Sabzi Polo ba Mahi is a traditional Iranian dish that is a special dinner for New Year’s night. Many Iranian people cook and serve this delicious cuisine for Nowruz Eve. Mahi means fish and Sabzi Polo is a cooked rice with special herbs. Iranian cuisine offers many fish recipes, especially in the north and south where people living near the sea cook fish in various ways.
Now, I want to tell you my mother’s specific recipe for cooking fish on Nowruz night. Certainly, I will tell you all the different Persian recipes for cooking fish in other articles. On the other hand, there are different dishes and traditions in each city of Iran, and some people who don’t like fish don’t make this dish in Nowruz and make different meals like Reshteh Polo, Dolmeh, and other dishes. Generally, Sabzi Polo ba Mahi is a common and popular food for the new year night.
Ingredients:
For the fish:
. 1 fish
. 4/5 cloves garlic
. 3 tablespoons pomegranate paste or tomato paste
. Salt and pepper to taste
. Turmeric to taste
. Tomato – optional
. Ball pepper – optional
. Dill branch – optional
. Butter -optional
For the rice:
. 4 cups Iranian rice
. Special Iranian herb combination or just dill
. 3/4 cloves garlic – optional
. Salt and oil for cooking rice
First of all, I want to write the fish recipe: depending on your taste, buy a whole fish or sliced fish. If you want to buy whole fish, buy a fish and tell the seller to open the belly of the fish and empty the inside, but don’t take the head and tail of the fish. Or if you want you can buy sliced fish.
Wash the fish after that add salt to all sides of the fish, that is, both on the fish and the inside of the fish belly. Next, do the same with turmeric and after that black pepper (the sequence of adding spices is very important). in a suitable pan pour a little butter or oil, add fish to the pan before turning flame add other ingredients to the pan.
The best seasoning for fish is garlic, for cooking fish add as much as garlic you like! so add sliced garlic to the pan, put slices on the top, and inside the fish. The dill branch is optional in this recipe if you like the dill taste and aroma you can put the dill branch on the top and inside the fish. For papering fish sauce add pomegranate paste to a little hot water, then add this sauce to the pan.
Pomegranate paste is a special Iranian item and using that in this recipe makes it very delicious but if you don’t like or don’t have this paste you can use other types of paste. For example, medlar paste, plum paste, or sour orange paste, If you don’t have any of these items you can use tomato paste. If you like you can put sliced bell pepper and tomato in the pan, but these are not necessary. Garlic, paste, and spices are the main ingredients.
Turn on the stove, cover the pan, and when the pan turns hot decrease the flame and let the fish simmer in the broth of fish and oil. The key is if you don’t see fish broth, it might be because of high flame. Make a mixture of water and oil and add it to the pan so that your fish does not burn. When one side of the fish is cooked, turn it over so that the other side of the fish is also cooked.
On the other hand, it’s time to cook rice for Sabzi Polo ba Mahi we want to cook rice with herbs. In Iran, there is a specific combination of fresh herbs which Iranian called Sabzi Polo (fresh herbs for rice), this combination consists of leek, parsley, coriander, dill, fenugreek, and fresh garlic. Iranian especially chefs mix these fresh herbs to a certain amount and sell them in shops, if you don’t have access to this mixture you can use fresh dill or even dried dill to cook with rice.
In a pot, pour rice and add fresh herbs, now mix them the scale of rice and herbs depends on your taste, if you like more herbs, add more, if not, add less. After that add the amount of water with salt and oil. Add garlic at this stage, add a clove of garlic to the pot for every cup of rice (especially if you use just dill for cooking the Sabzi Polo) Let the rice simmer and cook.
Side Dishes:
Torshi (pickles)
Pickles (Torshi) is the best option for Sabzi Polo ba Mahi, especially Iranian garlic pickles
Fresh garlic
Garlic is a good combination for fish, if you like you can use fresh garlic
Sour orange and lemon
Sour side dishes are very good for serving with fish
Olive
Olive is one of the nicest choices for serving with fish
Zeytoon Parvardeh (a mix of olive)
Zeytoon parvardeh is an Iranian side dish that is made with olive, pomegranate paste, and other ingredients which is very tasty
Koo Koo Sabzi is a food that is served as a meal, appetizer, and side dish. Many people in Iran serve Koo Koo Sabzi with this dish
