Can I use dried dill with fresh dill?

Although dried dill is also acceptable, fresh dill has a more lively taste. Use roughly one-third of the fresh dill if you're using dried dill.

What might I use in place of the fava beans?

You may also use green peas or lima beans instead, but the taste will be a little different.

How can I enhance the flavor of the lamb shank?

For a richer flavor, marinate the lamb shanks overnight in a mixture of spices, garlic, and a little amount of yogurt or lemon juice.

Baghali Polo Ba Mahiche Recipe (Dill Rice)

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Quick answer

Baghali Polo Ba Mahiche combines steamed basmati rice with dill and fava beans, served with saffron-braised lamb shanks. Soak the rice for 1 hour, braise the lamb until fork-tender, and steam the rice for about 45 minutes. Total elapsed time is about 3 hours 30 minutes, although the lamb and rice stages overlap. Use green fava beans rather than canned brown beans.

This Baghali Polo Ba Mahiche recipe keeps the dill rice and lamb shanks as coordinated components. The rice should stay fluffy and aromatic while the lamb cooks gently in a concentrated broth. For another Persian jeweled rice technique, see the Morasa Polo recipe.

Baghali Polo Ba Mahiche Persian dill rice with lamb shank

Ingredients

Measure and prepare the ingredients before starting. The recipe card at the end contains the same ingredient data for printing and structured search results.

3 cups of rice
1 1/2 cups green lima beans
11 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups chopped fresh dill or 1 cup dried dill
50 gr butter
flatbread or layered potato for Tahdig
2 medium-sized onion
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of turmeric
1 kg lamb shank/beef/ lamb
2 halved garlic cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
4 tablespoons bloomed saffron

How to make Baghali Polo Ba Mahiche

Start the lamb first. While it braises, soak and parboil the rice with the fava beans, then layer with dill and steam.

Pour 3 cups of rice into a bowl of water and stir them.
Drain the water, add fresh water again to the rice, and stir.
Repeat it till the water is clear after stirring.
Add two tablespoons of salt to the bowl of clear water and the rice, and let them soak for an hour.
Bring a pot of water with one tablespoon of salt and heat it till boiling.
When the water is boiling, pour the soaked rice into a colander. then pour it into the boiling water.
Add 1 1/2 cups of green lima beans to the boiling water. Let them boil till the rice comes up and rice and lima beans are almost soft.
Pour rice and lima beans into the colander. Splash cold water on them.
Bring a non-stick pot, pour three tablespoons of vegetable oil in the pot. Place a flatbread or layered potato in the pot for Tahdig.
Splash a little water on the flatbread. Then pour half of the parboiled rice and lima beans on the flatbread.
Place 2 cups of chopped fresh dill or 1 cup of dried dill on the rice.
Pour another layer of rice and lima beans on the dill. The rice should be like a pyramid in the pot.
Make two or three holes in the rice to let the steam rises better. Pour ½ cup of water around the rice and three tablespoons of vegetable oil on the rice.
Cover the pan and let them steam for 5 minutes on high heat and 45 minutes on low heat. Our Baghali Polo is ready!
Chop a medium-sized onion into small pieces.
Saute the onion with four tablespoons of vegetable oil till making them golden-brown.
Add 1 tablespoon of turmeric to the onion and stir them.
Place 1 kg lamb shank on the onion.
Heat the meat till making its all sides brown.
Add two halved garlic, one cinnamon stick and one chopped onion to the meat.
Pour water with a tablespoon of tomato paste in the pot till it covers the meat.
Cover the pot and let the lamb shank cook for about 1 ½ hours.
Put a fork in the meat carefully, and if it is tender, our meat is ready. Otherwise, let it cook for some minutes covered till the meat is tender.
Add one tablespoon of salt, one tablespoon of black pepper, and four tablespoons of bloomed saffron to the meat and stir its broth when the meat is prepared.
Heat the pan for 15 minutes.
Check the broth; heat it without cover for a while if it is too watery. Our delicious lamb shank in tomato sauce is ready!
Add 50 gr butter to the rice and mix them gently.
Pour four tablespoons of rice into two tablespoons of bloomed saffron and make golden rice for garnish.
Serve Baghali Polo into a platter.
Pour golden rice on the Baghali Polo.
Serve lamb shank in another platter and pour some tablespoons of meat broth on them.
Pour the remaining meat broth into a bowl.
Divide the Tahdig into equal parts for everyone.

Recipe video

The original video is preserved for readers who prefer a visual walkthrough.

Watch the Baghali Polo Ba Mahiche video

Choosing fava beans and keeping dill fresh

Frozen green fava beans are reliable and keep their color. Canned brown fava beans have a softer texture and are not a direct substitute. Add fresh dill between rice layers and keep the steam gentle so the herbs do not turn muddy.

Serving and storage

Mound the dill-and-bean rice on a platter, garnish a portion with saffron, and serve the lamb shanks with a little reduced broth. Refrigerate rice and lamb separately for easier reheating.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make Baghali Polo without lamb?

Yes. The rice is also served with chicken or on its own, but the “ba mahiche” version specifically includes lamb shank.

Can I use dried dill?

Yes. Use less dried dill than fresh because its flavor is concentrated, and distribute it evenly between the rice layers.

Baghali Polo Ba Mahiche recipe card