaspoon of turmeric at the end, turning once. Set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp butter in the same pan, add the raisins with cinnamon, and fry. Set aside.

Halve the dates and remove the stones. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in the pan again and fry the halved and pitted dates. Set aside.

GARNISH

Once the rice is steamed, remove a large ladle from the saucepan, mix with the remaining saffron, and set aside.

Transfer the remaining rice to a large tray and serve the tahdig on a separate plate. In some places in Persia, a little ghee is melted and spread evenly over the finished rice.

Garnish with saffron rice, chicken breast fillets, onions, raisins, dates, pistachios and rose petals.

Serve with a refreshing dugh, sabzi khordan, a fresh shirazi salad, and sir torshi.

BEFARMAYID!

Susan

The items marked with * are affiliate links, referral links. If you buy through this link, I get a small commission. The price stays the same for you and you can easily support my efforts. A big thank you ♥

 

Save the recipe for later on Pinterest!

Have you cooked this or maybe another delicious recipe of mine? Feel free to leave me a comment below. If you tag your picture on Instagram with @labsalliebe  and use the hashtag #labsalliebe, I won’t miss a post and will be happy to leave you a comment as well. Can’t wait to see your creations.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

This website is created by me at my leisure, under the proper use of coffee 🙂. If you like my posts, make me happy by donating one or a few cups of coffee!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Donate an amount of your choice via Paypal.

Sign up for my newsletter, and I’ll email you my latest recipes, travel reports, and trends once or maybe 2x a week for free.