Rice and Dal

Ancient Persia was so well placed along the trade routes between China, India, and the rest of the known world that it had a look at anything interesting moving in either direction. We have evidence of rice cultivation there as early as 1000 B.C.E., most likely as a result of trade with India, and know for certain that rice was part of the diet of the luxury-loving Persians by 400 B.C.E. Wheat was the grain for the general population; rice was for the more affluent, cooked with fruit, orange peel, and saffron, forerunner of the festive pulaos and biryanis of today.