Rice in All It's Yumminess - Part 2

Adass Polow - Rice with Lentils

Adass in persian means lentils. My kids love this dish and it's very easy to make. It takes just under half an hour to prepare. It is usually accompanied with minced meat which can be prepared earlier and kept in the freezer.

Ingredients:

1. 3 Cups of white long grain rice.
2. 4 table spoons of cooking oil.
3. salt as per taste.
4. Water - as directed
5. One cup of lentils soaked for about half an hour.
6. A quarter kg of minced meat.

Directions:

I usually soak the rice for at least half an hour (if it's new rice) or for 1 hour (if it's old rice) in warm water and some salt before cooking.Put the drained lentils in a pot, add enough water, about an inch above the level of the lentils and boil with high heat with turmeric, salt and a dash of pepper until just cooked.To the boiling lentils, add the rice along with 3 table spoons of oil.If the water is less, you can add just a bit more hot water so that it covers the rice by about 2 cms. Let the rice boil for some time and keep stirring occasionally until the water evaporates.Sprinkle some oil on the rice and cover the pot and keep on a low flame.The rice will be ready in about 15 minutes.

To prepare the minced meat:

Take one finely chopped onion and fry it in oil with 1 finely minced garlic flake. When it turns a golden brown, add the minced meat to it and stir fry. After the frying is done, add some tomatopuree to it (about 3 table spoons) and stir fry again until cooked. You can keep adding a little hot water to it until it is completely cooked. The minced meat is ready. You can lightly fry some raisins and add it to the minced meat to add a dash of sweetness if you like.

Saffron Preparation:

Take some saffron in a heat-resistant glass and add some hot water to it. Let it stand in the rice while it is cooking. The heat brings out the beautiful aroma of saffron. After the rice has cooked, put this saffron in a bowl and add some of the cooked rice to it and mix it to give the rice a beautiful golden yellow color. Put this saffron rice over the adass polow to decorate.

Tip: This dish is also served with lightly fried dates (of the soft variety) instead of minced meat.

Serve the lentil rice with saffron topped with the cooked minced meat.

Bon Appetit!

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