Zarda Pulao: The Golden Dessert

ASR

Zarda Pulao: The Golden Dessert

No celebration is complete without a sweet dish. It is either served first to start the occasion or as a final course to end it on a sweet note. Zarda Pulao, a popular north Indian dessert made from basmati rice, is among the most famous ones. The holistic yellow color of the rice brightens up and cheers the eaters, making it a favorite of many.

Source: Times of India; The multi grained Zarda Pulao

Zarda pulao, a popular Awadhi cuisine item, has its origin in Persia. It is the trademark of the Muslim countries to add rich almonds, dates, raisins, and cashew nuts to their food. This style found its way to India during the time of the Mughal era. As roads were constructed for trade routes, these dry fruits started to appear in Indian meals, resulting in sustainability and more imports of Persian products.

Rice desserts are not new. They existed in ancient cuisines. This ancient item Zard Biranj was mentioned in Ain-i-Akbari, the record of Akbar’s administration. This book was written by Akbar’s court historian Abu'l Fazl in the sixteenth century. The book also shares the recipe of the Zard Biranj, which is the progenitor of the Zarda Pulao that we enjoy today. It uses sugar candy, dry nuts, rice, and ghee, to simmer them into an opulent dish for the royals.

Now the flavors and aroma like cardamom and crushed cloves can be added to the same heated ghee. Add sugar with four tablespoons of water. Stir well till the sugar dissolves. The sugar syrup has to be cooked until it reaches two-string consistency. Add the rice to the sugar syrup, mix gently and cook well. Add the fried nuts and raisins and cover the pan to dum. Cool down a bit and serve the perfect Zarda Pulao.

A Zarda pulao is pure love for all the foodies. Sitting at home alone at 2.00 pm noon will tempt everyone to eat the pulao. The sprinkled garnish, the slippery rice indulged in ghee, and the attractive color with aromatic flavor, all together are complete bliss to fill your stomach with on Sundays.

Zarda means yellow in the Persian language. As the meal shines in golden yellow, it carries this name. It may be quite similar to Meeti Chawal, famous in the regions of rural Punjab. The difference is Jaggery is used to sweeten the rice instead of sugar. If you want to eat this tempting Zarda pulao right now, then make a note of its cooking procedure.

Wash the rice well and soak it in water for thirty minutes. After thirty minutes strain the rice out of the soaked water. Bring water to a rolling boil in a large pot and add food color, preferably saffron to entice the richness of the food. Add the drained rice into the boiling saffron water. Cook the rice well until it gets mushy. Make sure the rice can be broken well by pressing the rice to check if it is well cooked. Drain the rice once it is well cooked and let it cool aside.

In the meantime, add ghee to a heated wide pan. Add the chopped dry fruits to the pan on medium flame so that the nuts will not get deep fried. Once the nuts turn golden, add raisins. Within seconds the raisins bulge into plump balls. Shift all the fried dry nuts and raisins to a separate plate.