Albaloo Polo or Sour Cherry Rice With Meatballs is one of the most famous Persian dishes, which is very tasty, vibrant, and nutritious. This dish is perfect for a spring/early summer meal because you can easily find sour cherries in local grocery stores. Of course, you can freeze sour cherries to enjoy this dish all year! You can also use frozen sour cherries to make sour cherry jam or sour cherry syrup. Red cherries, along with saffron rice and meatballs, are really unmatched by anything else. I guarantee this Albaloo Polo recipe will become a staple in your home!
About This Recipe
Rice is one of the main items of Iranian cuisine. Fluffy Persian rice is either served with stew or cooked in the form of mixed rice (Loobiya Polo, Baghali Polo, Sabzi Polo, or Albaloo Polo). Sour cherry rice is nothing but a combination of Persian saffron rice, sour cherries, and meatballs. You can remove the meatballs from this recipe and have a delicious and vibrant vegan plate. You can also replace meatballs with chicken. All three versions of this dish are very tasty.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Easy to Make: You don’t need to have a lot of experience in Persian cuisine to cook a delicious Albaloo Polo. Following a few tips when cooking Albaloo Polo you will have a flavorful rice dish for special occasions.
- Loaded with flavors: This dish is loaded with saffron, sour cherries, and fragrant rice.
- Customizable: Albaloo Polo can be served as a delicious lunch or dinner. It pairs well with chicken, meatballs, or minced beef.
Albaloo Polo Ingredients
- Sour cherries: Whether the Albaloo Polo is sweet or sour depends on your taste. If the sour cherries are ripe and sweeter, you can add less sugar. You can also add 50 to 100 grams more sugar to sweeten the rice.
- Meatballs: Made with a mix of pepper, salt, onion, and ground beef. Super easy to come together and tastes incredible!
- Rice: To make Persian dishes, It is better to use high-quality Iranian rice. Be sure to serve Albaloo Polo with saffron rice.
- Bloomed saffron: When rice is cooked you can mix a few tablespoons of rice with bloomed saffron and use it as the topping.
How to Make Albaloo Polo?
- Rinse rice until the water is clear. Soak rice in a large bowl of water. Add 1 tablespoon salt and stir to dissolve. Let it sit for 1 hour.
- Wash and pit fresh or frozen sour cherries. Put the sour cherries in a saucepan sprinkle sugar on them and put on a gentle heat for a few minutes to soften. Once softened, remove from heat and strain into a bowl. Put the excess cherry syrup back on the heat to thicken slightly. To prevent discoloration of sour cherries, use a copper, enamel, or stainless steel pot.
- Peel the onion and grate it. Gently squeeze the grated onion and drain the extra water. In a bowl, mix the grated onion, minced meat, salt, and pepper. Then make small meatballs with your hands. In a skillet over medium heat, add oil and saute meatballs for about 5-10 minutes until nicely browned.
- Drain the soaked rice. Add fresh water into a pot. For every cup of rice add two cups of water. Place the pot on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
- Add 1 tablespoon of salt to the boiling water. Add drained rice to the pot of boiling water and give a quick stir. The rice is done after 8-10 minutes when it begins to rise to the top and the water comes back to a boil. Check the rice is cooked by trying a grain. Break one grain in half. Rice should be soft on the outside but slightly hard in the middle. Pour rice into the colander to drain; then set aside.
- In a large pot heat 2 tablespoons of oil or butter. Arrange potato slices or Lavash naan.
- Scoop one-third of the rice into the pot. Layer with one-third of the cooked sour cherries and add some meatballs. Repeat until you’re out of rice and filling and shape it into a pyramid.
- Cover the pot and cook until the rice begins to steam. Then lower the heat. In the middle of cooking, mix 1/4 cup of sour cherry syrup with some butter or oil and pour it on the rice. Cook Albaloo Polo with low heat because the cherry syrup will burn easily.
- Mix a few tablespoons of rice with bloomed saffron. Serve with meatballs, some cooked sour cherries, and saffron rice.
Albaloo Polo With Chicken (Albaloo Polo Ba Morgh)
You can use fillet or chicken breast to cook Albaloo Polo. Fry chicken pieces in hot oil until the skin is crispy and golden. Add chopped onion into the saucepan and fry for a couple of minutes until soft and golden. Then add turmeric, salt, and pepper and stir for a few minutes. Put the chicken pieces in a pot. Pour 2-3 cups of boiling water and cover the pot. Allow the chicken pieces to cook with gentle heat for about 1 to 1.5 hours. Add 2 teaspoons of bloomed saffron 10 minutes before you turn off the heat. Cook sour cherry rice according to the recipe and serve with saffron chicken.
Expert Tips
- To prevent discoloration of sour cherries, use a copper, enamel, or stainless steel pot.
- Do not place the pot on high heat, as the bottom layer will burn easily.
- Using cinnamon, saffron, red pepper, and cardamom will make rice more delicious.
- Another way to cook this delicious dish is to cook the rice and sour cherries separately and mix them together when serving.
- If using slivered pistachios and almonds, soak them for at least an hour and saute for 3 to 4 minutes.
- The amount of sour cherry juice should not be too much because you have to boil it a lot and in this case, the color of the cherries will change and darken.
- You can add sour cherry syrup to the rice after cooking. Mix a little rice with thickened sour cherry syrup in a small bowl and use this mixture for garnish.
- Set aside a small bowl of cooked cherries to garnish the rice when serving.
FAQs
What Is Albaloo Polo Made Of?
Sour cherry rice, also known as “Albaloo Polo” in Persian cuisine, is a delicious and flavorful dish. It typically consists of steamed rice mixed with a variety of ingredients such as sour cherries, meatballs or chicken, and seasonings.
How to Store and Reheat Persian Sour Cherry Rice?
You can keep Albaloo Polo in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat the rice, transfer it to a pot. Add a splash of water to prevent the rice from drying out. Cover and put the pot on medium heat until it heats up and steams.
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Ingredients
- 4 cups rice
- 500 g sour cherries
- 500 g minced meat
- 1 large yellow onion
- Bloomed saffron and butter as needed
- 250 g of sugar
- salt and pepper
Instructions
Step 1
Rinse rice until the water is clear. Soak rice in a large bowl of water. Add 1 tablespoon salt and stir to dissolve. Let it sit for 1 hour.
Step 2
Wash and pit fresh or frozen sour cherries. Put the sour cherries in a saucepan sprinkle sugar on them and put on a gentle heat for a few minutes to soften. Once softened, remove from heat and strain into a bowl. Put the excess cherry syrup back on the heat to thicken slightly. To prevent discoloration of sour cherries, use a copper, enamel, or stainless steel pot.
Step 3
Peel the onion and grate it. Gently squeeze the grated onion and drain the extra water. In a bowl, mix the grated onion, minced meat, salt, and pepper. Then make small meatballs with your hands. In a skillet over medium heat, add oil and saute meatballs for about 5-10 minutes until nicely browned.
Step 4
Drain the soaked rice. Add fresh water into a pot. For every cup of rice add two cups of water. Place the pot on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
Step 5
Add 1 tablespoon of salt to the boiling water. Add drained rice to the pot of boiling water and give a quick stir. The rice is done after 8-10 minutes when it begins to rise to the top and the water comes back to a boil. Check the rice is cooked by trying a grain. Break one grain in half. Rice should be soft on the outside but slightly hard in the middle. Pour rice into the colander to drain; then set aside.
Step 6
In a large pot heat 2 tablespoons of oil or butter. Arrange potato slices or Lavash naan.
Step 7
Scoop one-third of the rice into the pot. Layer with one-third of the cooked sour cherries and add some meatballs. Repeat until you're out of rice and filling and shape it into a pyramid.
Step 8
Cover the pot and cook until the rice begins to steam. Then lower the heat. In the middle of cooking, mix 1/4 cup of sour cherry syrup with some butter or oil and pour it on the rice. Cook Albaloo Polo with low heat because the cherry syrup will burn easily.
Step 9
Mix a few tablespoons of rice with bloomed saffron. Serve with meatballs, some cooked sour cherries, and saffron rice.
