Ingredients (Serves 3-4)
1 cup long grain basmati rice
1 green cardamom, break open
3-4 cups water to par boil the rice
1 tablespoon ghee (substitute with coconut oil for vegan)
1 cup whole milk (use unsweetened cashew/full fat coconut milk for vegan)
3 tablespoon ghee (substitute with coconut oil for vegan)
2-3 green cardamom, break open
2 cloves
1 heaping teaspoon good quality saffron
1 generous pinch of fresh ground nutmeg
3/4 cup granulated sugar (can go upto 1 cup)
3 tablespoon roasted, unsalted nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews) + more for garnish
2 tablespoon golden raisins + more for garnish
Notes
Use good quality spices in this recipe.
Different varieties of saffron have different sharpness and strength. Adjust the quantity depending on the brand you are using.
To make the zarda more rich, instead of using roasted nuts, you can fry them in a small pan in 1/2 tablespoon of ghee and add on top.
Method
Wash the rice under running stream of water 2-3 times until the water runs clear. Soak the rice for 45 minutes in enough water (add a green cardamom to it) required for parboiling. You can soak rice in the same pot that you will use for cooking.
Once the rice has soaked. Parboil the rice until 80% cooked (takes about 10 minutes).The cooking time will depend on quality of rice. To check the rice, take a grain and press it between the index finger and thumb. The rice grain will we brittle (break easily) and you will feel & see hard whitish bits in the center of the grain. Once the rice has parboiled, immediately drain it and gently mix a tablespoon of melted ghee in the warm rice.
While the rice is boiling, add milk, 3 tablespoon ghee, cardamom and clove to a small pot and set it to simmer on a medium low flame. Let milk simmer for 5-7 minutes on low heat and then put the stove off. Once the milk has cooled off a bit and is warm(not hot) to touch add sugar, saffron and nutmeg to it. Let sit.
In the same pot in which you parboiled the rice, add the warm spiced milk sugar mixture. Very gently add the drained rice to the milk. Add the nuts and raisins. Cover and let cook on medium low heat for 10-12 minutes until all the milk is absorbed and the rice is completely done. Put the stove off.
After 15-20 minutes of sitting, gently fluff the rice with the help a fork.Garnish with more nuts and raisins if you want.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
