Sholeh zard
The name means roughly “yellow pudding” in Persian. It is rice cooked in water, not milk, sweetened and coloured with saffron, with rose water, butter and almonds. In Iran it is made in huge pots to share with neighbours (nazri) and for holidays, and the top is decorated with cinnamon laid out in patterns. It should be thick, yet a spoon sinks in softly. The secret is cooking the rice long enough to start breaking down, and adding sugar only then — in sweetened water the grains soften far more slowly.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Soaking the rice 30 min
- Cooking the rice 45 min
- Saffron and rose 15 min
- Chilling 120 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneRinse and soak the rice
Rinse the rice in several changes of water until it runs clear and soak it for 30 minutes. Rinsing removes surface starch, so the pudding turns silky rather than gluey.
Ingredients: 150 g basmati or short-grain rice · 1500 ml water · 200 g sugar · 1 pinch saffron · 3 tbsp hot water for the saffron · 30 g butter · ½ tsp ground cardamom seeds · 3 tbsp rose water
Cook the rice until it breaks down
Drain the rice, cover with 1.5 l water and cook over medium heat 35–40 minutes, stirring every few minutes and skimming the foam. The grains should swell and start to break down, and the water thicken. Do not add the sugar yet — in sweetened water rice softens far more slowly.
Ingredients: 150 g basmati or short-grain rice · 1500 ml water · 200 g sugar · 1 pinch saffron · 3 tbsp hot water for the saffron · 30 g butter · ½ tsp ground cardamom seeds · 3 tbsp rose water
The grains should break down — only then the sugar.Bloom the saffron
Grind the saffron in a mortar with a pinch of sugar and pour over 3 tablespoons of hot water. Leave 10 minutes — the threads release colour and aroma, and the liquid turns deep orange.
Ingredients: 150 g basmati or short-grain rice · 1500 ml water · 200 g sugar · 1 pinch saffron · 3 tbsp hot water for the saffron · 30 g butter · ½ tsp ground cardamom seeds · 3 tbsp rose water
Ten minutes — the liquid turns deep orange.Add the sugar
Stir the sugar into the rice and cook 10 minutes over low heat, stirring often from the bottom — with sugar the pudding catches more easily.
Ingredients: 150 g basmati or short-grain rice · 1500 ml water · 200 g sugar · 1 pinch saffron · 3 tbsp hot water for the saffron · 30 g butter · ½ tsp ground cardamom seeds · 3 tbsp rose water
Add saffron, butter and cardamom
Pour in the bloomed saffron and add the butter, cardamom and half the almonds. The pudding turns golden. Cook 5 minutes more, stirring.
Ingredients: 150 g basmati or short-grain rice · 1500 ml water · 200 g sugar · 1 pinch saffron · 3 tbsp hot water for the saffron · 30 g butter · ½ tsp ground cardamom seeds · 3 tbsp rose water
Add the rose water last
Take the pot off the heat and stir in the rose water. Added earlier, it would evaporate along with its aroma. The pudding should be as thick as loose porridge — it thickens further as it chills.
Ingredients: 150 g basmati or short-grain rice · 1500 ml water · 200 g sugar · 1 pinch saffron · 3 tbsp hot water for the saffron · 30 g butter · ½ tsp ground cardamom seeds · 3 tbsp rose water
Pour into bowls and cool
Pour the hot pudding into shallow bowls or onto a platter and smooth the top. Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until set.
Ingredients: 150 g basmati or short-grain rice · 1500 ml water · 200 g sugar · 1 pinch saffron · 3 tbsp hot water for the saffron · 30 g butter · ½ tsp ground cardamom seeds · 3 tbsp rose water
Decorate with cinnamon and nuts
Lay thin lines of cinnamon on the cold pudding — through a stencil, from a paper cone or with a pinch between your fingers — and scatter over the remaining almonds and the pistachios. Decorate cold: on a warm surface cinnamon goes soggy.
Ingredients: 30 g slivered almonds · 20 g pistachios, chopped · 1 tsp cinnamon
Cinnamon on cold pudding — on warm it goes soggy.
Before you start
Good saffron
Saffron is the whole flavour of this dessert. Buy threads, not powder, which is sometimes adulterated. A pinch of good Iranian saffron is enough for the whole pot — more is not better, as too much tastes bitter and medicinal.
Vegan version
Replace the butter with a spoon of coconut oil or simply leave it out — the pudding will be slightly less creamy. Everything else is plant-based.
Storage
Sholeh zard keeps 3 days in the fridge, covered with film so it does not pick up smells. The cinnamon decoration is best done on the day of serving.
