Lubia Polo Recipe (Persian Green Bean Rice)

4.88 from 33 votes

Lubia Polo Recipe (Persian Green Bean Rice)

Lubia polo is a classic Persian green bean rice recipe that's flavored with warm and aromatic spices. Follow along to learn how to make this tasty recipe using my step-by-step recipe and tips.

Prep Time30

Cook Time1

Total Time1 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Persian

Servings: servings

Calories: 512kcal

Author: Shadi HasanzadeNemati

Ingredients

1 lb fresh green bean cut into ½ inch pieces
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion chopped
8 ounces ground beef
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon tomato paste
½ cup water

Rice:

6 cups water
2 ½ cups Basmati rice
1 ½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 potatoes sliced (½ inch thickness)
¼ cup bloomed saffron

Instructions

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan or a pot. Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion until golden brown, add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Add in the turmeric, cayenne pepper, curry, cinnamon and salt to the ground beef and cook for a 5 minutes.
Add in the tomato paste and water. Mix well until everything is combined. Stir in the green beans and bring it to a low simmer. Cover and cook until the green beans are fully cooked, about 20 minutes. Add in more water if needed, the mixture shouldn't be dry. Taste to make sure the flavors are to your liking. Turn the heat off and put the mixture aside.
To make the rice, bring a pot of water with the salt to a rolling boil. Wash the Basmati rice two to three times to discard excess starch.
When the water starts boiling, add the rice and boil for about 6 minutes until the rice is par cooked or al dente. The rice is ready when you're able to break a rice grain into two pieces using your thumb and index finger, but the rice still has to be hard in the middle. The outer layer is soft but the grain is still hard in the middle. (See more notes about this on How to make Persian rice and tahdig. )
Turn the heat off and place a colander in the sink. Lift the pot and pour the rice into the colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Place the pot back on the burner and turn the heat to medium high. Once the bottom of the pot is dry, pour 3 tablespoon vegetable oil into the pot and arrange the potato slices so they cover the bottom of the pot.
Scoop one third of the rice into the pot over the potatoes. Layer with some bloomed saffron and one third of the green bean mixture. Repeat until you're out of rice and filling, make sure the rice is shaped like a mountain, meaning you have more rice in the middle than around the edges. Poke holes in the rice using the end of a wooden spoon or spatula.
Pour ⅓ cup water around the edges, wrap the lid in a clean kitchen towel and place it on the pot (This is for the towel to absorb the steam, resulting in a fluffy rice). Turn the heat to medium high (but not too high) and cook the rice for about 15 minutes. Lift the lid to see the steam escape and then pour 3 tablespoon vegetable oil on the rice.
Cover again and cook for another 30 minutes until the rice is fully cooked and the flavors are fully combined. Fluff the rice a bit to have the filling and rice mix completely.
Serve with Salad Shirazi and plain yogurt sprinkled with dried mint.

Notes

You can make the green bean filling a day in advance and lightly heat it before layering it with the rice to make sure it has the right consistency.
The best pot to use for this recipe is a nonstick pot.
Instead of potatoes, you can use lavash or pita bread to make tahdig.
To make vegetarian lubia polo, leave out the beef and use mushrooms instead. I recommend using a combination of white button mushrooms and baby bella mushrooms.
Store the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Reheat in a pan with 2 tablespoons of water over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
To freeze this rice dish, place it in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw it in the fridge overnight and reheat in a pan.

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