Kalam Polo Recipe - Persian Cabbage Rice
Kalam Polo is a flavourful Persian rice dish with white cabbage and ground meat. The rice is steamed together with the white cabbage, onions, garlic, meat and spices so that it soaks up all the goodness.
I used beef in this recipe but you could also use lamb, a mix of beef and lamb, or a vegan ground meat alternative. You can also leave the meat out completely and it will still taste phenomenal!
This was my late uncle’s dish, which is why I recently made it to commemorate him. Man had he great taste!
Cook the most popular Persian dishes at home with the help of my e-book.
Time
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 2 h
Total: 2 h 15 min
Ingredients (serving 4)
2 cups / 400g basmati rice
0.8 lbs / 350g white cabbage
0.7 lbs / 300g ground/minced beef
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
7 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black pepper
2 ice cubes to bloom the saffron (alternatively you can use a few tbsp hot water)
2 tbsp salt + extra to taste
Optional: 1/2 tsp saffron
Method for cooking Kalam Polo
Prep the ingredients
Saffron is not an essential ingredient in this dish. I used it to give some extra colour and add another dimension of flavour to it, but that’s completely optional. If you’re using saffron, grind the saffron threads using a pestle and mortar. Transfer the ice cubes to a glass. Sprinkle the ground saffron over them and set it aside for later.
Peel the onion and garlic. Slice the onion and finely chop the garlic. Finely slice the white cabbage, as if you were making coleslaw. You can see how long the slices are in this video.
Sauté and combine the ingredients
Sauté the onions in 1 tbsp vegetable oil over medium heat. After 7 minutes you can add the garlic and let both caramelise gently together for another 3 minutes. Remove them from the pan and set them aside.
Add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil to the same pan. Once hot, add the ground/minced beef to it. Let the beef sear and brown nicely for about 5 minutes. You want the liquid to evaporate so that the meat starts to brown. Don’t let it dry out too much though. Remove it from the pan and set it aside.
Add the cabbage to the pan and add 2 to 3 tbsp water to it. Put on the lid and let it steam for 5 minutes. Then remove the lid. Let the water evaporate and allow the cabbage to sauté a little while stirring. Don’t try to brown the cabbage, just let it cook and soften.
After about 10 minutes add the meat, onions, garlic, cinnamon powder, turmeric and black pepper (plus the saffron water, if you made any) to the cabbage. Season with salt and combine everything well.
Parboil the rice
Bring a pot full of water to a boil. Let 2 tbsp salt dissolve in it. Parboil the rice so that it’s soft on the outside but uncooked in the centre (al dente so to speak). This can take anything from 3 to 7 minutes. I use Tilda Basmati rice and parboiling it for 5 minutes is long enough to get it to that stage.
Drain the rice in a colander and rinse it with cool water to interrupt the cooking process and wash off any excess salt. Let any water drain away.
Let the Kalam Polo steam
Combine the parboiled rice with the other ingredients. Add 3 tbsp vegetable oil to a coated pot with lid and place it over medium heat.
Transfer the rice mixture to it and form it into a slight heap shape.
Once you see steam rising from the rice, cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel, close it firmly and reduce the heat to low. Let the Kalam Polo steam over low heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how crispy you like your tahdig.
Serve your delicious Kalam Polo
Once the Kalam Polo is cooked, you can flip the pot, replace the lid with a plate and protect your hands with oven gloves. Remove the tahdig and fluff up the rice to serve. Serve it with Salad Shirazi, pickles or plain yoghurt. Enjoy your delicious Kalam Polo!
I’d love to see your Kalam Polo! Feel free to tag me with @igotitfrommymaman on Facebook or Insta so I can take a look and give you a thumbs up!
Want to save this recipe for later? You can pin it to your recipe board.
Looking for more Persian recipes? Here are more of my free written recipes!
Sign up to Maman’s recipe mail for notifications of new recipes on the blog and special offers on my courses.
Thanks for stopping by! Let’s stay in touch via Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest.