Zarda Pulao | Meethe Chawal - Instant Pot
This Zarda Pulao or Meethe Chawal is a delicious, flavorful popular North Indian and Pakistani sweet rice preparation delicately flavored with saffron, nuts, and aromatic spices made in the Instant Pot pressure cooker
Servings 4
Calories 674kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2-3 tablespoons ghee
- 4-6 cloves
- 4 cardamom
- 1 inch green cardamom
- 1 cup basmati rice rinsed
- ¾ - 1 cup sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon saffron
- 2 tablespoons warm milk or water, to soak saffron
- 1 ½ cups water
- a pinch saffron food color or turmeric (optional)
- 2 tablespoons cashews
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- 2 tablespoons dry coconut
Instructions
- Soak Saffron (kesar) in warm milk for at-least 20 minutes. Saffron releases the color faster on using warm milk and gives a nice yellow color to the dessert.
Instant Pot Method:
- Firstly, sanitize the Instant Pot parts well before making the sweet dish.
- Press SAUTE (normal) setting. Add ghee into the pot, once hot add dry fruits like cashews, almonds, raisins, and dry coconut, and roast them in the ghee until they turn light golden brown in color. Remove and keep aside.
- Then add whole spices like cinnamon stick, cardamom, and cloves and saute for few seconds till aromatic.
- Then, add rinsed basmati rice, sugar, saffron milk, turmeric (optional), and water to the instant pot. Stir well & Deglaze the pot.
- Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and timer to 6 minutes.
- Once the pot beeps, allow Natural Pressure Release. Then open the lid and gently fluff the rice with a fork.
- Lastly add roasted nuts and coconut and mix well.
- Enjoy the delicious and aromatic Zarda Pulao warm.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method
- Follow the same steps from the instant pot instructions. Pressure cook on medium heat for 1-2 whistles and let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. All the other steps remain the same.
Notes
Tips & Variations
- Sanitize the Instant Pot steel insert, lid, and sealing ring before making the sweet dish. I always keep an extra sealing ring for sweets separately.
- Adjust the sugar according to your preference. You can use coconut sugar or jaggery or brown sugar instead of refined sugar.
- Add nuts of your choice.
- I haven't used artificial food color for this dish, so feel free to add one. I could get the nice yellow color to the rice with saffron and a pinch of turmeric.
- I haven't pre-soaked rice in water for making this recipe, but if you soak for 20-30 minutes then reduce the water for cooking by ¼ cup.
Nutrition
Calories: 674kcal | Carbohydrates: 135g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 12mg | Potassium: 234mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 88g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 2mg