Beef & Green Bean Persian Rice

For the beef and green bean mixture:
Add ground beef into a large pot and thoroughly mix in the pureed onion. Mix in salt, pepper and turmeric. Don’t be shy with the seasoning. Put the pot on medium heat. Using a spatula, break the beef into small pieces. The beef will release some of its own liquid as it’s cooking. When this liquid has evaporated, cook for 2 more minutes, mixing around to give the beef a bit of a sauté. Add tomato paste to beef mixture and mix for another 2 minutes before removing from the heat.

Place green beans in another pan or pot and heat on the stove on medium-low with the lid on. After 10 minutes, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix them around for a couple minutes until the color deepens just a bit to give a light sauté. Remove from heat. Add the green beans to the pot containing the beef.

Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan used to cook the green beans. Turn heat to high and add the chopped onion. Mix around to fry the onion until it browns (about 5-10 minutes). Turn off the heat and tilt the pan to drain away the oil to one side of the pan. This oil can then be discarded.

Mix together beef mixture, fried onion, green beans, and cinnamon in the large pot on medium heat. Add more salt and/or pepper if needed.

For the rice:
Rinse uncooked rice about 5 times to get rid of excess starch and impurities. Cook rice according to package instruction for al dente making sure to salt the water. When done turn off the burner, pour rice into a colander and rinse the rice using cold water so it stops cooking.

Add enough olive oil to that rice pot to cover the bottom. You’ll use this for making the crispy rice (Tahdig). Combine the saffron and hot water in a small bowl.

Layer the rice, saffron-water mixture, and meat-green bean mixture into the pot to combine everything. You can mix the contents very gently.

Poke about 6 holes all the way down the rice to the bottom of the pot using the handle of a spatula or the back of a butter knife. Place the lid on top of the pot and put burner on medium heat for 10-15 minutes. This step will help to start forming the crispy rice (Tahdig) at the bottom of the pot. When steam rises to the lid (this is easy to tell with a clear lid, otherwise wait about 5 minutes) remove the lid and add the butter or an equivalent amount of olive oil all over the top of the rice. Place a dish towel underneath the lid to catch the steam and keep it from dripping back onto the rice and put the lid back on the pot. Leave it covered like this for about 25-30 minutes on low heat to finish cooking the rice properly and form the Tahdig (crispy rice).

Turn off heat and serve. Using the wooden spatula, you can get to the bottom of the pot to break the crispy rice (Tahdig) into large pieces and serve alongside the dish for a crunchy treat. If you like, this meal may be accompanied by salad, pickled vegetables (Torshi), yogurt, and/or herbs (Sabzi Khordan) such as radish, green onion, cilantro, basil, etc. Enjoy!