Gheymeh Nesar - Persian Jewelled Rice with Meat
Gheymeh Nesar is a divinely luscious dish from Qazvin, Iran. This luxurious rice dish is a celebration of color with a heavenly taste. Gheymeh refers to the small pieces of meat and Nesar means something like ‘offering’, highlighting how precious this dish is, which is why it is often prepared on special occasions.
Other than with Loobia Polo, the rice is combined with the stew in the end, at serving time. It is then jewelled with caramelised barberries, bitter orange peel, and slivered almonds and pistachios. The many warm spices in the sauce contribute to the multifaceted flavour of this mouthwatering, sweet and sour dish.
Here is a short video of the cooking process on my Instagram.
You can download this recipe as a printable PDF for a small fee here.
Cook the most popular Persian dishes at home with the help of my e-book.
Time
Soking: over night
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 2 h
Total: 2 h 10 min
Ingredients (serving 4)
For the stew
500g/1.1lbs lamb or beef leg or shoulder
Bones, that come with the meat (optional)
1 onion
5 cloves garlic
5 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp tomato paste
5 tbsp dried barberries + 1 tbsp to garnish
4 tbsp slivered pistachios + 1 tbsp to garnish
3 tbsp slivered almonds + 1 tbsp to garnish
3 tbsp julienne orange peel + 1 tbsp to garnish
6 tbsp rosewater or 1 tsp rosewater essence, diluted with water
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground saffron
2 ice cubes to bloom the saffron
1 tbsp dried rose petals to garnish (optional)
Salt to taste
For the rice
400g/2 cups basmati rice
Freshly boiled water
4 tbsp vegetable oil (if you want to make Tahdig)
1/4 tsp ground saffron
2 ice cubes to bloom the saffron
2 tbsp salt
Method for cooking Gheymeh Nesar
Preparation
The evening before
To eliminate the bitterness from the orange peel transfer them to a bowl with cool water and let them soak overnight. In the morning drain the water and replace it with fresh water. Let it soak until you start preparing Gheymeh Nesar. If the orange peel still tastes bitter you can boil it for 5 minutes.
Prep the sauce
On the day
Transfer the ice cubes to a glass. Bloom the ground saffron by sprinkling it over the ice cubes. Set it aside in a warm place to melt into saffron water. (You can make the saffron water for the stew and the rice in the same glass)
Cut the meat into 3cm / about 1.2-inch cubes.
Skin off and finely chop the onion and garlic.
Wash the barberries in a sieve to let the water drain.
Searing the meat
Sear the lamb pieces over high heat in 4 tbsp vegetable oil until golden brown all around. Remove the meat from the pan.
Caramelising onions and garlic
Gently caramelise the onion over low to medium heat in the same oil you seared the meat in. Add more oil if needed. After about 15 minutes add the garlic and gently fry both together for a few more minutes.
Get the stew cooking
Keep the heat on low.
Return the meat to the pan with the caramelised onion and garlic.
Add the tomato paste, followed by all the spices. Combine everything well.
Add the bone marrow if you have one.
Add 470ml/2 cups of freshly boiled water.
Season with salt and let the stew simmer for 1h 15min or until the meat is perfectly tender.
Add more boiled water if needed at any time. Remember, the goal is to have a thick creamy sauce, not a watery stew.
Caramelise the orange peel
Try the orange peel that you have left to soak in water. If it still tastes very bitter, you can boil it in water for a few minutes, drain it and try it again. You can repeat the process a couple of times, if necessary. Once the orange peel tastes only slightly bitter and orangey, it’s ready.
Heat a small pan with 2 tbsp sugar and 4 tbsp water in it. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the orange peel to it and let it caramelise for 5 minutes. Set it aside.
Prep the rice
Bring a large enough pot of water to boil and dissolve 2 tbsp salt in it. Don’t worry, you will rinse most of the salt off later.
Wash the rice in a bowl by adding cool water to it, moving it around with your hand, draining the water, and repeating this process 3 to 4 times to remove the rice starch as much as possible. This results in fluffier, less sticky rice.
Add the rice to the pot and keep the water boiling. Let the rice parboil until the rice corns are soft on the outside but still have a bite in the centre.
How long this process takes depends on your rice. I’m using Tilda Pure Basmati Rice and it takes 4 minutes for the rice to cook to this stage. It might take anything from 3 to 7 minutes.
Once your rice is parboiled, drain it in a strainer and immediately rinse it with cold water to interrupt the cooking process and wash off any excess salt.
Place a non-stick pot over medium heat. Cover the bottom with 4 tbsp vegetable oil. You can combine some of the parboiled rice with a few tsp saffron water and add it to the pot first for a nicer looking tahdig. Then add the remaining parboiled rice.
Poke a few holes halfway through the rice, using the handle of a wooden spoon. This helps the rice steam evenly.
Once you see steam rising from the pot or you can hear the sizzling sound, cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel, close it firmly and reduce the temperature to low. Let the rice steam for about 50 to 55 min over low heat.
Finishing the stew
After 1h and 15min of letting the stew simmer, add the butter, almonds, pistachios, caramelised orange peel (remember to keep some of each as garnish), barberries, and saffron water (keep a few tsp to combine with the rice) and rose water to the stew.
Remove the bones if there are any.
Stir the ingredients in and let the stew simmer for a final 15 minutes.
Taste the stew and adjust the salt to your taste.
Combine the rice and the sauce and serve your Gheymeh Nasar
Once the rice is ready, flip the pot carefully using a plate which is larger than the pot. Remove the Tahdig (crispy bits). You can serve it separately.
Transfer a small part of the rice to a bowl and combine it with a few tsp of saffron water until it is evenly distributed and the rice has a bright yellow colour.
Spread a few tbsp of sauce on a serving platter, followed by a layer of rice.
Repeat this until you used up all the rice and the sauce, finishing with a layer of rice.
Add the saffron rice on top. Garnish with dried rose petals, almonds, pistachios, and caramelised orange peel and serve.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe. I’d love to see your Gheymeh Nesar! Feel free to tag me with @igotitfrommymaman on Facebook or Insta so I can take a look and give you a thumbs up!
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