Sabzi polow (herbal rice)

 Hi everybody, today I want to share with you a yummy food!

One of the traditional meal we eat in norouz(Persian new year) is Sabzi polow which means herbal rice. Iranian eat Sabzi polow with fish and this food symbolizes the green color of spring and the rebirth of the nature. Fish symbolizes healthy food, water, and refreshment. Iranian love herbs and they either add them to their cooking or eat them fresh!! Yum Yum J




Sabzi Polow Recipe

Ingredients: (4 servings)

• 500 grams of long grain rice
• 1 Kg of herbs (parsley, dill, coriander, fenugreek, spring onion ends)
•  Oil
•  Salt
•  Black pepper

Directions:

Wash herbs and chop them finely, then add salt and black pepper.

Wash the rice until the water is clear then soak it in salted water for 3-4 hours, drain the water.

Pour water in a large non-stick pan until it is half-full and bring it to boil.

Add rice and a spoonful of salt and continue boiling until rice slightly softens, the rice must be half-cooked only.

Pour rice into a drain and wash it with cold water and then rinsed it and mix it with herbs and continue cooking.

Pour cooking oil into the pan and add rice.

You can slice a potato and set them on the bottom of the pan and let them fry a bit. Then put your rice on top of the potatoes.

Cover the pan and cook over low heat for about half an hour.

This food must be eaten with fish. We usually bake the fish in oven and eat it with fresh herbs J

Love and peace to all

Norouz

It’s our new year J

Persians all around the world celebrate Nourouz which means new day. We celebrate the first day of spring and assemble a set consisting of seven items which start with the letter “s” in Persian and this set is called haft seen ( seven “s” ).

Haft seen includes:

Sabzeh (green grass) which is the symbol of nature and rebirth

Samanu(a sweet which is made by wheat sprout only) which is the symbol of prosperity and wealth

Senjed(dried oleaster fruit ) the symbol of love

Seeb(apple) symbolizes beauty

Somāq(sumac fruit) symbolizes the color of sunrise

Serkeh(vinegar)symbolizes the old-age and patience

Haft Seen also includes:

Sonbol (the fragrant flower) symbolizes the coming of spring

Sekkeh(coins)symbolizes prosperity

Candles which symbolize enlightenment and happiness

A mirror symbolising Truth, the reflection of the Real World

Decorated eggs, sometimes one for each member of the family symbolising fertility

A bowl with goldfish symbolising life

Water with a bitter orange in it symbolising Earth "floating" in space

A poetry book, such as the Shahnameh or the Divan of Hafez, or a religious text such as the holy Quran or Avesta

Our Honeymoon

After quite a long time I am back again to write! We were on a short trip in London and it was my first time in the UK. I want to share what I think about London and this is just my personal opinions based on a short trip. We were in Gilford for three days because of my husband’s training and I REALLY loved that place! It was so quiet, peaceful, and greeeeen. I just wanted to spend the rest of my life there in that cute and quiet area.

Although it was cold and cloudy in London, I really enjoyed the happy and free atmosphere there. People seemed happy, they could laugh loudly and tease each other and nobody was paying attention to them. In my homeland Iran, it is considered rude to talk or laugh loudly. As a girl, as a woman, you must never laugh loudly, never speak with a loud voice or you will be labeled as a bad and cheap woman!! I guess for a Saudi woman the situation is the same because my husband is always worried about getting other’s attention.

I saw many women with hijab, many others with shorts!! Many couples kissing and cuddling each other in the romantic afternoon of London eye, some women had covered their face totally and nobody was pointing at them. At madam Tussaud’s museum, I saw a cashier lady with hijab and people were dealing with her the way they were with others. There were also some black parts! I found London not so safe for living. You may find drunk youths near the bars and restaurants and it’s so normal to see homeless people sleeping in the street but I there are also cameras and police everywhere and that was really a positive point.

Our honeymoon was short but beautiful..I learned a lot, experienced a lot and discovered a lot. Many parts were happy, many more sad and disappointing, it was heartbreaking to hear about Japan’s tsunami and we were following up the news every night. We saw some decent and beautiful Japanese youths in the street, I guess they were working for charity to collect money and raise attention. Thanks God we were blessed enough to help them. Although the money we gave was very little, I felt really better to do something. It was also sad to see that Libya was full of blood and fire, I hope that soon Libya sees happy and peaceful days.

love and peace to all