Sour Cherry Rice (Albaloo Polo)

Ingredients:

(Serving 4-6 people)

3 cups basmati rice

1/2 jar sour cherry jam (preserve of in brine or fresh where available)

(I prefer Persian/Greek/Turkish or Yugoslavian cherries. California sour cherry has not much flavor)  

2 tablespoon of slivered almonds

 2 tablespoon of slivered pistachios

A pinch of saffron, grind and melted in hot water

1 medium onion

 2 tablespoon of corn oil or olive oil

How to make it:

make the plain rice 

(Biol rice in water with one table spoon of salt for 7-8 minutes until half cooked, then drain the water out and set aside)

chop or finely slice the onion and saute' until golden brown

add the pistachios/almonds/sour cherries

Heat and mix for about 2 minutes

Add oil in a non-stick pot

Pour the some of the plain rice (about one inch high)

Add a few spoon of cherry/nuts mixture

Add one more layer of rice

Add a few spoon of cherry/nuts mixture again

Continue until all the ingredients are used

Top with a some of the rice dipped in the liquid saffron for a better presentation

Close the pot  tight with its top (you may use a paper towel to seal the heat & steam) and turn the heat of high for about 40-50 seconds and then reduce to low. Let the rice in pot get steamed slowly for about 20-25 minutes and the rice grains fluff up.

This is a sweet & sour dish and vegetarians will love it  

Enjoy!