There are as many ways to cook rice as there are ways to skin a cat. This, by far is my favourite. It is foolproof and it results in fluffy deliciousness of grain separated rice. Flavoured with the unmistakable Middle Eastern yellow hue of saffron and dotted with rich butter. The ultimate in sides, I serve this with my Persian Chicken Skewers (Jujeh Kebab)
What Rice to use..
Rice is the staple food for half of the world’s population. Rice most probably originated from Central Asia and made its way to Europe via Persia. (Of Food and Cooking, Harold McGee,1997). I can’t imagine life without rice. In our household, we probably eat rice once a day. For myself, I mostly cook rice in the rice cooker or microwave. But as sides to Persian dishes, nothing beats Persian Rice.
For Persian rice, you need basmati rice ,no other type will do. Basmati rice is long grained and highly aromatic. The best Basmati (meaning fragrant in Urdu) rice comes from Pakistan or India.
How to Cook Basmati Rice..
I’ve learned how to cook rice this way from my mother in law, however this is my lazy version. Hosni would place thinly sliced potatoes on the bottom of the pot, before the par boiled rice was placed in it. The thinly sliced potatoes would form as a part of rice crackle (called tadegh) which is highly sought after by Persians.
Two cups of rice is enough for 8 portions as a side. This is the minimum amount I would cook Persian rice because you’re already investing time in cooking it, you might as well make plenty. If you have leftovers, store covered in the fridge, and it will last for 3 days. Just reheat in the microwave and it’s as good as new.
- Place rice in a pot and gently wash with water, then drain water. Repeat.
- Add water to cover and set aside for an hour , up to overnight.
- Cook rice in plenty of boiling water until rice is al dente, about 10 minutes, depending on how long rice was soaked for.
- Rinse rice with plenty of cold water. Drain rice in colander.
- Return to heat, covered , at the very lowest setting.
Persian Saffron Rice
8
servings30
minutes40
minutesIngredients
2 cups basmati rice
Salt
Butter
Few strands of saffron
Directions
- Wash rice with water. Drain water and repeat. Put enough water to cover rice. Set aside to soak for at least an hour. Infuse saffron in 2 tablespoons of hot water. Set aside.
- In a pot, have two litres or water boiling. Add 2 tablespoons of salt. Have a colander ready in the sink to drain rice.
- Drain rice from water that it was soaked in. Add drained rice to salted boiling water.
- Cook for approximately 10 minutes or until the grains are al dente. Grains should be doubled in size at this stage.
- Remove rice from heat, and place in colander to drain. Rinse rice with cold water.
- Place a a tablespoon of oil on the bottom of the pot that the rice was cooked in. Add rice back to the pot. Place pats of butter on top. Cover pot with lid.
- Cook for 20 minutes with lid on and on the lowest possible setting.
- To serve, reserve about half a cup of rice and place in a bowl. Add the saffron infusion and mix together.
- Place the rest of the rice in a serving platter. Place the saffron rice from step 8 on top.
