Persian Turkey Rice
Dinner Dates
Take your leftovers on a global culinary journey and wow your guests.
Serves: 2
Prep time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
150g basmati rice
1 tbs oil
salt
1 or 2 onions
150g pistachios
150g cranberries or pomegranate (if you don’t mind pips), or dried apricots
saffron (4 strands) or turmeric (1 tsp)
½ lemon zest
bunch of parsley (dill also works)
The Stew
500ml turkey/chicken stock
star anise, bay leaf, 2 cloves of garlic
2 tbs tomato puree
1 tbs black treacle
600g of cooked turkey meat
The Sides
You can serve this on its own, or with roasted fennel, carrots, squash or pumpkin.
Top Tip
If you have some, you could sprinkle some pomegranate seeds over the top to add that Christmas sparkle.
Preparation
The Rice
Wash the rice in a lot of water, twice, then boil the rice in a pan as per the on-pack instructions.
While the rice is cooking, dice the onion and fry in the oil. When they start to brown, sprinkle a little salt, then turn down the heat to low and put a lid on, stirring occasionally. Once the onions are see through, turn off the heat.
Finely chop the pistachios and zest the lemon and add to the onions, along with the cranberries (or pomegranate or apricots) and mix through. It should look a bit like the filling of a mince pie (keep a little to one side for garnish). Finely chop some fresh parsley (and keep some of this to one side for a garnish too).
When the rice is cooked, drain and wash with hot water. Then stir through the onion mixture to combine.
TIP: You can use a rice steamer instead if you have one. If you have over cooked the rice don’t worry - just layer it into a loaf tin instead and bake it.
The Stew
Put the stew ingredients, apart from the turkey, in a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Add a few cranberries or pomegranate (or you can get pomegranate molasses from a specialist shop). Add the turkey. Let it boil for five minutes. Then turn the heat down to a low simmer for at least 15 minutes. You can simmer for a lot longer if you want a thicker sauce. Remove the star anise, bay leaves and garlic before serving
Assembly
When you are ready to eat, turn the rice into a big serving dish and stir in most of the parsley. Place the pieces of turkey on top of the rice, add as much sauce as you want. Garnish with the fruit and nut mix and chopped parsley that you have kept to one side.
