Thursday, June 4, 2009

Saffron Rice - A Classic


The moment Nags announced the Monthly Mingle theme as "Ravishing Rice" the only dish came to my mind was "Saffron Rice". I have made this many times and it has always been a hit in my house, never had any left overs with this dish. In indian restaurants this dish is the most expensive one with the use of saffron and dry fruits in it. I have always liked the home made versions better than the restaurant ones, ofcourse there are always few exceptions. This dish is very easy to prepare and results are outstanding. Recently I had been to london on a short trip and i got many small boxes of saffron from there. You get very good quality saffron in UK at very reasonable price and I always ask my friends and relatives to get some for me when they are visiting. Saffron should be stored in cool and dry place and it stays fresh for years. I love this herb, i use it in desserts, veggies and even in my face packs :) Saffron may seem to be very expensive but one little dab of this delectable herb is needed to make something classy and spectacular. I simply adore the aroma and flavor saffron brings out in the food making it so exotic and delicious. Sending this to Monthly Mingle : Ravishing Rice guest hosted for this month by Nags of Edible Garden, master mind of Meeta. Hema from Salt to Taste as passed "I Love Your Blog" award to me, thank you so much girl, it means a lot to me.
Ingredients: 1 cup basmati rice 1/2 cup milk 1/2 tsp saffron strands 8-10 cashews cut into half 10-15 raisins 1 onion sliced thinly 1/2 cup chopped carrots and green peas 5-6 cardamon pods (elaichi) broken 2 small cinnamon sticks 2 green chillies slit 4-5 whole peppercorns 2 small bay leaf 1 tbsp ghee Salt to taste 1 1/2 cups of water Procedure:
  • Wash and soak the basmati rice in cold water for about half an hour.
  • Warm the 1/2 cup of milk and add the saffron strands and let it sit for 5 mins.
  • In a big vessel, preferrably non stick heat ghee, add in cardamon, bay leaf, pepper corns, slit green chillies, cinnamon sticks, cashews and raisins.
  • Saute the dry fruits for about a min, now add in sliced onions and saute for another 2 mins.
  • Now add in soaked rice, carrots and peas and saute for another 2 mins. Rice grains should be nicely covered with ghee.
  • Mix together saffron milk and 1 1/2 cups of water and add in the rice.
  • Season the rice with salt to your taste and cook on medium slow heat for about 15-20 mins.
  • Make sure you donot add more water as we dont want to make rice mushy.
  • Garnish with few saffron strands and fresh coriander.
  • Serve hot with raita and pickle.

52 comments:

  1. saffron rice looking delicious.. parita you rili is a great cook.. i love all ye recipes.. keep it up.. yummyumm.. cant wait to try this out :)

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  2. o0o0 Saffron Rice..looks so mouthwatering..Parita your photography and visualisation has improved and looks much better.."dont take it in a wrong way".. sames happens with me too.

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  3. Never tried Saffron Rice before.. but this looks amazing. I'm off to buy Saffron now :-)

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  4. hi parita,
    saffron rice indeed is a classic :) the pics look brilliant so can imagine how the dish would taste :) haven't made it at home as yet, shall try it sometime.
    I agree with u on the role saffron plays in enhancing the flavour in any dish/dessert, wish it could be a little less expensive here :)
    enjoy
    !
    TC

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  5. What a gorgeous rice dish! I Love all the add ins. I adore saffron, it is well worth the expense.

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  6. This is such a lovely dish...I have never used saffron before..i am thinking of giving it a try after seeing your awesome rice dish :)

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  7. That look really yummy parita..perfect for the event....

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  8. Lovely color... the picture is just amazing... nice entry for the event Parita :)

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  9. Yummy flavorful rice Parita..i used to add saffron in milk when i was pregnant,afterthat i didn't use them..will try to find here and try ur recipe...

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  10. Ohhh my god,, don't show us this kind of delicious food item photos friend. My mind would roam around this food items.

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  11. One fo my fav rice!! It looks rice and yummy.
    Sorry about the lump updates! I had a problem with the site feed and had it fixed yesterday :)

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  12. hai Pariiiiii.... :)
    its looking so good n colorful

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  13. This certainly is a classic! I've made a few versions of saffron rice. I do enjoy eating at Indian restaurants sometimes, but really, home cooked food is the best. Love your photos!

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  14. Thats looking colorful and yummy paritha , nice entry too.. adding saffron gives nice flavour..beautiful and rice has cooked perfectly dear.

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  15. wow! nice recipe ..i have similar recipe for this rice will post that soon :)Thankls for sharng dear pics r awsome

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  16. Lovely saffron rice Parita! And feels good to have it home cooked rather than from a restaurant!

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  17. Yes this is a ravishing dish, I understand why you dont have any left overs!!! so poor me cant ask for those leftover for me :( Nice color and a simple but a rich dish!!! Perfect for the event!!!

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  18. I love the spoon pic with the rice. looks ultra tasty.btw, just a doubt.u have mentioned 1/cup carrots and peas..there is a slash after 1 so am wondering if its 1/2 cup or 1cup. pls clarify

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  19. Thank you gals so much for your wonderful words..this is one of my favorite dish and m glad you all loved it :)

    @A2ZVegetarianCuisine thank you, my pics usually dont come out well..i kinda liked this one..m still learning the techniques :)

    @munchcrunchandsuch thank you dear for pointing out, its 1/2 cup of chopped carrots and green peas, i have edited the post.

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  20. Looks very tasty! So do the rolls:) Just could not comment on each one!

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  21. i lve saffron and the pulav wioth veggies looks delicious........we make a sweet version of saffron rice which is called zafrani pulav....never tried a savory zafrani pulav....nice.
    the rolls are good to look at, must be tasty is all i can say.
    thanks for dropping by parita....do keep coming.

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  22. yummmy. I've never made saffron rice before. I made your eggplant, potato & peas curry last night with roti. yummmmmmy :) thanks Parita for sharing!

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  23. thanks for the clarification parita. I will try this out sometime..the pic is haunting me..

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  24. awesome!! this is indeed a classic recipe!

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  25. Mmm... saffron rice looks wonderful! Just got some new saffron again, looking forward to cooking with it!

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  26. looks colorful & delicious parita ...

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  27. Yummy! This looks gorgeous and I bet the taste is amazing with saffron.

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  28. Wwooww dear!! tats a delicious aromatic rice! looks fabulous..

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  29. Your rice looks perfect. I wish saffron wasn't so expensive, because I love the stuff.

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  30. Gorgeous dish.Looks sooo colorful.

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  31. the way you take pictures
    the way you narrate the recipie
    the colours used

    they are very reader friendly..

    tasty page indeed

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  32. Love the medley of colors in the rice!Too delicious!

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  33. Parita
    check this out
    Angie has replied to u in my post abt the jackfruit thingie

    http://munchcrunchandsuch.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/chakka-thoran/#comments

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  34. I love flavored rice! This recipe looks delicious!

    Cheers and have a great weekend,

    Rosa

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  35. Saffron rice is one of my favourite and yours so flavourful with all the other ingredients added.

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  36. Hmmmm iam late..is the aromatic rice there? or completed? Hmmm looks flavourful and yum....

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  37. I love saffron, in about anything! That subtle aroma... the rice looks beautiful parita.

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  38. I love saffron and like this idea..thanx for posting this recipe

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  39. awesome Parita, looks very colorful!!!!

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  40. Yum...thats looks real delicious and nice click

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  41. Please accept the Award, that I love to Pass it to you!

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  42. Looks gorgeous..Wonderful entry...With saffron on top it looks very rich

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  43. Hi,
    Am new here I love rice and any rice recipe looks good.Saffron Rice looks yummy.

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  44. Parita.... it looks xtrmly goooood...
    I love other added ingredients too..clicks are awesome.

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  45. Parry.... This looks extremely good and healthy !! ;-) The pics are too good !! :-)

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  46. a classic it is! thanks for the entry :)

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  47. oh i love rice :) looks so colourful

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