Polau Torsh (Sour Rice) of Darab

Polau Torsh is one of the dishes of Fars province, which is mostly prepared by the people of Darab. Of course, there are other dishes with this name in different parts of Iran with different ingredients and cooking recipes, but Polau Torsh of Darab is the specialty of this city and is cooked only in the Fars region.

Ingredients

Rice: three cups

Garlic: five cloves

Fresh mint: 50 grams

Mutton or veal: half a kilo with some fat

Kohlrabi: half a kilo

Pomegranate paste, salt, pepper, turmeric, and oil: as per taste

Instead of fresh mint, you can also use dry mint, but the taste of fresh mint is much better. Fresh mint should be finely chopped to add to food.

If the pomegranate paste is too sour, you should add some sugar to it, which will make the food tastier.

Recipe

Peel the kohlrabi, chop it, and boil it in water together with the chopped meat until it is well cooked. Since the meat takes longer to cook, start boiling it first and then add the kohlrabi while the meat is being boiled.

While the meat and kohlrabi are being cooked, chop the garlic into small pieces. Then add the freshly chopped mint to it and finally add pomegranate paste and stir well until they are mixed evenly.

When the meat is well cooked, add the mixture and let it boil for a few minutes so that its flavor spreads all over.

Fill a pot with water and put it to boil. Drain the rice, pour it into the boiling water, let it cook till it is almost soft, and then drain it.

Remove the content of the pot containing the meat, kohlrabi, and other ingredients with a ladle and pour it into a large container. The water in the pot should stay in it.

Pour the drained rice into the remaining water in the pot of meat and kohlrabi and stir until the water is absorbed by the rice and its color changes and turns brown. Before pouring the rice into the meat and kohlrabi broth, turn off the flame so that the rice does not boil again.

Pour a little oil into the bottom of a pot and put it on the stove. When the oil gets a little hot, put potato slices or some pieces of bread that you want to use as a “tahdig” into it. Try to do this in such a way that the entire bottom of the pot is covered.

Put some of the rice soaked in the broth into the pot and spread it all over the bottom of the pot. Then, pour the ingredients you removed from the meat broth completely into the pot and empty the rest of the soaked rice on it. Cover the pot, put it on low heat, and let it steam for 45 minutes to an hour.

How to Serve the Polau Torsh

“Sabzi khordan” (consisting of raw basil, coriander, dill, cress, leek, mint, parsley, spring onion, etc.) is an item that complements the taste of the polau Torsh. In addition, you can use raw onion or Shirazi salad to complement the taste of this dish.

Many types of Polau Torsh “sour rice” are cooked in different parts of Iran but the Polau Torsh Darab is something else in terms of ingredients and taste.