Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Zereshk Polo ba Morgh (Barberry Rice with Chicken)
Saffron chicken simmered in a tomato sauce, served with fluffy basmati layered with tart-sweet barberries fried in butter.
Persian · medium · serves 4
prep 30 min · cook 70 min
~1106 cal · 81g protein · 110g carbs · 34g fat · 3g fiber · 6g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Zereshk polo ba morgh is one of the great party dishes of Iran, the rice you find at weddings, festive dinners, and any gathering large enough to fill a platter. Zereshk are barberries, tiny ruby-red berries grown in the eastern province of Khorasan, and their sharp, almost sour tang is the whole point: scattered jewel-like through steamed basmati, they cut the richness of the chicken beside them.
The two halves are cooked apart and married on the plate. The morgh, chicken, is simmered gently with onion, turmeric, and a little tomato until fork-tender, then painted with bloomed for colour and aroma. The barberries are rinsed and briefly fried in butter with a pinch of sugar, just until they plump, because they scorch and turn bitter in a moment.
Mounded with the -stained rice and the glistening berries, and often crowned with a golden crust of tahdig, it is a dish built for sharing and celebration. Tart, fragrant, and beautiful, it is Persian hospitality on a platter.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2.5 lbs bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp , steeped in a little hot water
1/2 lemon, juiced
2.5 cups basmati rice, rinsed and soaked
1/2 cup dried barberries (zereshk), rinsed
Hard to find? dried cranberries, roughly chopped - cranberries are sweeter and larger; use a little less sugar since barberries are sharply sour
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Brown the chicken in a little oil, then add the sliced onion and turmeric and cook until the onion softens. Stir in the tomato paste, add a cup of water, lemon juice, and salt, cover, and simmer 40 minutes until tender. Paint the pieces with half the saffron water.
2
Meanwhile parboil the drained rice in plenty of salted water for about 7 minutes until the grains are soft outside but firm at the core, then drain.
3
Return the rice to the pot with the oil and remaining saffron water, mound it up, cover with a towel-wrapped lid, and steam over low heat for 30 minutes until fluffy with a crisp bottom.
✎ Chef’s note
The towel under the lid traps steam and dries the surface, which is what gives Persian rice its separate, fluffy grains and a golden tahdig at the base.
4
Melt the butter in a small pan, add the rinsed barberries and sugar, and cook very gently for 2 to 3 minutes just until they plump, watching closely so they do not burn.
5
Mound the saffron rice on a platter, scatter the buttered barberries over the top, and serve the saffron chicken alongside.
Persian celebration cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tehran. Ghormeh sabzi is less purely Persian than its reputation suggests. The dried limes are limoo omani, developed in Oman, and ghormeh is a borrowed Ottoman Turkish word for an old method of preserving meat. What is not negotiable is dried fenugreek leaf, without which it becomes a different stew entirely.
🗺️
Iran. Sourness in Persian cooking usually comes dried. Limoo amani, limes boiled in brine and left to dry until they are hollow and black, are pierced and dropped whole into stews, and the same dried lime runs through Gulf cooking further south. The year turns on Nowruz, when the spring table calls for sabzi polo mahi, herb rice with fish.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Iran
Ghormeh SabziIran’s beloved herb stew: mountains of sautéed greens, kidney beans, dried limes, and lamb over saffron rice.
AdasiA warming Persian lentil breakfast stew spiced with turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon.
Ash-e ReshtehOne of Iran’s best-loved thick soups: legumes and a mountain of herbs simmered with reshteh noodles, finished with tangy kashk, sizzled mint, and caramelized onion.
Browse all Iran recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Steamer.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
Make it a Iran meal
SekanjabinDrink
Sholeh ZardDessert
Chelo Kabab KoobidehLunch
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Zereshk Polo ba Morgh (Barberry Rice with Chicken)?
Saffron chicken simmered in a tomato sauce, served with fluffy basmati layered with tart-sweet barberries fried in butter.
Where does Zereshk Polo ba Morgh (Barberry Rice with Chicken) come from?
Zereshk Polo ba Morgh (Barberry Rice with Chicken) is a Persian dish from Tehran, Iran.
Can Zereshk Polo ba Morgh (Barberry Rice with Chicken) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Zereshk Polo ba Morgh (Barberry Rice with Chicken) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Zereshk Polo ba Morgh (Barberry Rice with Chicken) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Zereshk Polo ba Morgh (Barberry Rice with Chicken) take to make?
About 100 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 70 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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