Albaloo Polo

Ingredients

• 1¼ lbsour cherriespitted, fresh or thawed; cooked with sugar into a syrup
• 10½ ozsugarfor the cherry syrup
• 1⅓ lbricerinsed several times
• 14⅛ ozground beeffor small meatballs
• 4 lbchickenwhole, poached and deboned, instead of meatballs (optional)
• 2onionone grated and squeezed for the meat, one sliced and fried or used for poaching
• ⅓ cupoilfor the pot bottom and for frying
• ½ tspsaffronground, bloomed in a little hot water or on ice
• saltfor the rice water and the meat
• black pepperfor the meat
• ½ tspturmericfor the meatballs
• 1¾ ozalmondstoasted, for layering and garnish
• 1⅓ ozpistachiosslivered or chopped, toasted, for garnish
• 8½ cupswaterfor parboiling the rice
• 1⅓ ozbuttermelted with a little water and poured over the rice (optional)
• 1lavash breadas tahdig base (optional)
• 1potatosliced, as tahdig base (optional)

Method

1. Pit the sour cherries and put them in a pan with the sugar, adding a splash of water if needed. Simmer gently until the cherries are soft, about 10 minutes. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and keep simmering the syrup until it has reduced and thickened.
2. Grind the saffron finely and let it bloom slowly in a little hot water or on an ice cube until it has released all its colour.
3. Finely grate one onion and squeeze out the juice. Knead it with the ground beef, salt, pepper and turmeric, then roll the mixture into small balls. Fry the meatballs in a little oil until golden brown all over. Slice the second onion and fry it in the oil until golden. If you are using chicken instead, poach the whole chicken in water with the second onion, salt and pepper for about 1 hour, pull the meat from the bones and keep the broth.
4. Rinse the basmati rice several times, until the water runs clear. Bring the water to the boil, salt it generously and parboil the rice until it is cooked on the outside but still firm at the centre, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain it in a sieve and rinse under cold water.
5. Cover the bottom of a heavy pot with oil. For a tahdig, lay slices of potato or a sheet of lavash bread over the base if you like.
6. Layer the rice, cherries, a little syrup, the meat with the fried onions and the slivered almonds in the pot, finishing with a layer of rice. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke a few holes down to the bottom, then pour over the remaining syrup along with the butter melted in a little water, or a ladle of the chicken broth.
7. Wrap the lid in a clean kitchen towel and set it firmly on the pot. Heat over high heat for a short while until steam starts to rise, then turn the heat down low and let the rice steam for about 30 to 40 minutes.
8. Mix a few spoonfuls of rice with the saffron water. Gently fluff the rest of the rice, arrange it with the saffron rice and scatter over slivered almonds and pistachios. Loosen the tahdig from the bottom of the pot and set it alongside.

Tips and variations

Instead of meatballs, you can layer in poached, deboned chicken; in that case, steam the rice with the broth rather than the butter water. The meatballs can also be laid on top of the rice at serving time instead of being layered in. Potato slices and lavash bread both make a good crisp base. To serve, mound the rice on a large platter and arrange the tahdig in pieces around the edge, so that every guest gets some.