Rice Pudding With Pistachios Raisins And Saffron Food

RICE PUDDING WITH PISTACHIOS, RAISINS AND SAFFRON

Steps:

• Simmer milk with rice, sugar, cardamom, and saffron in 7- to 8-quart heavy pot, stirring often, until reduced by half, 45 to 50 minutes. Discard cardamom.
• Heat ghee in a heavy skillet over moderate heat until melted, then cook pistachios and raisins, stirring, until nuts are lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir half of pistachio mixture into payasam and sprinkle remainder on top.

FRAGRANT RICE PUDDING WITH PISTACHIOS (KHEERNI)

Steps:

• Bring 6 cups milk to boil in heavy shallow 5-quart saucepan. Rinse rice with cold water until water runs clear. Drain. Stir rice into milk. Reduce heat and simmer until pudding thickens and rice is very tender, stirring frequently, about 1-1/4 hours.
• Puree 1/4 cup milk and almonds in blender until smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of blender. Add banana, sugar, cardamom and saffron and blend. Pour into pudding. Rinse blender with remaining 1/4 cup milk and add to pudding. Continue simmering until thickened to consistency of tapioca, about 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.
• Just before serving, spoon into goblets and sprinkle with pistachios.

SHOLEH ZARD (PERSIAN RICE PUDDING)

Steps:

• Bring 4 cups of water to a hard boil in a Dutch oven or other large pot over high heat. Add the rice and let it boil, stirring regularly, until the grains begin to soften around the edges but are still crunchy in the center, 1 to 2 minutes. Strain the rice, but do not rinse it. Rinse the pot with cold water to cool it down, then return it to the stove.
• To the rinsed pot, add the milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon stick, cardamom, turmeric, saffron water and kosher salt. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. You may be tempted to turn the heat up to make it boil faster - resist this urge. The goal is to let the spices slowly infuse the milk and cream, like a tea, for deep flavor.
• Slowly stir in the rice, making sure the grains are all well coated. Cover, turn the heat down to low, and simmer, stirring a few times to make sure the grains don't stick to the bottom, until the mixture has the consistency of a loose pudding, 35 to 45 minutes. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, with the rice maintaining a slight chew.
• Add the cubes of butter a few at a time, stirring to incorporate fully between each addition. Remove from the heat and let cool until warm, stirring regularly, about 5 minutes. Stir in the egg yolks, one at a time. The consistency should be velvety.
• Divide the sholeh zard among bowls, and divide the ground cinnamon, strawberry powder and pistachios - in that order - over the top of each one. The strawberry powder should be the thickest layer, covering the entire surface. Crown the bowls with a light sprinkling of flaky salt and serve.

RICE PUDDING

Steps:

• Rinse rice well in a large sieve under cold running water, then transfer to a bowl. Add 2 cups cold water and let stand for 1 hour. Drain rice.
• Heat clarified butter in a small skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook raisins and nuts, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes.
• Bring milk to a simmer in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Transfer 2 tablespoons milk to a cup, then add saffron and let stand. Add rice to remaining simmering milk and cook, stirring frequently, until rice is tender, about 10 minutes. Add sugar and simmer, stirring frequently, until mixture is thickened to a loose pudding consistency, about 35 minutes more. Stir in raisin-nut mixture, saffron milk, and cardamom and simmer 2 minutes more. Serve warm.

CHEF JOHN'S CLASSIC RICE PUDDING

Steps:

• Place rice, salt, and water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat; sprinkle with sugar and pour in milk. Stir with a whisk until until the thin layer of cooked-on starch at the bottom of the pan is cleared and incorporated into the mixture, 2 or 3 minutes.
• Place pan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it reaches your desired of level of doneness and creaminess, 8 to 10 minutes. The longer it cooks, the thicker and stickier it will be. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Very quickly whisk in the egg yolk (to prevent it from cooking). Whisk for about 1 more minute. Add butter and dried cherries; stir thoroughly.
• Transfer warm pudding to serving dishes. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, 3 to 4 hours.

RICE PUDDING WITH SAFFRON AND CARDAMOM

Steps:

• Combine water, rice flour, and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.
• Mix milk, rose water. saffron, and cardamom together in a bowl; add to rice mixture. Bring to a boil and stir until there are no clumps, about 5 minutes.
• Carefully ladle hot mixture into 6 cups; garnish each with 3 pistachios. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

INDIAN SWEET SAFFRON RICE WITH RAISINS AND PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• Bring water to boil in saucepan. Place the saffron threads in a small bowl and add 2 1/2 tablespoons of the boiling water and soak the threads for 10 to 15 minutes.
• In the meantime, add the basmati rice, cinnamon stick, cloves and salt to the saucepan of boiling water. Cover and simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove from heat and let sit with cover on for 5 minutes.
• Optional: In small pan, lightly saute onion in oil and set aside.
• Next combine the saffron water (strain the water through a small sieve to remove threads), sweetener and cardamom seeds in a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir until the sweetener is dissolved. Lower heat and simmer 1 minute. Pour the syrup over the rice (and stir in onions if using) then re-cover pan.
• Heat the ghee or oil in small pan over medium-low heat until warm but not smoking. Fry the nuts and raisins until nuts are golden brown and the raisins swell. Stir the raisins, nuts and oil into the hot cooked rice and gently fluff with fork. Remove cinnamon stick and cloves. Spoon rice onto a serving platter and garnish with toasted nuts if desired.