Havij Polo

Last week we threw a division picnic for work. It was tons of fun! For our house, I made Persian food--and tried a new recipe--> I am assuming it turned out beautifully seeing as I had no leftovers!

Ingredients:
4 cups rice (I use Basmati)
oil
4-6 large carrots
water
1lb chicken (I use chicken breasts--and I like more chicken so I used more)
1 medium (unless you're an onion lover like me, I used 2)
salt
pepper
tumeric
1/2 cup sugar (you can add more if you like)

Wash and rinse the rice, then soak in water for a few hours. Add salt to the water you are soaking the rice in

Chop up the onion finely, add to a pan, and fry in oil until it begins turning golden brown in color. At that point add chicken pieces to the pan and saute. Add tumeric, salt, and pepper to the chicken and stir. Finally add a half of a cup of water to the chicken and place a lid on it. Allow it to cook for about 30 minutes.

(I had a little helper)
(The chicken being added to the onions)
The beautiful color after Tumeric has been added


In the meantime, wash and peel the carrots. Then grate them. Heat oil in another pot and add the carrots. Fry them up a bit then add sugar and 3/4 cup of water. Allow the carrots to cook until the water is pretty much gone.



Prepare the rice by bringing it to a boil and then straining it. Once the rice starts getting tender, put half of it in a pot, and then add the cooked chicken, onions, and carrots and put the rest of the rice on top. Add some of the homemade chicken stock and some more oil to keep it moist. Place a towel on top of the pot to allow steam to escape and turn the heat down to low. Allow the dish to cook for an hour.

I served this dish with maast a kheahar (the yogurt and cucumber dish) and a Persian salad (tomatoes and cucumbers) ENJOY!!