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From Māddat al-̣Hayāt, resāla dar ‘elm-e ̣Tabbākī ("The substance of life, a treatise on the art of cooking"), 1595 CE, by Ostad Nūr-Allāh, chef for Shah ‘Abbās. There are 66 recipes in the three-part chapter on cooking rice. I included the 5 related recipes below from Part II. Sour-polāws for the handout, and we cooked one.
līmū-polāw (polāw with lime)
This is a first-class dish. How it is made: Stew a chicken and shred the meat. Then add peeled chickpeas and cinnamon bark, pour on some water and add rice thereto. Also add lime juice thereto. Flavor with sugar and add green raisins and peeled pistachios. Garlic is not misplaced. Thereover add fat, salt to taste, and after that the whole thing is steamed.
[Urtatim says: The typical lime available in most US supermarkets is a comparatively recent species, bred to make the trees thornless. An older lime, often called Key Lime in the US, has a very thorny tree, making harvesting more difficult. The Key Lime is more aromatic than the current standard lime.
līmū-polāw, Another way
White lime, which is brought here from Daragerd, cut into slices, add it therein, and cook the whole thing like a qobūlī, but just the same [as the recipe above] with lime juice, sugar and the other ingredients.
beh-līmū-polāw (polāw with quince and lime)
It is cooked the same way. The difference is that the limes are sliced, and sliced quinces are added. This is quite excellent, but must be flavored with lime juice and sugar.
[Urtatim says: Based on my reading, i suspect that the limes used in this and the previous recipe are sweet limes, which have a long history in the Middle East,as do sweet lemons. Both are not sour and can be eaten out of hand; even the peel is not as bitter as that of almost all other citrus fruits.]
nārenj-polāw (nārenj = sour orange, bitter orange, Seville orange)
This is made the same way. The orange juice must be freshly pressed, however, so it does not taste bitter. Of ingredients and preparation, there is no difference.
[Urtatim says:
-- It is likely that sweet oranges, our most common orange today, were not known in Persia at the time of this cookbook, so will not create the appropriate flavor;
-- Seville/sour/bitter oranges are sometimes available in specialty shops in winter, when they are in season (esp. Dec. through Feb.);
-- Goya brand also makes a bottled juice, which i have never tried, but some cooks have recommended;
-- You can make a reasonable substitute by blending equal parts tangerine/mandarin (or if unavailable, sweet orange) juice and unsweetened grapefruit juice with about 1/4 as much sour lemon juice]
somāq-polāw (somāq = Sumac, a sour, reddish brown spice)
If cooked well, it cannot be distinguished from līmū-polāw [in flavor quality]. Thus it is made: Sumac is crushed, the resulting powder is placed in water. After it has let stand out a bit, stir flour into it, and strain the whole thing through a white cloth and let it drain well. Then beat [the liquid] with egg white and draw off the foam. Then cook this polāw as for līmū-polāw.
[Urtatim says: Sumac can be found in Middle Eastern and halal markets. I have found whole berries, crushed powder (the most common form), and even a bottled liquid]
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