Pelow Shirin - Festive Persian Rice Dish

DIRECTIONS

• For candied orange peel:
• Coarsely grate orange peels and put in a small saucepan.
• Cover with 1 liter water and bring to a boil, then drain and repeat this process (to reduce the bitterness).
• Cover peels with the sugar and add 1 L water.
• Bring to a boil and then simmer, stirring.
• After 15 minutes, taste it. It should be very sweet syrup. If it's not, add sugar. If it's too thick, add some water.
• Simmer until rind looks translucent around the edges and is swimming in sugary syrup.
• For roasted chicken:
• Put whole chicken into an oven roasting dish and drown in the orange concentrate and pats of margarine.
• Cover and roast in 375°F oven until cooked (approx 1 1/2 hours).
• When it is done, let it cool slightly in the covered pot until you can safely peel off the skin and cut into bit-sized pieces.
• Drown the pieces in the chicken's sauce until it is time to serve.
• For carrot mixture:
• Heat 50g margarine and oil in frying pan and sauté the carrots for 5 minutes.
• Add the cinnamon, then add any of the optional dried fruits or nuts and cover and simmer a few minutes longer, until everything has softened.
• Add the candied orange peel with its syrup.
• For rice:
• Rinse rice until no longer starchy (water should be clear, not milky).
• Boil rice with 4 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt, then simmer for 7 minutes. Do not remove the lid, rather leave the rice to cook in the steam for 1/2 hour.
• Putting it all together:
• Drain carrot-orange mixture, keeping syrup to be drizzled on according to taste.
• Add the carrots and chicken pieces to the rice and serve.