Published 2015
Woman attends to her rice field near Rasht by the Caspian Sea.
Polow, often called pilaf in English, is loosely used by Iranians to refer to any kind of cooked rice. However, technically, polow is not just rice but a combination of rice, fruit, herbs, vegetables, and sometimes meat, as reflected in the dishes I’ve included here.
Chelow, for which I’ve also provided a recipe, is plain rice that has been carefully cooked, parboiled, and steamed. This results in a fluffy rice with each grain well defined, while the bottom of the pot has a crisp, golden-brown crust known as tah dig.
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