Sabzi Polo ba Mahi – Fried Fish with Saffron and Herb Rice
Sabzi Polo ba Mahi is a classic Persian dish which translates to “herb rice with fish”. Iranians around the world don’t only prepare this delicious on Shab-e Norouz, the night before Norouz. Norouz (the Persian New Year at the beginning of spring), but any day from autumn through spring.
Sabzi Polo ba Maahi can be prepared with different kinds of fish. In northern Iran, the go-to fish for this dish is mahi sefid (white fish), which can only be found in the Caspian Sea. Mahi sefid is my favourite (probably because that’s what my Maman used) but in other regions across Iran, people use fish like Mahi Kafaal, Kapour, Aazaad, Halvaa, Rashgoo, and many more.
All of them are exclusive to Iran, so if you live elsewhere, you have to substitute it. Some prepare Sabzi Polo Mahi with salmon, sea bass, rainbow or sea bream. I usually go for sea bass, because its flavour comes closest to the taste of mahi sefid.
The fish is fried and served with aromatic saffron and herb rice, bitter oranges (narenj), and pickled garlic (sir torshi). You can find bitter oranges in some supermarkets during the season, but you can also serve them with lemons.
Pickled garlic is another essential side for Sabzi Polo baa Maahi. You can find it in most supermarkets, or make it yourself. The latter takes time though. I might show you in a separate post in future. Let me know if you’d be interested in that!
Another side, that makes this dish even more delicious is smoked fish! My Maman used to send me smoked fish from Iran, bless her. Now I discovered that smoked mackerel actually tastes very similar to the smoked fish in Iran. So that’s a great alternative if you want to give the dish a hint of smokiness.
When it comes to the ‘main’ fish, you can go for whole fish or fillets. This time I used fillets. It’s a little more convenient for when you have guests because they don’t have to remove the bones.
Cook the most popular Persian dishes at home with the help of my e-book.
Time
Drying time for herbs: 2 h
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 1h
Total: 1h 15 min
Ingredients (serving 4)
For the fish
2 whole large sea bass or 4 small ones (approx. 1 kg / 2.2 lbs together)
If you prefer, you could use 4 sea bass fillets
4 bitter oranges or lemons to serve
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt to taste
For the rice
400g basmati rice (2 cups)
30g/1oz fresh parsley (about half a bunch)
30g/1oz fresh dill (about half a bunch)
30g/1oz fresh chives (about half a bunch)
30g/1oz fresh coriander (about half a bunch)
2 tbsp dried fenugreek (if fresh fenugreek is available to you you can use 15g/0.5oz fresh fenugreek instead)
10 cloves garlic (about 1 bulb)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp saffron
2 tbsp salt
2 ice cubes
A couple of lettuce leaves for lettuce tahdig (optional)
Method of preparing Sabzi Polo baa Maahi
2 hours in advance: Wash the herbs
Wash the herbs and spread them out across a clean kitchen towel to dry. Allow at least 2 hours for the herbs to dry thoroughly.
Bloom the saffron
If you have saffron threads, grind them using a pestle and mortar. Transfer the ice cubes to a glass and sprinkle the ground saffron over it. Keep the glass aside in a warm place.
Season the fish
Once your fish is clean, meaning it’s gutted, washed and all the scales are removed, make a few cuts on both sides, so it can absorb more of the spices. If you have fillets, only make cuts on the skin side. Season both sides and the inside of the cuts with turmeric, paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, and salt.
If you are seasoning the fish ahead of time, you can slice a lemon or bitter orange and lay the slices on top and inside the cavity of the sea bass. Cover it and put it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it.
Chop the herbs and garlic
Finely chop the herbs and combine them in a bowl. If using dried fenugreek, combine it with the fresh herbs now.
Peel and finely chop or slice the garlic, the choice is yours. Add it to the herb mixture and combine it well.
Parboil the rice
Wash the rice by moving it around with your hand in a bowl of water and then draining it. Repeat this process 4 to 5 times.
Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add 2 tbsp of salt to the water. Don’t worry about it being too much. Any excess will be rinsed off later. Once the water is boiling, add the rice to it. The temperature will drop, so bring it up to bring the water to boiling again asap.
After 3 minutes carefully remove the rice corn with a spoon to see if it is parboiled. You can split the rice corn and look at it. The outside should be soft and translucent, but the centre should still be firm and opaque.
It may take anything from 3 to 10 minutes to parboil the rice to this stage. Check on it every minute or so and be sure to keep an eye on the time, so next time you’ll know how long this particular rice brand takes to parboil.
Once ready, drain the rice in a colander and rinse it with cool water to wash off the excess salt and interrupt the cooking process.
Layer the rice
Add 3 tbsp of vegetable oil to a non-stick pot with a lid and turn the heat on medium. If you want to make lettuce tahdig, lay a layer of lettuce leaves on the bottom of the pot. Don’t worry about them laying perfectly flat. The rice will weigh them down enough for them to touch the bottom of the pot.
Add a layer of white rice on top of the lettuce. Then sprinkle a small handful of herbs on top. Repeat this process, creating several layers until all the ingredients are used up.
Poke three holes in the rice with the other side of a wooden spoon. This will allow the steam to rise more easily. Pour 2 tbsp of water over the rice. Line the lid with a clean kitchen towel, so more moisture can be absorbed.
Once you see steam rising from the pot, firmly cover it with the lid and reduce the temperature to something between low and medium. Let the rice steam for 45 minutes.
Fry the fish
In the meantime put a large frying pan on high heat and add the vegetable oil. You can test if the oil is hot enough by holding your wooden spoon in. If bubbles build around the spoon the oil is hot enough to fry the fish.
Carefully transfer the fish into the pan and fry until it has the desired colour and crispiness, then turn it around. A medium-sized sea bass takes about 5 minutes on each side but the time may vary depending on the size of the fish. If you have fillets, fry the skin side first. Fillets should take less time to fry than whole fish.
Serve and enjoy
Replace the lid with an upside-down plate and carefully flip the rice over. Remove the tahdig to serve separately.
Then transfer a quarter of the rice to a bowl and combine it with the saffron water. Once the rice turned evenly yellow, arrange it on top of the white herb rice on a serving plate.
Serve your fish with herb and garlic rice, fresh bitter oranges or lemons and pickled garlic. If this is your first time eating Sabzi Polo ba Mahi, note that the fish is almost shredded with hands or a fork, and then combined with the rice. You can also shred a piece of smoked fish and mix it in. Then season everything with bitter orange or lemon juice. Everyone does this on their own with their own plate. It’s part of the fun. Enjoy!
I’d love to see your Sabzi Polo ba Mahi! 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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