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 or stovetop. The name Zarda comes from the Persian word 'zard', which means 'yellow'.
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What is Zarda?
Zarda is a popular dessert made from aromatic long grain basmati rice, ghee, spices, sugar, saffron, and nuts in India and Pakistan. Generally served as an after-meal dessert for special occasions such as weddings, festivals, etc.
This sweet rice dish is known by two names: Zarda pulao in Urdu, which means "yellow rice," and Meethe Chawal in Hindi, which means "sweet rice". Also known as Kesari meethe chawal, Kashmiri meethe chawal, and Zarda rice.
Typically food color is added in the zarda recipe, but I have skipped it. So instead, I have got this faint yellow color to the sweet rice from the saffron and a pinch of turmeric.
Today I have shared the making of Zarda Pulao/ Meethe Chawal (sweet rice) in Instant Pot and stovetop pressure cooker. Let me know if you tried this recipe in the comments section.
Zarda Pulao Ingredients
- Rice - Traditionally, basmati rice is used to make this dessert. I highly recommend using only basmati rice for this recipe, because it's fragrant, has long grains, and is non-sticky.
- Sugar: 1 cup of sugar is used for 1 cup of rice for the traditional Zarda recipe. I have reduced the quantity to ¾ cup sugar.
- Saffron milk: I have added Saffron strands into warm milk and soaked them for 20 minutes so that it releases yellow color faster. I have also added a pinch of organic turmeric to this dish.
- Ghee - Adding a good quantity of ghee, enhances the taste and texture of the dish. If you are a vegan, replace ghee with neutral flavor oil.
- Whole Spices - Cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.
- Nuts & Dried Coconut - I have used cashews, almonds, raisins, and dry coconut for this sweet dessert. You can skip dry coconut if you don't have it.
How to Make Zarda Pulao (Sweet Rice) in Instant Pot
Soak Saffron (Kesar) strands in warm milk for at least 20 minutes. Saffron releases the color faster on warm milk and gives a nice yellow color to the dessert.
Firstly, sanitize the Instant Pot parts well before making the sweet dish.
Press SAUTE (normal) setting on Instant Pot. Add ghee to 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. Remove and keep aside.
Then add whole spices like cinnamon stick, cardamom, and cloves and saute for a 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 the timer to 6 minutes. Note: Typically, I pressure-cook rice for 5 minutes. As we add sugar, we need more cooking time, which increases 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 the reserved toasted nuts and coconut and mix well.
Enjoy the delicious and aromatic Instant Pot Zarda Pulao/Meethe Chawal 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.
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 have not used artificial food color in this dish, so feel free to add one. To get a nice yellow color to the rice, I added a pinch of turmeric along with saffron.
- I haven't pre-soaked rice in water for making this recipe, but if you soak it for 20-30 minutes, then reduce the water for cooking by ¼ cup.
FAQs
This dish stays good in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Replace dairy milk with almond milk or water for soaking saffron. Add any neutral flavor oil instead of ghee.
Basmati Rice or Sella Basmati Rice are only preferred to make this dish.
More Instant Pot Desserts
- Badam Halwa Recipe (with Almond Flour)
- Carrot halwa instant pot
- Instant Pot Rice Kheer
- Moong Dal Payasam
- More Dessert Recipes
Zarda Pulao | Meethe Chawal - Instant Pot
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
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