Vegetarians can also enjoy this rice dish by simply not adding any meatballs. To make this delicious Persian dish, you first have to deseed the sour cherries, bloom the saffron, and marinate the meat.

In Iran, typical dishes include kookoo sabzi (a herby frittata), sabzi polo ba mahi (rice with herbs and fried fish) and reshteh polo (aromatic rice and noodles).