Baqala Polo; Rice With Beans and Dill Weed (here served with lamb) recipe from Iran

Baqala Polo Iranian Rice With Beans and Dill Weed
(This is VERY good!)

3 cups long-grain rice, well-rinsed
* 8 cups water
* salt
* 1/4 cup melted butter
* 1/8 teaspoon saffron, dissolved in 2 tbs warm water (optional)
* 1 lb frozen lima Beans
* 1/4 cup dried dill weed, or 3/4 cup fresh
* Iranian yogurt and spinach (Borani-Ye Esfenaj)
* 1 lb spinach, fresh or frozen
* 2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced
* 2 tablespoons oil
* salt and pepper
* 1 cup plain yogurt

Directions To Prepare Iranian Rice with Beans and Dill Weed (Baqala Polo)
* Cook lima Beans until done.
* Drain.
* Set aside.
* Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
* Add rice to water.
* Boil 5-10 minutes , until rice is no longer crunchy, but still firm.
* Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
* Drain rice in colander.
* Mix Beans and dill weed with the rice.
* Put half of the melted margarine in the bottom of the rice pot.
* Put the rice back into the pot, a spoonful at a time, heaping it into a mound, not touching sides of pot.
* With a chopstick or similar tool, poke holes in the rice in several places.
* Pour the remaining melted margarine over the rice.
* Cover the underside of the pot lid with a dish towel, and put lid tightly on pot.
* Cook rice about 20 minutes over medium heat, then turn heat to low, and cook for another 30 minutes.
* The rice on the bottom of the pot should become golden and crispy.
* Soak bottom of pot in cold water for a few minutes, to loosen this.

* Put rice onto a serving platter, surrounded by chunks of crispy rice.
* Take 2/3 cup of the rice, mix it with the dissolved saffron, and sprinkle over the rest of the rice as a garnish.

* Cook spinach in lightly salted water until tender
* Drain well.
* Chop.
* Set aside.
* Heat margarine or oil in a pan.
* Add onions, and fry until golden.
* Add spinach and fry together briefly.
* Turn off heat.
* Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
* Transfer to serving bowl or dish.
* Mix in yogurt.

Mujadara
-Middle Eastern comfort food, made with lentils, rice, and onions.

What you need
1 Cup Lentils
1 Cup Rice
3 1/2 Cups Water
4 Onions
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
Serves 4–6

How to put it together
Slice the onions. The onions should be sliced long, so they look like a rainbow versus diced into small pieces.
Heat pot on med-high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil and 1/2 an onion. Cook until onion is caramelized.
Add lentils, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, add rice and 1 Teaspoon Cumin. Cover and simmer for additional 20 minutes.
Heat a frying pan over med-high heat. Add the remaining 1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil and remaining onions. Cook until fully caramelized and blackened.
We used green lentils & yellow onions for this dish.
We usually serve our Mujadara with hummus & pita.

Belize Rice and Beans Recipe

Let’s start with the most Belizean of all dishes: rice-and-beans, the staple of Belize Cuisine. Although originally considered primarily a Creole dish, today it’s eaten daily by all and is simply called Belizean rice and beans. While, of course, nobody can make rice-and-beans as delicious as the grandmother of the first Belizean you ever talk to, the following is pretty much a recipe for a successful ‘beans’ as it is commonly called by weekend partygoers when they stop to purchase a plate late night in downtown Belize City from a variety of street-side sellers. Picture: Belize Beans and Rice is a variation of Rice and Beans.
Recipe for Belizean rice-and-beans derived from the original Meighans Beans recipe:
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. Red Kidney Beans 2 plugs Garlic (crushed)
1 tsp. Salt
1 cup coconut Milk (either squeezed from grated coconut or bought prepared, canned, or made from powered variety)
½ tsp. Black pepper
½ tsp. Thyme
2 lbs. cleaned Rice
1 medium Onion (sliced)
6-8 cups of water
(optional) 1 small pigtail or salt beef or pieces of bacon
METHOD
1. Wash the beans, then soak beans for 4 hours, using the 6-8 cups of water. If you are using distilled water, then soaked beans only needs 2 hours to soften.
2. Boil beans until tender, with the garlic, onion and pig’s tail/or salted beef or bacon pieces. Note: pre-wash the pigtail or salt beef and cut off excess fat. You can use a pressure cooker to cut down on the time.
3. Season beans with black pepper, thyme and salt. Note: You may opt not to add the salt if you used salt beef or pigtail above.
4. Add coconut milk. Stir and then let boil.
5. Add rice to seasoned beans. Stir, then cover. Cook on low heat until the water is absorbed and rice is tender. If necessary, add more water gradually until rice is tender. Note: Usually, one cup of rice absorbs two cups of water, although rice grains can vary in the amount of water they absorb. To warm up leftover rice-and-beans, you can sprinkle with water to re-moisten.
Belize Rice-and-beans, with its several accompaniments, can be found on most restaurants’ menus. A variation is rice-and-peas (made with black-eyed peas instead of with red kidney beans).
And a sister dish, but definitely different, is beans-and-rice, which is the stewed beans served with white rice (not cooked together like its sister dish) and also served with either potato salad or cole slaw, plantain, and your choice of meat or fish.
You might also want to check out our related Belize Tilapia Fried Fish Recipe Page.
One of its distinctive ingredients, coconut milk, is also a main ingredient in several other Belizean dishes. One of these is seré, which is a delectable dish, usually made with fish, swimming in a seasoned coconut milk sauce laced with okra and ground foods like cassava and cocoa. The sere is eaten with grated green plantain or often with white rice.
-from Belize.com, Belize recipes.

And here are some other great foods made with legumes and rice from around the world: