Persian Rice and Beans Recipe

Green Bean Pilaf (Persian rice and beans) is one of the traditional and very popular Iranian dishes, which is prepared with various ingredients. You can make green bean pilaf according to your taste with either meat or chicken. Below is the full and step-by-step tutorial on how to make green bean pilaf.

Ingredients (4 People):

Green beans: 3 Cups

Rice: 4 Cups

Minced meat: 300 Grams

Tomato paste: 2 Tablespoons

Garlic: 2 Cloves

Onion: 1 Bulb

Tomato: 2 Bulbs

Salt and pepper: As needed

Turmeric and oil: As needed

Green Bean Pilaf Recipe

1. To prepare a delicious green bean pilaf, remove the ends of green beans, chop them on a board, and then put them aside.

2. At this step, peel an onion and garlic and chop them on the board. Next, put a large pan on low heat and pour a little oil in it.

3. As the oil gets hot, put the onion in the pan and fry it until it becomes light; then, add the garlic to it and wait until they become a little golden. Thereafter, chop tomatoes and keep them ready.

4. As the onion and garlic get golden, add minced meat to them and keep frying until the color of the meat fully changes; then, add the chopped tomatoes and mix the sauce well.

5. At this step, as the water of the meat and tomatoes fully evaporates, add the chopped beans and cook until they soften a little. After that, pour a little oil into a small pot like a milk boiler and put it on the heat.

6. Next, pour tomato paste into the pot and keep frying until the oil turns red and the raw smell of the tomato paste disappears; then, remove the pot from the heat and add the tomato paste to the ingredients in the pan.

7. Now, as the ingredients get cooked well, remove the pan from the heat and keep it aside until the sauce cools down. After that, pour water into a suitable pot up to half and add a little salt to it.

8. You can also put a little turmeric into the pot for a yellowish and colorful pilaf. Put the lid on the pot and set high heat so that the water boils faster.

9. At this step, wash the rice well and drain the water, and while the water is boiling in the pot, pour the rice into it and wait about 6-7 minutes; then, test a grain of rice between your teeth.

10. If the edges of the rice grain were fully soft and the center was hard, it is the best time to drain the rice. Drain the rice and pour oil on the bottom of a pot suitable for cooking the green bean pilaf—you can also add lavash or tortilla pieces or potato slices at the bottom to have scorched rice with them.

11. Next, pour 1-2 spatulas of the rice into the bottom of the pot and add a little bean sauce on it, some rice again, and then some bean sauce on it, until finished.

12. Put the lid on the pot and keep it on heat. First, increase the heat for 3-5 minutes until steam fills the pot; then, decrease the heat to a mild temperature to let the pilaf get cooked over time.

13. As the pilaf is fully cooked, mix the rice and bean sauce inside the pot slowly with a spatula until the sauce gets fully mixed with the rice. Finally, the pilaf is ready to serve.

As a personal experience, adding some cinnamon and/or lemon juice to the pilaf can make it even better.