By: Chef Laura Bonicelli
Indian-style Saffron Rice is a beautifully colored, sweet, savory, and crunchy rice dish.
Buy your ingredients at your favorite Farmers Market!

about Indian-style Saffron Rice
Indian-style Saffron Rice is full of surprises. First of all, the color is gorgeous and unexpected. Along with that color comes the earthy background flavor from the saffron threads. For me, appreciating saffron’s taste took some time. But I love it now. A little saffron goes a long way in both flavoring and coloring a dish. That’s okay because it’s arguably the most expensive spice on the planet. It’s the stigma of the crocus flower; harvested by hand. It takes about 150 plants to yield 1 gram of saffron. Secondly, the addition of raisins and the cardamom and cinnamon’s background sweetness sets the dish apart.
putting Indian-style Saffron Rice together
To make Indian-style Saffron Rice, you do have a little soaking to do. Soaking will give the rice a head start on the cooking process. The liquid from the saffron becomes part of the cooking liquid, so don’t discard it. You don’t want to throw away any of that beautiful flavor or color.
Toasting the spices intensifies their flavor and certainly gives you an idea of the goodness to come. It only takes 30 seconds. You can always make Indian-style Saffron Rice in your rice cooker.
Usually, I discard the cardamom pods when I make Indian-style Saffron Rice. If the actual seeds come out of the pods, and they will, I leave them whole. The cinnamon sticks I leave in the dish. I’m not concerned that anyone would accidentally eat them because they’re too big; I like the way they look.
Eat well and have fun!
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