I discovered a great restaurant in Inman Park: Delbar Middle Eastern. I ordered the delicious trout and a wonderful rice dish called Polo Sefid. I would love the opportunity to fix this dish at home. There must be a secret to having the rice turn out so crispy and browned. — Beverly Molander, Atlanta
Delbar owner Fares Kargar tells us this dish is full of memories for him. “It is what my mom cooks when she comes to visit from Iran. She always brings her own freshly made pomegranate molasses, specifically to make this dish while she’s here. During Nowruz, the Persian New Year which falls in March, it is a tradition to start the first meal of the new year with fish.”
Our recipe calls for a mix of orange and lime juice, but Kargar says the dish is even more delicious if you find sour oranges and substitute an equivalent amount of that juice for the orange and lime juice listed here. At the restaurant, they serve a full 1-pound trout to each diner. We couldn’t find trout that large so we tested the recipe with 8-ounce trout and it’s written for this smaller size fish.
Making the rice and having the tahdig (the browned bottom layer of rice and potato) turn out crisp and brown is an art, and may require a little practice to get just right. At the restaurant, the Polo Sefid is prepared in individual servings. If you have 4- or 6-inch nonstick skillets, you might want to make the recipe as four individual servings instead of one large one.
From the menu of ... Delbar Middle Eastern, 870 Inman Village Parkway NE, Atlanta. 404-500-1444, delbaratl.com.
Is there a recipe from a metro Atlanta restaurant you’d like to make at home? Tell us and we’ll try to get it. We’ll also test it and adapt it for the home kitchen. Because of volume, we can’t answer all inquiries. Send your request, your address and phone number to fromthemenu@gmail.com and put “From the menu of” and the name of the restaurant in the subject line.
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