Lahori Zarda
Sweet saffron rice: basmati cooked with sugar, saffron and orange food colouring, studded with nuts, raisins and candied fruit. The wedding-and-Eid table sweet rice; eats as a dessert or alongside savoury biryani.
Overview
Basmati is parboiled with saffron, orange colouring, whole cardamom and cinnamon until 80% cooked, then drained. A separate pan makes a sugar syrup with crushed cardamom; the parboiled rice is added back to the syrup pan with ghee, raisins, nuts and dried fruit. The mixture is steamed under a tight lid for 15 minutes to absorb the syrup. Finished with rose or kewra water and a scatter of toasted nuts.
Ingredients
Rice
- 400 g aged basmati rice (rinsed, soaked for 30 minutes)
- 2 litres water (for parboiling)
- ¼ teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 teaspoon orange food colouring (or a generous pinch of saffron alone)
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick (small)
- 4 cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
Sugar syrup
- 300 g caster sugar
- 100 ml water
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 4 tablespoons ghee
Add-ins
- 50 g raisins (or sultanas)
- 30 g flaked almonds (lightly toasted)
- 30 g cashew halves (lightly toasted in ghee)
- 30 g pistachios (slivered)
- 50 g candied (or glacé fruit, mixed; cherries, orange peel, melon seed; traditional but optional)
- 20 g charoli (or sunflower seeds, optional)
To finish
- 1 tablespoon rose water (or kewra water; or a 50/50 mix, the Lahori signature)
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
- 2 tablespoons silver leaf (vark; optional, for festive plates)
Method
Stage 1 - Bloom the saffron
- Crumble the saffron into 2 tablespoons of warm milk; rest for 10 minutes.
Stage 2 - Parboil the rice
- Bring 2 litres of water to a boil in a wide pot.
- Add the orange food colouring, the bloomed saffron, the green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
- Add the soaked rice.
- Cook for 6-7 minutes, until the grains are 80% cooked (still firm at the centre).
- Drain immediately in a colander.
Stage 3 - Make the sugar syrup
- In a wide, heavy pan with a tight-fitting lid, combine the sugar and 100 ml of water.
- Place over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes until the syrup thickens slightly (the consistency of warm honey).
- Stir in the ground cardamom and 2 tablespoons of the ghee.
Stage 4 - Add the rice
- Tip the parboiled rice into the syrup pan.
- Toss very gently with a wooden spoon (don't stir aggressively; broken grains kill the look).
- Scatter the raisins, half the toasted almonds, half the cashews, half the pistachios and the candied fruit over.
Stage 5 - Steam
- Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of ghee over the top.
- Cover with a tight-fitting lid.
- Place over the lowest heat (use a heat diffuser).
- Cook for 12-15 minutes (don't lift the lid).
- Pull from the heat and rest, still covered, for 10 minutes.
Stage 6 - Finish
- Lift the lid and drizzle the rose water (and kewra water if using) across the top.
- Sprinkle the ground nutmeg over.
- Fluff gently with a fork.
- Transfer to a serving plate; scatter the remaining nuts and pistachios on top.
- Top with silver leaf (vark) if using.
Notes
- 80% parboil: Crucial. Fully cooked rice at the parboil stage breaks down when tossed in the syrup; the dish becomes a sweet rice pudding instead of a pulao-style zarda.
- Sugar syrup, not water: A syrup gives even sweetness; sugar added directly to the rice ends up in patches.
- Kewra is the Lahori signature: It's what distinguishes Lahori zarda from any other regional sweet rice. Use a careful hand; too much is perfumey-cloying.
Storage
- Refrigerate up to 4 days; reheat covered with a tablespoon of water.
- Freezes well in portions for 2 months.
More like this
Lahori Chana Pulao
Whole chickpeas are soaked overnight and simmered until tender (or pressure-cooked). The chickpea cooking liquor is measured and reserved as part of the rice cooking liquid. A fried-onion base is built in ghee with whole spices, ginger-garlic paste and ground spices, and the cooked chickpeas are folded in. Soaked basmati is toasted in the base, then the measured cooking liquor goes in for the steam. A scatter of fried onion and coriander finishes.
Kashmiri Pulao
Saffron is bloomed in warm milk to draw the colour and aroma. Basmati is rinsed, soaked and drained. Whole spices, sliced almonds and cashews are toasted in ghee, then sultanas and pomegranate seeds are folded through. The toasted rice goes on top with milk-spiked water and the saffron milk, and the pot is covered to steam. Finished with a scatter of more nuts, fried onions and pomegranate seeds.
Lahori Chicken Pulao
A chicken yakhni (broth) is built first by simmering chicken pieces with onion, ginger, garlic, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cardamom and bay until the meat is just tender. The broth is strained and measured; the chicken is reserved. Basmati is soaked, fried briefly with cinnamon, cumin and clove in ghee, then cooked in exactly the right amount of strained yakhni. The chicken is folded back in for the steam. Finished with fried onions and fresh coriander.
Lahori Mutton Biryani
Mutton is marinated overnight in yogurt with browned onion, ginger-garlic, Kashmiri chilli, garam masala and dried plums (aloo bukhara, a Lahori signature). The marinated meat is slow-cooked in its marinade until tender and the masala has reduced to a thick, oil-slicked gravy. Basmati is parboiled in salted water with a sachet of whole spices. The biryani is built in layers: meat, rice, fried onion, saffron milk, mint, repeated; sealed under a tight lid for the dum.