ZAAFRAANI ZARDA

ZAFRANI ZARDA

ZAFRANI ZARDA......is a festive dish made of boiled rice (golden sehla variety). It looks like a pulao, and is mildly sweet with a heart warming aroma of kewra.  The dish is typically Awadhi and has a very strong influence of Persian cooking in terms of the aroma and liberal addition of dry fruits, also the dum style of cooking. As the name suggests it gets it’s aroma and the festive yellow colour (zard means yellow) from zafran (saffron). Zarda is typically served during a meal or distributed during special religious occasions. One can serve it as a part of the meal spread by itself or as dessert accompanied with rabri. Zarda is served warm, making it appropriate to be eaten in winters.

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 2 cup  Golden Sehla Rice (soaked for 2 to 3 hours)

• 1 ½ cup Sugar

• 6 to 8 Pistachio (chopped)

• 6 to 8 Almond (chopped)

• 2 tsbp raisins soaked in warm water

• ½ cup candy fruit

• 8 Cloves

• 2 tbsp Desi  Ghee (clarified butter)

• 6 Green cardamoms (Choti Ilaichi)

• ½ cup Milk

• ½ tsp saffron strands soaked in ¼ cup of warm milk

• 1 tsp kewra water

• Few petals of red Indian rose for garnish

Method:

·         Boil 1 litre water.

·         Add rice to the boiling water and cook with 4 cloves and 3 cardamoms for 15 minutes.

·         drain all the extra water when the rice is cooked

·         Put the boiled rice in a large bowl. Add milk, saffron, sugar, dry fruits and candied fruits and mix it well.

·         Heat ghee in a pan, fry the balance cloves and cardamom, when they turn slightly brown and an aroma starts to infuse, add rice and mix it well and then put on dum (cover with a tight lid and seal the edges with dough, so no steam is allowed to escape- this process helps retain the aroma) for 5 min on high heat. put it on slow heat for a further 15 mins

·         Sprinkle the kewra water on the warm rice before serving.

·         Garnish with rose petals.

Kewra water is available at all leading food stores. Kewra water can be substituted with rose water.

Nutrition value: the dry fruits provide essential nutrients and an array of health protective bioactive ingredients, making them valuable tools to both increase diet quality and help reduce the risk of chronic diseases.