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Persian Rice and Beans with pickled red onions and fried eggs, sunny side up

Persian Rice and Beans with Pickled Red Onions and Fried Eggs, Sunny Side Up

Adapted from New Food of Life, Najmieh Batmanglij
Course Entree
Cuisine Persian
Keyword beans, eggs, red onions, rice
Author TheSpicedLife

Ingredients

For rice:

  • 3 cups Basmati rice

For beans:

  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 1 t ghee
  • 1/2 t turmeric
  • 2 cups large dried beans traditionally would be made with skinned fava beans, see note below*
  • 1 t salt

For dish:

  • Rice from above
  • Beans from above
  • 3 large onions thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
  • 3 medium zucchini sliced into half-rounds, optional
  • 2 1/2 t turmeric
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 t Ceylon cinnamon
  • 1 heaping t advieh
  • 1/4 cup ghee melted
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup pitted and sliced dates

For garnish:

  • fried eggs sunny side up
  • pickled red onions
  • more advieh for sprinkling onto dish, optional

Instructions

  1. Begin by soaking the beans, preferably overnight. Then cover them with water by 2 inches in a heavy pot and bring to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon of ghee, a small onion, chopped, and 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric. Let boil for 5 minutes and then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Make sure the beans remain covered by 2 inches of water. When the beans are barely tender, add 1 teaspoon of salt. Let cook until the beans are the desired texture (some people like softer, some like firmer, that is up to you). Drain and set aside.
  2. Place a pot of salted water on the cook top to bring to a boil for the rice. Preheat the oven to 300 F.
  3. Heat a large, heavy pot such as a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the grapeseed oil. When it is shimmering, add the sliced onions with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are caramelizing and browned. Add water if necessary to prevent scorching. Add the zucchini, if using, toward the end of this.
  4. While the onions are cooking, prepare the rice. Add the 3 cups of rice to boiling salted water. Cook for about 5-6 minutes, until the rice is firm, but no longer crunchy. Drain the rice.
  5. In the meantime, add the 2 1/2 teaspoons of turmeric to the caramelizing onions and stir to cook off any raw taste. Add more salt and pepper, to taste. Add the advieh and cinnamon and stir to roast the spices. Add the drained rice and drained beans and stir to completely incorporated. Mix in the raisins and sliced dates (I won't tell if you want to add more dates!).
  6. Drizzle the melted ghee over the rice mixture. Cover with a heavy lid and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 20 minutes.
  7. Serve with pickled red onions and fried eggs with a soft yolk--don't skip the eggs as they really make the dish. Sprinkle with more advieh if desired.
  8. *When fava beans are called for, I like to substitute with a "local" (i.e., domestic) large heirloom bean, such as Rancho Gordo's Christmas Limas