Maygu Polow - Persian Basmati & Prawns

[Alexandria Profile]

MAYGU POLOW, Persian Basmati & Jumbo Prawns ..

A Food Historian & Private
Chef, and his wife, who had taken a few
tours with us in Spain and
Portugal had sent me this
récipe quite a few years ago.

I prepared with a few times, always
with brilliant results.

MAYGU POLOW - Persian Basmati
with Prawns and Fresh Herbs.

3 or 4 garlic cloves to taste, sliced very finely
Fresh Cilantro or Parsley to taste
Fresh Dill with fronds to taste
3 tblsps Fenugreek
2 tsps sea salt
1/ 2 tsp freshly ground black peppercorns
2 tsps red dried chili pepper (guindilla horn shaped or flakes )
2 tsp tumeric
2 tsps ground cumin
1 tblsp ground coriander
1 tblsp golpar
50 grams of sautéed onions or shallots or leek
75 grams of dried currants
Evoo, Ghee or Melted French Butter

For the Prawns:

3 Tblsps Evoo or French Butter
1 kilo or 1.5 kilos of extra large prawns or crevettes
1 tsp lime juice or lime zest
1/ 4 tsp tumeric
1/ 2 tsp coriander
1/ 2 tsp cardamom
1/ 4 tsp sea salt or to taste
1 tblsp fresh sliced finely parsley or cilantro
8 to 10 threads of saffron - sitting in a tiny glass or bowl of wáter
approx 10 minutes.

1) In a large glass mixing bowl, toss together the garlic, the herbs,
salt, ground pepper, chili crumbled, tumeric, cumin, cardomom,
coriander, golpar, sautéed onions, and currants and set aside covered.

2) Whisk together 3 or 4 tblsps Evoo, a couple of tablesps. wáter, a few drops
of saffron threads and wáter they were in, and 2 or 3 large ladles of rice. Spread
this mixture over the bottom of the skillet and then mound alternating rice and the
hers and spice mixture to form a pyramid.

3) Cover and cook for 10 - 12 minutes over médium heat or flame,
and combine the remaining Evoo, wáter and pour over the rice. Wrap
the cover of the sauté skillet, with a dish cloth and cover firmly
so steam does not escape. Cook on low slow flame approx 40 minutes.

4) Now remove from heat and let rest on a damp Surface.

5) Meanwhile, heat the Evoo or French Butter, in another skillet or sauté pan,
and when very hot, dust the prawns in the herbed mixture and sauté ..

6) Re-adjust salt and pepper to taste.

7) Sear each of the prawns for approx 1 minute per side if jumbo sized.

8) Place the rice in molds for lovely plating, and serve the prawns around the
rice.

Totally extraordinary and a lovely meal with this aromatic Persian rice.

Have a lovely weekend.

[Renee Profile]

I used to love to make Persian recipes, Member 461 and love the gentle spice flavourings. I can see that this is a very special recipe! When I am feeling a little more adventurous, which I'm not at the moment, I would love to try it, but not just for myself. I will wait until Colin comes over next time.

[Amyw Profile]

Questions - what is golpar?

You haven't listed the rice in list of ingredients or amount needed , if you could clarify please.also how many people does it serve, as 1.5 kilos of prawns seems a lot. I'm guessing that's their shelled weight?

I'm probably not understanding the recipe correctly , but I'm reading it as the rice is shaped into a pyramid, then covered with a lid for ten minutes, then liquid poured over, then covered and cooked some more, and then moulded while plating? I would've though , unless you're using a tagine to cook the rice in, that once you covered with the lid, the pyramid would collapse anyway . Apologies if I've misunderstood , but I like Middle Eastern food , and wanted to make sure I understood the recipe correctly

[Alexandria Profile]

Renée,

Thank you for visiting ..

Yes, it is quite a lovely treasure !

It is especially lovely for company.

Have a wonderful afternoon.

Kindest reagrds, from Sevilla.

[Alexandria Profile]

Amy,

To answer your questions ..

1) 1 Kilo of médium to large prawns are approx. 24 .. However, if you have 4 to 6 people, that is not very many.

I use extra large or jumbo sized crevettes or what we call "langostinos" or "gambones" which are much bigger ..

We do not remove the shells from prawns. Why ? The Shell provides an enormous amount of flavor, to both the prawns and the rice dish ..

2) I did write 2 or 3 ladles of Persian Basmati, which is 1 cup of this type of ecological Iranian rice = 155grams - 175 grams depending on the rice variety you employ ..

3) GOLPAR = a tiny Persian herb which can be purchased in seed format. Used very sparingly .. It is used in numerous Persian dishes ( rices, stews and soups ) ..

I wrote this recipe quite quickly so, it needs a bit of " re -edit " .. GALOP or GALLOP is a horse´s gait, which refers not to an ingredient but can refer to the combining very quickly of the
ingredients. GALLOP = Rapid movements !


4) I do not use a Tagine to prepare this recipe, however, one can if desired. However, I use the top or lid, of a Tagine or Tajine (Berber) to cover the sauté skillet ..

I do serve it in a Tagine however, which shall provide the initial triangular formation .. and the impacting of the tagine servingware
as I have a large number of them, including a White Porcelain one which is just for serving ( not cooking in any form ) ..

Then, I place a mold on each plate & fill them with the Basmati Rice ( I use pyramids) and then serve this way, but yes, they fall gently onto the plate ..

As mentioned I need to re-edit and shall write Sakkarin, if he can open the post for me to do this.
However, I am in Sevilla and leaving again for Lisbon Sunday after Spanish lunch time .. So, I will have more time Sunday evening or early Monday morning to correct the recipe instructions.

I re-read your message to see if I answered all your enquiries.

Thank you for your interest, have a nice weekend.

[Pampy Profile]

'ere you go, Amy - info. on golpar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_persicum

[Amyw Profile]

Thanks

[Lusciouslush Profile]

So, Pampy - no horse's gait or rapid movements involved then.?!?!

[Alexandria Profile]

Amy.

Hope this answered all your enquiriees ..