Recipe: Roasted salmon with sour cherry rice (albaloo polo) from Rumi’s Kitchen 

Seafood season never really goes away, but with summer on the horizon, many people’s minds look to the water. Chef Ali Mesghali of Rumi’s Kitchen shared his recipe for roasted salmon and sour cherry rice (albaloo polo), including a grill-friendly variant.

People who aren’t familiar with Persian cuisine often call it “aromatic.” Persian kitchens are stocked with ingredients like dried limes, sour cherries (albaloo), and a multitude of fragrant spices such as saffron.

Mesghali’s recipe incorporates Persian staples, including saffron bloomed in hot water, rosewater, and lime juice, but also makes use of widespread ingredients and at-home tricks for adapting the dish. For example, rather than calling for July-harvest sour cherries, the rice recipe calls for frozen cherries and includes a step for imparting that trademark tart flavor.

This roasted salmon recipe feeds six and is a great option for your next indoor or outdoor dinner party, especially if you’re firing up the grill for a night with friends on the patio. Check out the full recipe below.

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Roasted salmon ingredients

• Six 8-ounce skin-on salmon filets
• 3 cups yellow onions, chopped
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• Zest of 2 lemons
• Zest of 2 limes
• Interior pulp of 2 lemons
• Interior pulp of 2 limes
• 1/2 cup Louisiana Hot Sauce
• 1 tbsp. white vinegar
• 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp. saffron, ground (steeped in 1/4 cup hot water)
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup lime juice
• 3 tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbsp. black pepper, ground

To make the marinade

1. In a blender, combine onions, vegetable oil, lemon and lime zest and fruit, starting on low intensity and increasing blender intensity until a smooth consistency is achieved.
2. Combine white and red vinegar, soy sauce, saffron water, hot sauce, lemon juice, lime juice, kosher salt, and black pepper into a large container and mix.
3. Pour blender mixture into liquid mixture and whisk until fully blended. Refrigerate.
4. Preheat oven to 500 degrees or light grill.

Cooking instructions

1. Place salmon filets skin-side down in a foil-lined lipped sheet pan.
2. Once oven or grill is hot, ladle enough of marinade to fully coat each piece of salmon (if a lot of marinade pools in the pan and you are cooking in the oven, transfer filets with marinade to fresh sheet pan).
3. Place filets on hot grill, skin side down, or insert sheet pan with filets into oven.
4. Cook until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees, or less if you desire the center of the salmon not to be fully cooked.

Sour cherry rice ingredients

• Basmati rice
• 1 lb. cherries, frozen
• 1 1/4 cup white sugar, granulated
• 1/2 tsp. rosewater
• 1 tsp. saffron, ground (steeped in 2 tbsp. hot water)
• 1/8 cup plus 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Note: Rumi’s Kitchen uses lemon juice to make the cherries sour. You can also purchase dried sour cherries from an international market or an online marketplace like Persian Basket, based in Johns Creek. 

Cooking instructions

1. Cook basmati rice per package instructions. Reserve 1 cup.
2. In a large pot, heat the frozen cherries and granulated sugar on low flame until the sugar has completely dissolved.
3. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the mixture without breaking the cherries.
4. Add the rosewater and lemon juice. Slowly fold to incorporate.
5. Remove from heat.
6. Gently fold cherry mixture into rice to desired ratio. Serve on large platter.
7. Mix reserved 1 cup of basmati rice with saffron water. Place in center of plattered rice.
8. Serve with salmon.

Serves 6 people.