Adas Polo ba Khorma (Persian Lentil Rice With Dates)
Updated March 10, 2024
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 35 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
FOR THE RICE
1 cup green lentils, rinsed
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal), more as needed
2 ½ cups basmati rice, rinsed and drained
1 cup chopped fresh herbs, such as cilantro, dill, mint or a combination
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt, for serving (optional)
FOR THE ONION-DATE MIXTURE
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or clarified butter, plus more for serving (see Tip)
2 yellow onions, finely diced
12 fresh Medjool dates, pitted and diced
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 to 8 servings)
95 grams carbs; 4 milligrams cholesterol; 526 calories; 8 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 12 grams fat; 8 grams fiber; 473 milligrams sodium; 13 grams protein; 27 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Bring 4 cups water to boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the lentils, cinnamon, turmeric and 2 tablespoons salt. Stir well to combine, breaking up any clumps. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Simmer until the lentils are cooked but still have a bite, 7 to 10 minutes. Drain lentils and set aside.
- Step 2
Using the same medium saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add the rice, cooked lentils, 1 teaspoon salt and enough hot water to cover the rice by 1 inch. Cook, uncovered, until all the water is absorbed, 10 to 14 minutes.
- Step 3
Reduce heat to low, wrap the pot lid in a clean kitchen towel, cover the pan and let the rice steam for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork; taste and add salt if needed.
- Step 4
While the rice is cooking, prepare the onion-date mixture: In a skillet, heat 4 tablespoons oil or clarified butter until hot but not smoking. Add onions and a pinch of salt, and cook until the onions are dark golden and a little crispy, 9 to 14 minutes. Transfer onions to a bowl and return the skillet to the heat.
- Step 5
Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet and, once hot, add the dates and warm them through, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir dates into the bowl with the onions.
- Step 6
To serve, spoon a layer of rice and lentils into a warmed serving bowl, then add a layer of onion-date mixture and sprinkle with chopped herbs. Keep alternating layers, ending with the onion-date mixture and a final sprinkling of herbs. Drizzle with more oil and top with a dollop of yogurt if you like.
If you don't have clarified butter but would like a buttery flavor, you can use 2 tablespoons unsalted butter to warm the dates, and then top the dish with more melted butter. Be sure to use olive oil (or clarified butter) for the onions or they might burn.
Private Notes
Comments
We discard the water from the lentils because it darkens the rice and starch from the legume makes the basmati rice turn into mush. We can add a mixture of equal ratios pinch of clove + cardamom + cinnamon on top of the rice while it cooks by steaming. Also, in my mother’s traditional Persian cooking, we didn’t use tumeric but rather saffron for its aroma is more pleasant and color is much red/orange. The difference between tumeric and saffron is quite noticeable.
Not a note but a question. When...and why...are recipes now calling for Kosher salt instead of the more readily available and inexpensive table salt? The salt home cooks managed to successfully cook with for years.
Curious as to why one throws away the water used to boil the lentils which has the spices in it. Can't imagine much spice flavor then gets into the rice. In making Palestinian mjedra you add the rice to the water with the lentils in it and then cook them together, adding additional water if needed.
Dish turned out great for me! I drained the lentils in the same sieve that I cleaned the rice with. I suspect that helped catch some of the flavor from the lentil water. I also removed the onions from their oil with a slotted spoon and put the dates right into the pan, no need to add more oil. To assemble, I put it all into a big salad bowl and tossed. The date-onion mixture was well distributed. Only thing is that I have a crust of burnt lentils at the bottom of saucepan. How is tadig achieved?
I followed the recipe precisely except that - as recommended by others - I doubled the onion/date mixture. Which you definitely need to do otherwise the rice & lentils to seasoning ratio is wrong x It was very good but I think there is room for improvement. I would be sure to add chopped mint to the herb mixture. And I think a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds would really make this pop.
Delicious, but in need of proportion tweaks. It calls for way too much rice. Glad I read the comments beforehand, so I knew to cut it down. I used 3/4 cup Basmati rice and 3/4 cup lentils. After layering, I still had about 1 cup leftover lentil/rice mixture. Flavorings I used: 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp cardamom, ¾ tsp allspice, ¼ tsp turmeric, plus a pinch of saffron & 1 tsp rose water in the rice. Fruits/nuts: 8 dates, an equal amount dried apricots + cashews. Herbs: mint, cilantro, parsley.