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Emmy Award-winning actress Shohreh Aghdashloo knew she wanted to be an actress since she was 5 years old. It helps that her name means “famous” in Persian.

The Iranian-American actress’ prolific career has spanned four decades, and she said she continues in show business because she hasn’t found anything that excites her as much as acting.

She does, however, also enjoy cooking. Aghdashloo learned how to cook by watching her grandmother in the kitchen.

Aghdashloo’s grandmother also taught her about Nowruz, Iranian New Year.

This year, Nowruz fell on March 21 and Aghdashloo showed Jessica a typical Nowruz-decorated table and cooked Sabzi Polo, a traditional New Year fish recipe.

You can follow Aghdashloo on Instagram here, and find out more about her memoir, “The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines,” here.

This segment aired on California Cooking With Jessica Holmes Episode 26.

Shohreh Aghdashloo’s recipe for Sabzi Polo 

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups of long-grain basmati rice
  • 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
  • 1 stick of butter
  • 2 tablespoons of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper
  • 1/2 tablespoon of saffron
  • 3 bunches of fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 3 bunches of parsley, chopped
  • 3 bunches of chives, chopped
  • 3 bunches of dill, chopped

Ingredients for white fish:

  • 2 white fish (each about 3 pounds each)
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1/2 tablespoons of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of pepper
  • 2 eggs

Instructions:

  1. Boil water in a large pot. Add salt and rinsed rice.
  2. Set stove on mid-high heat. Don’t let it over boil. When rice is just hard in the middle and soft on the outside (al-dente), turn off stove and rinse the rice in a colander under cold water so that the rice stops cooking.
  3.  Mix the rice with all the herbs and garlic.
  4. Add oil, a stick of butter, half a teaspoon of saffron in the pot and mix.
  5. Divide the mixture in half in a separate bowl and put aside. The pot has to be teflon to make a kind of rice crust.
  6. In the remaining rice, pile the mixture of rice and herbs with the end of a wooden spoon.
  7. Create three holes in the body of the rice, cover the lid and reduce heat to medium for 10 minutes.
  8. Carefully uncover and wrap it in a large kitchen towel.
  9. Allow cooking time of 40 to 60 minutes, depending on the stove.
  10. Carefully flip over the pot of rice on a large platter and serve.

Directions for white fish.

  1. Mix 1 cup of flour and 1/2 tablespoons of salt, one tablespoon of pepper and place on a small cooking tray.
  2. Beat 2 eggs in a separate bowl.
  3. Dip fillet pieces of fish into the egg mixture for coating and then coat with flour mixture.
  4. Fry on a medium heat on both sides until golden.
  5. Place fish on platter with rice and enjoy!