Rice with herbs and fish

This much loved and popular dish, which meets the taste of adults and children, is traditionally prepared on the thirteenth day of each new year (which in Iran begins on March 21) when it is customary for you to leave home and spend a day outdoors. 'open, enjoying nature and the spring air, perhaps eating packed, near a stream. The fish that accompanies this green rice can be chosen from the numerous white meat fish varieties of our seas, whole or in fillets; it can be simply fried in boiling oil as it is (gutted and washed, of course) or cut into slices, passed first in beaten egg, salt and turmeric, breaded and fried, or even baked or grilled.

Ingredients for people 4

• 450-500 g of basmati rice
• 500 g of fresh mixed aromatic herbs (in equal measure coriander in leaves, parsley, dill, chives, tarragon, the green part of the leek; if you use a mixture of dried herbs, 5 spoons are sufficient, to which you can add anyway plenty of fresh parsley or the fresh herbs you have available)
• 100 g of oil
• 1 teaspoon of powdered and dissolved saffron pistils in 4 spoons of hot water.

Preparation

Boil the rice for a few minutes in salted water and drain it. Wash, drain and chop the herbs; then let them dry and then brown with oil in a non-stick pan. If you only use dried herbs, first soak them in warm water for 20 ', then drain and squeeze them before using them as fresh. At this point, place the rice and herbs alternately in a high-sided pan until finished. When steam begins to form, add a drizzle of oil, cover and continue cooking the rice, adding boiling salted water and more oil from time to time and only if necessary. When cooked, color a few handfuls of cooked rice with saffron dissolved in very little water and garnish the rest of the rice once it has been poured onto a serving plate.