Recipe video above. This is a rice side dish that will steal the show! The rice stays fluffy and tastes quite rich, but it's not heavily flavoured (hence suitable as a side dish), yet is flavoured enough that you'll want to eat it plain. The barberries provide welcome pops of sour but don't fret if you can't find them, see Note 2 for substitutions. This rice dish will pair terrifically with any Persian / Middle Eastern / Lebanese / Gulf recipes. See in post for Persian Feast menu!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr5 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr20 minutesmins
Course: Side
Cuisine: Persian
Keyword: Baked Rice, Persian Rice, Saffron Rice
Servings: 9- 12 people
Calories: 360cal
Author: Nagi
Ingredients
Parboiled Rice:
2 cups / 360gbasmati rice, uncooked(Note 1)
1tbspsalt
3 litres / 3 quarts water
Barberries:
1/2cupdried barberries(Note 2)
2 tbsp / 30g unsalted butter
1 1/2tsprose water(optional)
Saffron Rice:
1tspsaffron threads(Note 3)
2tbspwarm water
1 cup / 250 gplain yogurt(I use Farmers Union Greek Yogurt)
1/2 cup / 125 mloil, neutral (or butter!)
3egg yolks(Note 4 for using leftover whites)
3/4tspsalt
Instructions
Parboiled Rice:
Bring water to the boil in a large pot. Add salt and rice. Bring back up to the boil then cook for 5 minutes. Drain and leave to steam dry for 5 minutes.
Barberries:
Melt butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add barberries and cook for about 1 1/2 minutes until they plump up (see video!).
Remove from heat (they will shrivel quickly) then stir through rose water (if using).
Saffron Rice:
Preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan).
Lightly grease a glass pie dish with oil.
Ground saffron into powder (optional step). Add water and leave to seep for 10 minutes.
Mix yogurt, egg, oil, saffron water and salt in a large bowl.
Add rice, stir well.
Pour half the rice in the pie dish, smooth surface. Top with 1/3 of the barberries.
Cover with remaining rice, smooth surface, sprinkle over another 1/3 of the barberries. Press down firmly, cover with foil.
Bake 60 - 80 minutes until the crust is deep golden all over.
Rest for 10 minutes. Remove foil. Place serving plate on pie dish then flip upside down (it won't stick because of the oil, see video!).
Scatter surface with remaining barberries then serve.
Notes
1. Can be substituted with long grain or jasmine rice.2. A Persian ingredient found at speciality and ethnic stores. Tastes sour and provides great pops of colour. Can be substituted with 1 cup of dried sour cherries or cranberries or craisins.3. Can be substituted with 1/16 tsp of economical saffron powder. Basically, if saffron powder is around the same price as other spices, then it's the economical version ie not 100% saffron (saffron is the most expensive spice in the world). Grinding into powder is optional. I've done it without grinding and didn't notice a difference in overall colour though you do see little saffron strands (which is pretty!).4. Leftover egg whites – Here’s my list of what I do with them and all my egg white recipes can be found in this recipe collection.5. Slightly adapted from this Bon Appetit Crunchy Baked Saffron Rice.6. Nutrition per serving. Serves 8 to 12 as a side as part of a multi-course meal.