Name: Oven-Baked Lamb, Eggplant + Barberry Rice (Tachin-e Shirazi/Polow Qalebi)
Prep time: 1 h 40 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 4 h 40 min
Yield: Serves: 6
Cuisine: Iranian
Ingredients: Zest of 1 orange; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; ¼ cup/60 ml oil; ¼ cup/55 g butter or ghee; 3 tablespoons sugar; 1 cup/150 g dried barberries, cleaned; 3 eggs; 2 cups/480 g thick plain yogurt; 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced; 1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced; 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper; 2 teaspoons fine sea salt; 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice; 1 teaspoon turmeric; 3 lb/1.4 kg Chinese eggplants; 3 cups/600 g basmati rice, soaked for 30 minutes, drained, and rinsed; 3 tablespoons oil; 2 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced; 2 teaspoons cumin seeds; 1 tablespoon oil; 2 lb/900 g boneless leg of lamb, or, skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 in/2.5 cm cubes; 1 teaspoon ground saffron threads dissolved in 4 tablespoons orange blossom water

Preparation info

Serves:
6

Difficulty
Complex
Ready in
5 hr

Appears in

Cooking in Iran

By Najmieh Batmanglij

Published 2020

About

Ingredients

lamb

2 lb/900 g boneless leg of lamb, or, skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 in

Method

For the lamb: Place all the ingredients for the lamb (but no water) in a deep, wide skillet, cover and cook for 1 hour over low heat. Uncover, raise the heat to medium, and continue to cook, uncovered, until all the juices have been absorbed. Set aside.
For the rice: In a large nonstick pot, bring 8 cups/1.9l water and