Finally, it’s wild garlic time, and you can only find it on the market a few weeks of the year, so I prepared several Persian recipes with wild garlic. I made Valak Polo today, a traditional Persian Rice Dish with Wild Garlic, Sumac, and Saffron. We serve Chicken or meatballs with this dish in Iran. I prefer to fish with Valak Polo, so I made it with salmon in a lemony marinade. The marinade is to die for and consists of rose petals, ground dried lime, bay leaves, sumac, cinnamon, grated zest of a lemon, lemon juice, and lemon pepper tossed in olive oil. Salmon tastes best when you marinate it for about 2 hours. If you like wild garlic, you might also like my creamy One Pot Past with green asparagus and wild garlic, as I also show you the place near my home where wild garlic grows.

Watch Video on Instagram (Wild Garlic Rice Preparation)

Watch Video on Instagram (Marinated Salmon Preparation)

SHEMIRAN IN TEHRAN

There are 22 districts in Tehran, and Shemiran in northern Tehran is one of them. The residents are called “Shemrooni”, and Valak Polo is a typical Shemrooni food. Shemiran means the cold place, as it is in the Elburs Mountains. We often went up to Shemiran in spring to pick wild garlic. My father knew a place where a lot of wild garlic used to grow. He liked to make fun and told us on the way that we probably would not pick wild garlic alone, for bears also like to eat it, and we should be on the ware. That made the harvesting very exciting for us, and believe me, we never met a bear.

VALAK – WILD GARLIC

Wild garlic is called in Farsi “Valak” and belongs to the “Sabzijate Koohi” (mountain herbs) and is sometimes called Sir Khers (bear garlic), Sir Janghali (forest garlic), Piaz Khersi (bear onion). As you can imagine, there is an association with the bear in the name, and I thought my Dad was telling stories about the bear. But bears eat wild garlic after their winter sleep to regain their strength.

After harvesting, we rinsed them in cold, salted water, and dried them in a salad spinner. Then we spread them out on a kitchen towel and patted them carefully dry with a second towel. Wild garlic gets watery very quickly, so wash it just before adding it to the rice, dry it, and cut it into strips with scissors. Wild garlic tastes like garlic and smells like a sweet and spicy leek. If you like wild garlic you’ll like my creamy One Pot Past with green asparagus and wild garlic. I’ll also show you where wild garlic grows near my home. I also have more recipes as a wild garlic soup, wild garlic omelet, wild garlic pesto with cashew and feta, or a creamy wild garlic hummus on my blog.

PRESERVING WILD GARLIC

I have planted some wild garlic plants in the garden under our red currant. They now have enough sunlight to grow and will be shaded when the currant leaves appear. I like to freeze the wild garlic in an ice cube maker. I cut the wild garlic into strips and place them in the ice cube trays, then I fill them up with olive oil, and they go in the freezer.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF WILD GARLIC

Wild garlic contains vitamins A, B, and C and the minerals iron, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc. These strengthen our immune system during spring and protect us from colds and free radicals. Wild garlic has a cleansing and detoxifying effect.

INGREDIENTS FOR VALAK POLO – WILD GARLIC RICE

1 tsp salt

4 cups of persian rice*

300 g wild garlic

1 tbsp ghee*

1 potato

3 tbsp sumac*

1/2 tsp saffron*

PREPARATION OF VALAK POLO – WILD GARLIC RICE

Rinse the rice well till the water is clear, and soak for 1 hour with 1 tsp of salt. Place a pot with water and salt and boil as the water comes to a boil, add the soaked and strained rice and cook for 4 – 5 minutes until the rice is al dente, then drain in a sieve.

In the meantime, wash the wild garlic, dry it, and cut it into thin stripes. In a coated pot or a rice cooker*, melt the ghee. Remove the potato peel, cut it into slices, and place them on the bottom of the pot. At this point, start layering the rice and wild garlic. Place a layer of rice on the potatoes add one tbsp sumac, layer with wild garlic leaves, keep on layering, and finish with rice. Wrap the pot lid in a kitchen towel and close it tightly from now do not lift the lid.

Steam the wild garlic rice for about 40 minutes on the lowest temperature. In a mortar*, grind the saffron and pour with 20 ml of boiling water, cover it and let it infuse for at least 10 min, but it can also infuse for longer. Finally, remove a few ladles of rice and mix with the infused saffron.

INGREDIENTS MARINATED SALMON

3 tbsp dried rose petals*.

2 tsp sumac*

1 tsp. ground dried limes*

1 tsp cinnamon*

Zest of one lemon, grated

Juice of one lemon

3 tbsp olive oil*

4 salmon fillets

1 tsp. lemon salt*

1 tsp lemon pepper*

6 bay leaves*

PREPARATION MARINATED SALMON

Grind rose petals finely in a mortar*. Add all spices except rose petals and bay leaves to the olive oil with the grated zest of the lemon and mix well. Coat salmon fillet with marinade all over and place in casserole*. Top the salmon slices with bay leaves and rose petals. Cover and let marinate in the fridge for 2 hours or even overnight. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes in a preheated oven at 200°.

Serve with wild garlic rice and a quarter of bitter orange or lemon.

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 ♥

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