Shole Zard Recipe (Persian Saffron Rice Pudding) in 10 Steps
How to Make Shole Zard: Aromatic Persian Dessert for Special Occasions
Sholeh Zard is a traditional Iranian saffron pudding that has been popular among Iranians since ancient times.
Shole Zard, which is often prepared in large pots on special occasions and religious gatherings, and distributed among poor people and neighbors.
Today, even as the number of families and cooking spaces has shrunk, the tradition of sharing this aromatic dessert – made from rice, saffron, sugar, and rose water – has remained a lasting practice.
This traditional Iranian dessert is mostly cooked and used among Iranians during the months of Moharram and Ramadan.
What is Shole Zard?
Sholeh Zard (Iranian saffron rice pudding) is one of the oldest and most famous Iranian desserts. This dessert is made from a combination of Persian rice with saffron, sugar, rose water, and water. This dessert is mostly served both hot and cold during Ramadan.
But if you need more information about the history and cooking method of this delicious dessert, stay with me. This dessert is very similar to another delicious Iranian Shir Berenj dessert with a few changes.
Sholeh Zard is a traditional Iranian dessert that is yellow due to the presence of saffron and is topped with cinnamon, almond slices, and pistachio slices. Shellezard is generally cooked in one way, and it is especially used for breaking the fast during the month of Ramadan. Generally, people liken this dessert to jelly.
For: 3 people
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cook for: 60 minutes
Sholezard main ingredients:
| Rice | 1 cup |
| Saffron (brewed) | 2 tablespoons |
| Sugar | 2 cups |
| Cardamom (hel spice) | 2 pcs |
| Butter | 50 grams |
| Rose water | 1/2 cup |
| Almond slice | 50 grams |
| Cinnamon powder | ½ tbsp |
| Salt | ½ teaspoon |
| Coconut powder, cinnamon | for decoration |
How to make Sholeh Zard?
Instruction Persian rice pudding:
1. To make shole zard, it is better to use half-grain rice because it gives a better glaze. The rice should be soaked in advance. Depending on the type of rice, the time to soak the rice is different.
Now, I want to tell you how to soak the rice. Because soaking the rice for making this dessert is different from other methods.
2. When I wash the rice several times until the water becomes clear, I empty a little of the water in which I soak the rice, pour half of the rose water into it, and let it soak for at least 2-3 hours.
I want to have a dessert with a crazy aroma. In the meantime, I pour saffron into a small bowl with some ice cubes and let the ice melt and saffron-colored.
3. After the rice is soaked, I take a pot, pour water in it, and let it boil. Then I pour the rice that I had already soaked in it.
Note that the size of the pot in which you will cook should be bigger than the volume of your shole zard and there should be about 3 knuckles of water on the rice.
4. If you are using cardamom seeds, now is the time to add them to the rice. The cardamom seeds should be removed after making this Persian dessert.
But if you are using cardamom juice, it should be added to it at the end. Now, I close the pot and let it boil. If it foams, I remove it with a spoon.
5. I let the rice boil until it becomes soft on the rice, but when we put it under the teeth, the inside of the rice is a little hard.
If it foams again on the rice, I will remove the foam with a spoon because these foams will cause shole zard to have a cloudy yellow color.
6. After the rice is ready and reaches the stage I want, I add sugar to the rice and stir it until it mixes well with the rice and dissolves. After adding the sugar, I have to remove the lid of the pot and every few minutes stir it.
If you want this dessert to loosen a little, you should stir it a little with a spatula in a zigzag pattern and deeper.
7. After boiling for about half an hour, I add the almond slices soaked in rose water to the rice. Then I add the rose water and stir. Finally, this dessert should be neither juicy nor too hard.
If it is juicy, it will leak water after putting it in the refrigerator and it will spoil. If it is hard, it will harden like gelatin after cooling. So its concentration should be the right size.
8. When this reaches the consistency, I add the butter to it and let it melt in it. Then, I removed the cardamom seeds that I had added to it first, added my saffron, and stirred until the saffron dissolved.
(Here, I add some dry saffron to it because this makes it smell and look better.) Then, I add salt and mix again.
9. I pour some of this dessert into a small bowl and let it cool down a little. Then, I taste it to find out how sweet it is and add more if it is needed.
Then, I close the pot, reduce the heat, and let it boil for 10 to 15 minutes. Remember that this becomes harder as it cools, so if you feel that it is getting too hard, remove it from the heat sooner.
10. I let it cool a little because the yellow shell becomes harder after it cools. Then I take it off the heat, pour it into the desired dish, and decorate it with cinnamon and coconut powder.
Persian Sholeh Zard History:
The history of Sholeh Zard goes back to the time of Ibrahim Khan Zahir al-Daulah in the historic city of Kerman. It is said that one day Ibrahim Khan was cooking rice and by chance, the rice became soft and loose.
He added some saffron, rose water, and sugar to it so that the rice would not be wasted. Ibrahim Khan’s crew distributed it among the people because of the large amount of it and after that, this dessert became known as Ibrahim Khani.
In Iranian iftar tables, Samanu can be served along with other desserts such as Zoolbia Bamieh and Halva Havij.
When Ibrahim Khan gained a lot of power, he ordered to make this dessert every year at the beginning of the month of Safar and distributed among the people in copper vessels named after Ibrahim Khani to compensate for the damage caused by the Qajar era and to improve the nutrition of the people.
With time, the name of this dessert changed and today it is called shole zard, which is cooked and distributed among people as iftar in the month of Ramadan.
Properties of Sholeh Zard:
- This colorful and delicious Iranian dessert contains saffron, pistachio slices, and almonds, and contains a variety of vitamins A, C, and D.
- The combination of saffron and rose water is also known for its calming effects.
- Also, due to the presence of rice, it has a lot of calories and energy.
- This delicious dessert is not recommended for diabetics due to the presence of sugar.
- Also, the saffron in this dessert is very suitable for calming the mind and nerves.
- This dessert is easy to digest and suitable for digestion.
Tips for Having Delicious Sholeh Zard:
| 1 |
To prepare Persian rice pudding be sure to wash the rice several times and soak it the night before. |
| 2 |
To taste the amount of sugar in shole zard, pour some of it into a bowl and let it cool, then taste, it because if it is hot, the sweetness of this dessert will not be accurate. |
| 3 | The amount of sugar should always be twice the amount of rice |
| 4 |
Soak almond slices with rose water to get a better taste and aroma. |
| 5 |
Be sure to use high-quality and appropriate saffron to give the food a better yellow color. |
| 6 |
If you want your rice to have a nice color, add a little saffron and rose water while soaking the rice. |
| 7 |
Adding butter to this dessert gives it a better flavor. |
| 8 |
If, for any reason, the bottom of the pot of this dessert gets hard-boiled during cooking, don’t mix it while stirring in dishes; let it stay at the bottom of the pot. |
| 9 |
Use a steamer to brew this, this will prevent it from getting hard after it cools down. |
| 10 |
After adding the sugar, you must constantly stir this so that it does not stick to the bottom. |
| 11 | Adding butter prevents your dessert from cracking after cooking |
| 12 |
This Persian dessert is decorated with pistachio slices, almond slices, and cinnamon powder. |
Conclusion:
Sholeh Zard is a traditional Iranian saffron pudding, which is an old dessert that is usually prepared on religious occasions such as Ramadan and Muharram.
This yellow Iranian dessert is made with high-quality saffron, rice, rose water, and sugar, and it is served hot and cold.
A very important point is the cooking techniques and also the use of high-quality and fresh raw materials such as authentic and fresh Iranian saffron in this traditional dessert.
Sholeh Zard FAQ
1. How many calories does Persian shole zard have?
A tablespoon (30 grams) of yellow shell has 49 calories.
2. How to decorate this?
We can decorate Iranian rice pudding with pistachio, almond slices(Badam), and cinnamon powder.
3. How to prevent Shole Zard from leaking?
It is better to add a small amount of butter at the stage when the rice is completely soft. Also, you should avoid stirring too much in the early stages of cooking so that it reaches a good consistency and the yellow husk is uniform.
4. Why should saffron be gradually added to the Sholeh Zard?
Adding saffron gradually helps you control the color of the yellow husk properly and also makes the saffron dissolve well in the rice and keep its aroma. If you add saffron at once, it may have less flavor.
5. How to prevent this Persian dessert from sinking?
Avoid stirring the rice before it is fully cooked to prevent the Sholeh Zard from sticking to the bottom. Also, the use of gentle heat and continuous stirring after adding sugar and saffron prevents it from sticking
6. Can the Shole Zard be served cold?
Yes, this great Iranian dessert can be served both hot and cold. Of course, I love cold Sholeh Zard, and I think it tastes better when it’s cold.
Have you tried making Sholeh Zard at home?
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Shole Zard Recipe (Persian Saffron Rice Pudding) in 10 Steps
Persian shole zard(iranian saffron rice pudding) is one of the most famous, delicious is prepared from rice, saffron, and sugar.
Type: dessert
Cuisine: persian
Recipe Yield: 3 servings
Calories: 49
Preparation Time: PT20M
Cooking Time: PT1H
Total Time: PT1H20M
Recipe Video Name: shole zard recipe
Recipe Video Description: Shole Zard (Iranian rice pudding) is one of the oldest and most famous Iranian desserts. This dessert is made from a combination of Persian rice with saffron, sugar, rose water, and water. Shole zard is mostly served both hot and cold during Ramadan. But if you need more information about the history and cooking method of this delicious dessert, stay with me. this dessert is very similar to another delicious Iranian shir berenj dessert with a few changes. A cup of Persian tea is very pleasant after eating the shole zard.
Recipe Video Thumbnail: https://i9.ytimg.com/vi_webp/l2cYjf7undc/mqdefault.webp?v=64e8e149&sqp=COjAo6cG&rs=AOn4CLAkDkS9vHG_mGQXrmzyUXute7MMbw
Recipe Ingredients:
- half-grain rice
- Almond slice
- Cinnamon powder
- Rose water
- Melted butter
- Cardamom powder
- Sugar
- Saffron (brewed)
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