Lubia Polow Rice with Green Beans

My brother in law's father make the best Lubia Polow imaginable, actually he make the best Iranian Rice period. He likes to send a big pot of Iranian rice to my family, as you can imagine it always dessapear pretty quickly. The best part is, it is so good that we don't even seem to need a side dish, other then some fresh herbs. Thank you Mr. AE :)

Makes 6 servings

3 cups basmati rice, wash - soaked in salted water for an hour or two, then drained
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 stick cinnamon
1½ tsp advieh (Persian spice mix)

1 lb ground lamb or meat
2 lbs green beans, cut into ½-inch long
½ tsp limu-omani powder (Persian dried lime powder)
3 tbs canola oil
salt and pepper
2 tsp ground saffron, dissolved in 2 tbs hot water
4 tbs butter, melted

• In a large sauce pan, cook the onion with canola oil until soft and translucent. Add garlic, cinnamon, advieh, limu-omani, and the ground lamb or meat. Stir, cover the sauce pan and cook for 20 minutes on low heat. Uncover the pan, add green beans and limu-omani powder, season with salt and pepper. Cook another 10 minutes on medium heat.

• In a large pot set over high heat, bring about 8 to 10 cups of water to a boil. Add drained rice, boil briskly for about 10 minutes, gently stiring once or twice with wooden spoon to loosen the grains that might stuck in the bottom. Drain the rice in a large fine-mesh colander.

• Place about 2 ladles of rice in the bottom of a large nonstick pan, add a layer of meat-green bean mixture, repeat alternating layer and make a shape of pyramid. Drizzle with saffron water. Wrap the lid with a clean kitchen towel, then cover the pot with this lid to prevent the steam to escape. Make sure that your towel is securely tied, and no piece of this towel is hanging lose that might catch a fire. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes on the lowest heat.

• Open the pot, drizzle the rice with melted butter, gently mix and fluff the rice. Transfer to a large serving plate. Serve at once. If you like you can serve this with fresh herbs, such as lemon basil, spear mints, cilantro and parsley. 

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