Sholeh Zard is one of the delicious and very popular Iranian desserts, which is served hot and cold. This traditional and old dessert is also known as an occasion dessert that is spread among the people in religious occasions. Sholeh zard is saffron rice pudding and it is a suitable option for the holy month of Ramadan Sholeh zard is one of the most authentic Iranian desserts, which is known as Ibrahim Khani in Kerman. To see the complete and step-by-step cooking tutorial on how to prepare. Sholeh zard, stay with us.
What is sholeh zard nazri
Nazr in farsi means vow. In order to fulfill her prayer, a person treats many people with food and this food is called nazri. Then when one call a food nazri this food should be prepared in high quality. Then when one says sholeh zard nazri it means the sholeh zard should be very delicious.
Necessary ingredients for 4 people
1 cup Iranian half-grain rice
7 cups of water
One and a half cups of sugar
Half a cup of rose water
50 grams of butter
Sliced almonds and pistachios a quarter of a cup
Cardamom extract 1 tablespoon
Half a cup of thick brewed saffron
One uses in this pudding half-grain rice (Nimdun) , Nimdun rice is rice whose seeds are not properly prepared and separated in the process and are split in the middle, so they are not good for making pilaf. But it is better for making pudding. Half-grain or nimdun rice is cheaper than its whole counterpart. But if you haven’t this type of rice, you can use normal Iranian rice.
How to prepare Sholeh zard
first stage
In order to prepare the delicious and delicious sholeh zard, first pour the rice in a large and spacious bowl the night before, then add water to the extent that the water level is 2 inches higher than the rice level. Note that there is no need to use salt.
second stage
At this stage, 30 minutes before starting cooking, put almond slices and pistachio slices in a bowl and add half a cup of rose water. This will make the pistachio and almond slices soak well and become fragrant and soft.
third level: prepare Sholeh zard
We put the soaked rice with water on medium heat and let it cook for one hour and as the famous saying goes, the rice grains will bloom. After this time, we add saffron to it and after ten minutes, we pour sugar.
The fourth stage
Then we let the sugar dissolve in it for a quarter of an hour. Pay attention to this important point that you should never add saffron after sugar, because sugar makes saffron not color the rice well and the color of the pudding doesn’t become perfect.
The fifth stage
Another point that should be noted is that after adding sugar, the pudding becomes thinner, so we test the concentration (thickness) before adding sugar. Now it’s time to add slices along with rose water, cardamom juice and butter.
The sixth stage: prepare Sholeh zard
When we add all these, we give it a quarter of hour to settle and turn off the heat and tie a towel (damkoni) to the lid of pot and let it brew for a quarter with the flame off and with its own heat.
The seventh stage
This will prevent the sholeh zard from cracking and leaking after cooling down, otherwise it would crack or gives excessive water. We serve the sholeh zard hot in bowls and after it cools down a little, we decorate with pistachio slices, almonds and cinnamon.
The eighth stage
Another point that we should pay attention to is that the pudding becomes thicker after it cools down, so we don’t have to make it too hard in pot. We can soak the rice with seven cups of water the night before and add saffron to it at the same time, according to experience, this method is better.
What is damkoni
Note that in Persian cuisine one ties damkoni to lid so that it absorbs excessive steam. The damkoni can be a simple towel wrapped around the lid, or a round stretchy towel which easily fit to lid.
How decorate Sholeh zard with cinnamon
After sholeh zard become cool and hard, one pours a pinch of cinnamon and paint any shape or writing on it. One can paint flower. Or, the tradition is to write name of Imams for example Ali and Hussein with cinnamon on the thick pudding. One can write it with his own hand bare-handedly or with some special molds which are shaped to various designs or names of Imams.
One can also make use of almond for making various designs.
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