Zarda: Sweet Saffron Rice
And a Sweet Little Incident… Here it goes:
The other day we were going out for dinner. For once there was some peace in the car. The 2 kids were not fighting, each of them busy doing thier own things. I noticed that my 2 year old had been looking out of the window for quite sometime, when she cried out “the moon, the moon! mama the moon is broken. Someone broke the moon…” She was definitely very upset about it. A few days back she had seen an enormous orange full moon, and now all of a sudden it was just a slice. I wish I had an as imaginative an explaination as her beautiful mind. Later on she herself figured that the cloud must have bitten a piece out of it, since the cloud is the only thing that can reach it!!
Now for the Sweet Saffron Rice… one of my friends mom had made this for a Diwali party, & all I remember of how this was done was she used orange juice and of course saffron. I looked for a Zarda recipe with orange juice, but did not find one. All the ones were everything I have written down, except for the use of orange. But since I wanted to use the Orange Juice in it, I made my own sugar syrup with Juice. This is a delicious Warm, Fluffy, Sweet dessert very common in Pakistan. I have heard of some people using Fresh Rose Petals for this dessert, but I have not used any.
This is being sent to the Rice Mela-Celebrating Rice in Different Forms hosted by Shrivalli of Cooking for all Seasons.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup of Uncooked Basmati Rice
- 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala (also available in Indian Groceries)
- 2 Tablespoon of oil
- 2 Tablespoons of Ghee (You can use the store bought Ghee too)
- 1/2 Cup Orange Juice (freshly Squeezed or Store Bought)
- 1 Tablespoon of Orange zest
- 1/2 Cup White Sugar (adjust this to how much sweet you want it to be)
- 1/2 Teaspoon Saffron
- 2 Cloves
- 1″ Stick of Cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cardamom Powder
- 1/4 Cup Raisins
- 1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds
- A Pinch of Orange or Yellow Food Color
- Toasted almonds for Garnish (Optional)
Note: You can use walnuts, pistachios, or any dry fruits in this
Preparation:
Wash thoroughly & Soak the Rice in cold water for 1/2 hour.
In a pan, mix Ghee, Orange Juice, Orange zest, Sugar, Saffron, Cloves, Cinnamon, Cardamom Powder, Raisins, Almonds & Food Color & boil till it reduces to about half the amount. Set aside.
Boil 2.5 cups of water, rice, oil and the Garam Masala.(The oil prevents the rice from sticking together). When the Rice is long, but still a little stiff enough to be broken, (about half cooked- you will see the grains long with lines in the middle). Drain off the water and spread it out to cool.
Mix & toss the cooked rice with the Orange Syrup very gently & cook at the lowest heat for about 10 minutes or till the rice is almost cooked & the liquid is all gone. Switch off the heat and keep it covered for another 10 minutes. Do not overcook the rice. The last part of cooking should be done when the heat is switched off & it stays covered. This way the rice stays distinctly separate.
Garnish. Serve Warm as a dessert.
Adding another sweet note: Sorry for posting this so late.
Viki has presented me a Chocoholic Award.
Thanks a lot Viki!!
Sounds rich..i love the sweet raisins in the rice.
haa so cute ur daughter ‘s imagination. I love the recipe and I had made long time back using the same ingredients, it was delectable and scrumptious.Thanks for reviving my memory and would like to make it soon.
Someone broke the moon? LOL How cute is she!
It can get quite challenging to answer such questions… 🙂
umm flavorful rice.. nice post..
What a sweet little girl and you say she is only 2? That is awesome.
I loved orange flavor in everything and loved the idea od using it in the rice.
Your daughter is so sweet. Sometimes kids ask questions and it is really difficult to answer.
Rice must have tasted wonderful with the orange juice etc….
Keep compiling such sweet talks by your cutie pie … and do keep sharing with us. 🙂
Zarda sounds like our very own mishti bhaat …. with a difference. Love it. 🙂
Zarda Saffron Rice looks really rich…..and is tempting….the story of Broken Moon is chooo chweet ur princess is adorable…
So cute story..wat an imagination..Saffron rice looks really delicious..can smell the aroma of the rice with orange zest, orange juice, garam masala etc etc…
Soma,
Zarda…This is a must have dish in back home in any festival…But I have almost forgot about it…Thank you Soma for reminding me…I will make it soon….
Lovely recipe ! Looks so delicious. Cant wait to try this out !
Thats such a wonderful dish!..thanks for sending.
BY THE WAY –
Did anyone tell you that whatever you have written in the ABOUT page touches the heart deeply.
You have not only written about yourself, but you have resonated the essence of many women..many mom(s)
I often read n re-read your ABOUT page.
Hats off to you.
You do make wonderful recipes.
Thanks all of u!!
& yes my little one is lot of fun, & i sometimes wish our imaginations would stay like a 2 year old child’s… it would have been so uncomplicated.
Mohana Thanks a lot for appreciating my”About page” 😀
Soma, why is comment posting disabled in your latest bread post? I was trying to leave a comment there, and it was not allowing me…
I mean I was wondering if it was a glitch or you knew about it…
Zarda flavoured with orange sounds delightful to me. Looks very appealing.
Don’t kids come up with the most interesting stories? Its just nice the way the look at things.
cute story… makes sense to me.. it must be the cloud’s fault!
How cute !
and the rice dish looks just delicious..
hugs and smiles
soma,
i want to know that if somehow at the end you realise that sugar is low what should be done to inhance sugar.pls reply me instantly if you can:)
What I can think of is, add very fine sugar ( or powder the sugar) and add it to the hot rice and gently stir the sugar in for it to dissolve. Do not cook it, while doing this, or the rice might burn or will be over cooked. Do not add water as this will over cook the rice too. If the rice has cooled down, microwave it & stir in the powdered/fine sugar. if u use grainy sugar, it will take longer to disslove.
let me know how it turns out. Hope this helps!!
Keep on blogging! 🙂
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