Name: Yazdi Polow with Eggplant & Pomegranate
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: Servings: 4
Cuisine: Iranian
Ingredients: 1 cup fresh pomegranate seeds (1 large pomegranate)*; 1 hot red chili, seeded and sliced; 2 cups long-grain white basmati rice; 2 tablespoons salt; 6 Chinese eggplants (about 2 pounds); if using other types of eggplant, peel and remove bitterness*; 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 cup fresh basil, or mint, or dill; 8 tablespoons vegetable oil, butter or ghee; 1 tablespoon sugar; 2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped; 2 cups pomegranate juice; 1 tablespoon pomegranate paste*; 1 teaspoon mustard or cumin seeds.; 1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced; 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed; 1 tablespoon organic rose petals

Preparation info

Servings:
4

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
1 hr 15

Appears in

Silk Road Cooking

By Najmieh Batmanglij

Published 2000

About

Marco Polo visited Yazd on his journey from Italy to China in the thirteenth century. Yazd was at the intersection of the trade routes that linked China, India and the West, and continues to be a center for silk in Iran. It is also the last center of Zoroastrian Iran. Although very much in the desert, Yazd is fed by a system of qanats (subterranean aqueducts) that bring water in from a nearby mountain. The almonds and pomegranates of Yazd are the tastiest I have ever eaten.