- Zereshk Polo ba Morgh.
It's chicken and rice on steroids.
(upbeat music)
- Hi, I'm Melody.
And today we are going to be trying each other's
Zereshk Polo ba Morgh.
- So, Iranian food is very fragrant.
It's not heavy, like punch you in the face spices.
- You need time.
It needs to be cooked for several hours on very low heat.
- Zereshk Polo ba Morgh is one of my all time favorites.
So I love making it.
Whenever I say to the children,
what you guys want for dinner, Zereshk Polo ba Morgh.
- Whenever my mom makes it,
I'm always like going for the Zereshk.
That's mine. It's coming with me.
You guys can take whatever you want,
but that is coming with me.
- It's a little tangy, sour.
My kids don't like it,
so I have to cook the Zereshk on the side
for me and my husband,
and then have the plain rice for the kids.
But they love Zereshk Polo ba Morgh.
- You'd have to have fluffy rice,
you'd have to have each grain that's separated.
- I don't want my chicken to be with lots of tomatoes.
I want the saffron to be the highlight of the taste.
- You want the sourness and the sweetness
of the Zereshk coming through.
- I can't wait. (exclaims)
- [Shirin] What makes my Zereshk Polo ba Morgh different?
I always add some citrusy sort of flavor to it, like orange.
(speaking foreign language)
Which literally means,
like you wanna lick your fingers off it as well,
'cause the sauce of the chicken I make is the best.
- This looks good. It's jeweled rice, what we call it.
Pistachios, you got the saffron rice, you got the Zereshk,
which is the main event.
The chicken.
What's not to like?
- You can smell the orange,
you can smell the citrus in the sauce.
You can't really smell the Zereshk,
'cause the citrus is overpowering it a little bit.
- Obviously, I can smell the saffron,
but I can also smell rose water in this.
So there's definitely rose water,
which is a good thing for me.
And it's nice to have the juice of the chicken on the side,
if you wanna add it.
So yeah, all in all, I'm happy.
- If you were to be given this in a restaurant, 10 out 10.
You know that you're not eating this in your auntie's house.
Mm.
- Yes.
Mm. Good.
I would say the best thing about this dish
is the way the rice is cooked.
The pistachio, and the saffron,
and rose water that's being used, and the Zereshk.
This is special rice.
- Take this away from me.
Because I'll eat the whole lot
and I can't eat anything else.
This is so--
This is really good.
- I need to taste this.
'Cause also, this is from the chicken.
That tastes a little bit like Terry's Chocolate Orange,
which is not a bad thing.
- [Sepi] I love Terry's Chocolate Orange actually!
- It tastes just like that.
So for this dish, I would give it a solid nine.
Very, very nice.
- I would give this dish a 7.5.
(bright music)
I've got a mixed background.
I am a Iranian, Turkish and Iraqi,
so I bring all of these flavors into my food,
alongside the flavors of my husband's heritage,
which is also mixed.
It's got a tiny bit more
and I do like it spiced a bit more.
- This looks great. Again, beautiful presentation.
Just how I would expect.
The smell is very, very different
to how I usually make Zereshk Morgh,
and already tell that whoever's made this
has made it a bit differently, has used different spices.
- I can smell a little bit of garlic as well,
which I don't normally put in my Zereshk Polo.
So I'd rather have it less
and more of the saffron with the chicken.
- If I had my eyes closed
and I was guessing what food this is,
I wouldn't guess Zereshk Polo ba Morgh.
- The chicken is nicely cooked.
Comes off.
- Wow. Not at all what I was expecting.
Full of flavor.
Not the usual Zereshk Polo ba Morgh I am used to,
that I make.
- The flavors are quite subtle, not overpowering at all.
The Zereshk is there.
I prefer it a little bit more tangy.
- That's lovely. That's really, really nice.
She's used spices that we wouldn't typically use,
that I don't typically use.
I like it.
I just don't know if I can eat that chicken
and call it Zereshk Polo ba Morgh.
- I think it's an average Zereshk Polo ba Morgh.
It doesn't have a wow factor for me.
The chicken needs a bit more attention.
- So I would give this dish an eight out of 10.
- I would give this mom, seven out of 10.
- [Melody] I think what would make my Zereshk Polo ba Morgh
different, is that I use saffron, and rosewater,
and Worcestershire sauce,
and it just gives it that really special flavor.
Iranian moms are the ultimate judge.
And my mom gave me the stamp of approval.
And that to me is like an A star. (laughs)
- The presentation is fantastic.
I love the tahdig on the side. Especially sibzamini tahdig.
The potato type is really nice.
- It's very traditional.
You've got the white rice topped with the saffron rice,
and then the Zereshk with the pistachios.
- The chicken smells really lovely.
The sauce is a little bit on the thicker side.
I always like a little bit of the broth on the side.
- It's giving me eat me vibes.
Thanks for this little bit of green.
(Sepi laughing)
Very ready, steady, cook. But I love it.
- Mm. I'm in Heaven, I love it.
- The rice is perfect.
The barberries are perfect too. Like, it's not too sweet.
- The chicken is lovely.
It is lovely spiced.
It's got a nice thickness to it so it does coat the rice,
it doesn't just fall through.
- Even though that it's a chicken breast is not overcooked,
the breast is still moist and nice,
and the thick sauce makes it nice as well.
- What I would improve is personally,
I would put chicken thighs instead of the breast.
- Probably the only let down for me was the sauce.
I like a little bit more runnier sauce.
- I'd give this a solid seven.
- I would score this mom, 9.5 out of 10.
- Yay!
- Oh wow. Fantastic.
I mean like, I am so proud of my Zereshk Polo ba Morgh.
- I think my special secret
is I make my food with lots of love.
- Yeah, I think it was very close.
They were all very delicious.
So, hats off to all the ladies.
Everyone's such a phenomenal cook.
And I've been able to eat delicious food,
so technically, I've won.
(upbeat music)