What it means
پلو (polo) is Persian rice that is cooked together with other ingredients folded into the grains, such as herbs, beans, lentils, or barberries. The key contrast every Persian speaker knows is پلو (polo) versus چلو (chelow): چلو is plain steamed white rice served on its own next to a stew or kebab, while پلو already has things mixed in. The word is native to Persian and Iranian languages, and from there it spread outward across the region and beyond, giving Turkish pilav, Greek pilafi, Hindustani pulao, and English “pilaf” their forms.
How to use it
- امشب باقالی پلو داریم. (emshab baghali polo darim.) “Tonight we are having dill and fava bean rice.”
- زرشک پلو با مرغ سفارش دادم. (zereshk polo ba morgh sefaresh dadam.) “I ordered barberry rice with chicken.”
- پلو بهتره یا چلو؟ (polo behtare ya chelow?) “Is mixed rice better or plain rice?”
- سبزی پلو رو خیلی دوست دارم. (sabzi polo ro kheyli doost daram.) “I really love herb rice.”
Cultural note
Polo is at the heart of Iranian home cooking, and many beloved dishes are named with it: باقالی پلو (baghali polo) with dill and fava beans, زرشک پلو (zereshk polo) with barberries, and سبزی پلو (sabzi polo) with mixed herbs, the traditional Nowruz dish served with fish. A prized feature of good polo is the ته دیگ (tahdig), the crisp golden crust at the bottom of the pot. The pilaf-style cooking method, soaking and parboiling rice before steaming it so the grains stay separate, spread from Persian and South Asian kitchens into Turkish, Central Asian, and European cuisine.