Alright, just don’t be intimidated by the title and ingredients. You can have this rice pilaf before 2018 slips away from your hands. Good news is that currently, fresh and dried cranberries are available abundantly in the market. This rice is just prepared with only a handful of ingredients and can be on the table in less than 20 minutes, thanks to the Instant Pot! Cranberry and Saffron is a take on a Persian rice dish Albaloo Polow that is made with fresh cherries and usually served with non-veg main dishes. I followed the recipe to T and the result was splendid. I only cooked a small amount for her, and she highly recommended it. I had to prepare again, only this time in the Instant Pot! Now that she likes this Persian inspired dish, I have planned to prepare Reshteh Polow– Persian Rice with Noodles.
TASTE OF CRANBERRY AND SAFFRON RICE
The taste of this rice is no way near to any spicy Indian style pulao/pilaf or Biryani. This rice is sweet, has tangy flavours of the cranberries counterbalances perfectly with the aromatic spices saffron and cardamom.
WHAT RICE TO USE FOR PILAF
For any pilaf or pulao dishes, Basmati rice is the best option to use. Basmati rice is very aromatic and it has its own beautiful flavours. Dishes cooked with Basmati rice just melts in the mouth and when it is perfectly cooked, each grain tuns so fluffy and separate. However, it is not restricted, if you can not find the basmati, any other rice variety will do.
LET’S TALK INGREDIENTS
Basmati Rice Fresh cranberries ( If you can’t find, dried will work fine too ) Coconut oil Saffron White onion Whole spices Lightly toasted almonds Freshly chopped coriander Sugar and salt
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN CRANBERRY AND SAFFRON RICE
Making cranberry and saffron rice is almost so easy, quick and you only need a handful of ingredients. If you are cooking in an instant pot, this dish will be ready in no time. First, rinse the rice in running cold water until you see clear water in rice. Drain all the water. Fry roughly chopped onion and whole spices, add rice, fresh cranberries, saffron, salt and sugar. Add vegetable stock and let the rice cook. Once done toss the rice with lightly toasted almonds and freshly chopped fresh coriander. That’s it!!
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Usually, this luscious rice is served with protein-packed dishes such as kebab in the Persian restaurants. Being a vegetarian I don’t mind devouring with Niramish Paneer, Daal Fry or Tofu Curry.
CAN I SERVE THIS RICE ON CHRISTMAS?
Yes, why not? I think it’s a brilliant idea to serve this pilaf rice as a side dish along with any well made flavoured nut roast, roasted vegetables, nuts and fruit salad and sweet cranberry sauce.
PERFECT AND FLUFFY RICE IN INSTANT POT
To cook a bowl of perfect fluffy rice requires great skill, where every grain is perfectly cooked yet not mushed. Many say the ratio of rice and water should be at a certain level, I agree, but the same time it depends on what variety of rice and quality of the rice you are using too. It depends are you soaking rice before cooking? So all these factors count. Now you may be cooking best rice but how about getting perfectly cooked and fluffy rice in an instant pot, a whole new ballgame right? I did not follow a recipe which came in a recipe book, as I know my rice so well. If I had used their recipe and instructions I would have got rice porridge instead of fluffy rice. So, the brand I use in my house is Tilda Basmati rice for everything, whether it’s rice, Pulao, khichdi, biryani or kheer, and for this particular brand, I don’t need much water. For Instant pot, I used 1 cup basmati rice and 1 cup water, and rice came out so well. For this particular dish I did not soak the rice, only rinsed in cold water about 6 times to get rid of lots of starch.
DO NOT HAVE INSTANT POT
No worries at all, you still can make this rice and enjoy it. It will take slightly longer to cook but promise you that results will be marvellous. If you want to cook in a pan follow the same method but soak rice for 15-20 minutes before you proceed. Cover the pan with a lid and cook the rice on a medium to low heat. You can also bake this rice in the oven too on gas mark 4 or 180C. Use an ovenproof saucepan, follow the same method as stovetop first, once you have added all the ingredients with the stock, cover the pan with foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Do you like to read our blog? Then don’t forget to sign up for email updates to get new recipes delivered right to your inbox. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest . So follow us if you can…We would love to keep in touch with you all:) If you make this recipe, please don’t forget to click a picture and hashtag it #jcookingodyssey. We really want to see 🙂
