How to make Khoresh Rivas (خورش ریواس), a delicious Persian Rhubarb Stew. Soft and succulent rhubarb with meltingly tender meat, sitting in a sweet, sour and herby sauce.
500ml(2 cups) water or half strength chicken stock
3TbspEV olive oil
Instructions
Prep Work
Chop up the rhubarb into 2.5cm (1") long stalks.
Dice the meat into bite size pieces if not done so already.
Chop the onions, not too finely.
Chop up the parsley and mint, these don't have to be done finely, as they'll be cooked down.
Let's Cook
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Fry the onions for 3 minutes until they soften.
Add the turmeric, stir, then add the meat. Increase the heat to high and stir to mix.
Add 1 Tbsp of the sugar, stir, then fry the meat for 2 minutes on this high heat.
Add the water or stock, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat down to its lowest setting, cover and simmer for 1 hour, until the meat is done, but not falling apart, as we still have another 30 minutes or so of cooking time. Depending on your meat cut, this may be at the 90 minute mark, as some cuts will take longer to cook. It does also depend on how large your meat pieces are.
At the end of 1 hour, tip in the chopped parsley and mint and cover once again and leave to simmer for 15 minutes.
At the end of the 15 minutes, heat the 3rd Tbsp of oil in large frying pan on high heat and sauté the rhubarb for 1 minute, shaking the pan and flipping the rhubarb.
Then, tip this rhubarb into the stew, cover, and leave to cook for 10 minutes, still on low heat. You can cook it until the rhubarb has all broken down, or stop before that stage. What I do, is fish out about 6-8 pieces, and leave the rest to fall apart in the stew, adding to the texture. Then I add the pieces back and serve.
Taste the stew before turning the heat off. Add the second Tbsp of sugar if you would like it less sour, even more if you prefer it the tartness tampered down. That's it, serve with rice.