Bahgali Polo

This is the number one, all-around favorite in my household. It literally translates to beans and rice, but it is, oh, so much more than that. See notes for vegetarian options. You can use other beans for this recipe, such as broad beans and fava beans. This also works well with chicken in place of the lamb.

• Preparation Time: 20 mins
• Cooking Time: 1 hr 10 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins
• Calories: 898 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• ½ cup butter, divided
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen lima beans
• 2 ½ pounds basmati white rice
• 2 pounds lamb, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 5 tablespoons dried dill weed, or more to taste
• 1 pint plain yogurt

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Thoroughly rinse rice and transfer to a large bowl. Pour enough water over the rice to cover by a few inches and soak for 1 hour; drain.

Step 2

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Cook lima beans in boiling water until tender, 7 to 10 minutes; drain.

Step 3

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add salt and rice to the boiling water and cook until rice is partially softened, about 11 minutes; drain.

Step 4

Season lamb with cinnamon, salt, and pepper.

Step 5

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir lamb in melted butter until completely browned, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer lamb to a bowl. Cook and stir onion in skillet until translucent, about 7 minutes. Return lamb to skillet; add dill and cooked lima beans. Remove skillet from heat.

Step 6

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; add 1 tablespoon hot water. Spoon about 1/3 the partially cooked rice into the saucepan. Layer about half the lamb mixture over the rice layer. Repeat layering 1/2 the remaining rice, the remaining lamb mixture, and finishing with the remaining rice. Cut the remaining 3 tablespoons butter into cubes and arrange atop the top rice layer.

Step 7

Place a cover on the saucepan, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until the rice is completely tender, about 30 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and let the mixture cool for 10 minutes before serving with yogurt.