Variations For This Recipe
Here are some of my favorite combinations:
- Cumin + a couple tablespoonfuls of tomato paste for Mexican rice – Dried oregano + basil (basically any dried leafy herb mixture).
- Curry powder + raisins – A few dashes of soy sauce + sesame oil + minced green onions after the rice is done steaming.
- Garlic powder + stir in chopped fresh parsley after rice is done steaming.
- Any of the above + stir in thawed frozen peas after rice is done steaming.
Top Tips For This Saffron Rice Recipe
- You should soak the threads in a little bit of hot water to really open up the spice and release its flavor. Use the threads+soaking water in your dish.
- Fry onions before steaming the rice. It gives rice an earthy, caramelized onion flavor. You can substitute minced shallots for the onions.
- Salt. Everything tastes better with salt. This rice comes alive when you add something salty to it. In this recipe, I used broth instead of water to steam the rice. Use fresh, canned or concentrated broth base. Now its time to be creative.
Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 279 kcal
Ingredients to make 2 Saffron Cakes
2 cups Basmati Rice
3 ½ cups Broth chicken or vegetable
1 pinch Saffron threads soaked in 2T hot water for 10 minutes
½ tsp dried, fast-action yeast
1 tsp Salt
½ cup diced onions
1- Wash and drain the rice. In 4-qt pot, heat with olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add onions and fry for 3 minutes, until softened and light brown. Stir in rice, broth, saffron + soaking water, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2- Once it starts boiling, immediately cover and turn to low heat.
3- Let the rice cook on low heat, undisturbed (no peeking!) for 20 minutes. Turn off heat. Let sit for another 5 minutes covered to finish steaming. Use a fork to fluff up the rice.
