Adas Polo is one of the most favorite dishes in Iran. This delicious meal is typical in family gatherings. Adas Polo can be a vegetarian or vegan food if you serve it without meat, and it will still be so delicious. Our today’s meal can cover every taste, and it is very flexible. You can serve it with caramelized onion, raisins, meat, or date. The main ingredients of this great mixed rice are mostly lentils with rice. Well, it is time to get familiar with our food.

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Adas Polo ingredient

The main ingredients of our Persian lentil rice, as it shows, are lentil and rice. But you should serve it with other ingredients like dates or raisins if you are a fan of sweet food. Also, you can serve it with meat or a mix of them. Do not miss caramelized onion with Adas polo.

Lentil (Adas)

Lentil is in the legume family. It has three types, red ones used in foods like Dal Adas soup, green lentil, and brown lentil that we need for our food as we use in Adasi soup (Persian lentil soup). According to BBCgoodfood, “Lentils are rich in fibre, folate and potassium making them a great choice for the heart and managing blood pressure and cholesterol. They are also a source of energizing iron and vitamin B1, which help maintain a steady heartbeat.”

Rice (Polo)

Rice is one of the most-used ingredients in Persian foods like Zereshk Polo ba Morgh or Loobia Polo. Persian rice is mainly used in Iran because it is tastier and more fragrant. Still, if you can not find it, basmati rice is a good alternative.

Date (Khorma)

Iranians believe that lentil has a cold nature. This means if you eat a lot, you will have a Stomachache. Because of that, they are used to eating a foodstuff with a hot nature with lentils. Date is the best choice with a hot nature. It will also give an excellent taste to our food. They use raisins with Adas polo for the same reason.

Cumin

Lentil can cause bloat. Iranians have another approach to eat it without any trouble! They use cumin in Adas polo to overcome the bloat. It also makes the food tastier.

I can not wait for it. Let’s cook Adas Polo!

Adas Polo recipe

For making Adas polo, first of all, you should wash and soak 1 ½ cups of lentil and two cups of rice for an hour, separately. For washing the rice:

pour water on the rice.
Stir and drain the water.
Repeat it till the water is clear.
Pour water on them for the last time, add one tablespoon of salt and let it soak for an hour.

Cut a medium-sized onion into small pieces. Then sauté them with four tablespoons of vegetable oil.

When the onion slices become golden, add 300 gr ground meat and stir well.

When the meat is brown, add one tablespoon of turmeric, ½ tablespoon salt, ½ tablespoon black pepper, and one tablespoon of tomato paste and stir. Our meat sauce is ready.

Bring a pot, pour lentils in a colander. Then add soaked lentils in the pot, and pour water on them till 2cm above. Heat the pot without cover and let the lentils boil for about 20 minutes on medium heat till they are soft (check its water, if it is not enough and the lentils are not smooth, add boiling water).

Put another pot of water on the heat. Add two tablespoons of salt to the water. When the water is boiling, pour rice into a colander. Then add soaked rice into the boiling pot. Let them boil without cover till the rice is firm in the center but soft outside.

It is time to pour the cooked lentil into the boiling rice with its water. Let them boil for about a minute with each other. Then pour them into a colander and splash a little cold water on them.

Now it is time to choose Tahdig. Tahdig is the crispy part of the food, and it is very delicious. You can select your tahdig among flatbread (naan), potato, or rice. I love tahdig naan, and I will make it.

The last step for cooking Adas Polo is to mix them and let them cook with each other. Heat the non-stick pot and pour six tablespoons of vegetable oil into it. When the oil is hot, put a flatbread in the bottom of pot.

Splash a little water on the flatbread, then pour the lentil and rice mixture layer by layer like a pyramid. Add a little cumin between the layers.

Make 2 or 3 holes in Adas Polo with the end of a spoon to release steam better. Add ½ cup of water to the sides of the pot and cover the pan. Then let the rice steam for about 30 minutes on low heat. Our delicious food is ready!

Note for making Adas Polo

If you are in a hurry, you can omit soaking the rice and lentil and just wash them.
Add bloomed saffron on the layers of the rice mixture to give it beautiful color and saffron taste.

How to serve Adas Polo?

Serve Adas Polo with meat sauce, caramelized onion, and raisins. For making caramelized onion with raisins:

Cut a medium-sized onion into small pieces, then saute it with four tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Wash and soak raisins for 10 minutes.
When onion pieces are golden, add a little butter, then add soaked raisins to them.
Heat them for a short time on the low heat.

For garnishing, add bloomed saffron to five tablespoons of Adas Polo and make golden rice.

You can also serve it with dates. Chop dates and heat them for a short time with vegetable oil. Also you can put dates on the rice when it is steaming.

Side dishes like Mast o Khiar or fresh herbs are suitable with Adas Polo.

Did you make this Adas Polo recipe?

Please let me know how it was by leaving a comment!
You can ask me questions about Adas Polo in the comments. I will answer your questions as soon as possible.
I would love to see your Persian food! Please tag me with @cookingcounty on Facebook or Instagram and make me happy!