Adas Polo
Lentil rice with raisins, dates and caramelised onions · عدسپلو
- 20 min Prep
- 1 h 15 min Cook
- 6 Servings
- Easy
Rice and lentils steamed together and topped with golden onions, raisins and dates warmed in butter and cinnamon: sweet, savoury and naturally vegetarian.
Adas polo is everyday comfort food in Iran: cheap, filling and ready with very little effort. The lentils are cooked until just tender, then layered with parboiled rice and steamed, so every spoonful has both.
The topping makes it: deeply browned onions, raisins and dates warmed in butter with cinnamon. Many families add small meatballs or fried ground beef; this version stays vegetarian.
Ingredients
Rice and lentils
Topping
Instructions
- Simmer the lentils in plenty of lightly salted water for 15 to 20 minutes until tender but not falling apart. Drain.
- Parboil the soaked rice as for chelow, drain and rinse briefly.
- Oil the pot for tahdig. Layer the rice and lentils in the pot, sprinkling cinnamon between the layers, and shape into a mound. Poke steam holes and cook on medium-high for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Dot with butter, cover with a towel-wrapped lid, and steam on the lowest heat for 45 to 50 minutes.
- Meanwhile, fry the onions in the oil over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring often, until deep golden brown. Add the butter, raisins and dates and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until the raisins plump.
- Mix a few spoonfuls of rice with the saffron water. Serve the rice topped with the saffron rice and the onion, raisin and date mixture, with yogurt or Shirazi salad on the side.
Tips & variations
- For a meat version, fry 300 g of ground beef or lamb with onion, turmeric and cinnamon and layer it into the rice, or roll it into small meatballs.
- Do not use red split lentils; they dissolve during steaming.
Where to buy the ingredients
Persian grocers carry the saffron, dried herbs, spices and long-grain rice that Persian cooking depends on:
Rather eat out?
Persian restaurants that serve it:
Chelow with Tahdig
Sabzi Polo ba Mahi
Zereshk Polo ba Morgh