Shola

shola (or sholleh) is the name given to a number of dishes all over the Middle East, Iran, and Afghanistan in which short-grain rice is cooked until soft and thick, with other ingredients chosen according to whether the shola is to be savoury or sweet.

Margaret Shaida (1992) says: ‘According to the culinary historian Charles Perry, sholleh was brought to Persia by the Mongolians in the 13th century. Three hundred years later, some 15 sholleh dishes, mostly savoury, were listed in the Safavid cookery book.’ She goes on to say that nowadays ‘sholleh has all but disappeared from the cuisine of Persia, except for 2 or 3 soup dishes (sholleh ghalamkar) and one very celebrated dessert, sholleh zard’.