Zarda (Meethe Chawal- Sweet Rice) a colourful celebratory dessert

Pakistani Sweet Rice

Zarda, also known as Meethi Chawal or Sweet Rice. This vibrant and sweet rice dish is traditionally made for celebrations and special occasions in Pakistan and India

The word “zarda” is derived from Persian, meaning “yellow,” which refers to the characteristic golden-yellow colour of the dish. The yellow colour comes from food dye usually, however if using saffron, this also adds a yellow tinge.

Zarda is now no longer made in this yellow traditional format, often is will be made rainbow coloured where a variety of different food colourings are mixed onto the white rice.

My Zarda Sweet Rice Recipe

In my house, Eid day always would involve making this festive dessert rice. When I first had zarda, it was as a child, I was very confused by the vibrant yellow colour. I had not seen rice that colour before. When I tried the rice, it was even more confusing as it was sweet! I could not quite get my head around it. As I got older (having a sweet tooth) it did not take me long to start relishing this traditional South Asian sweet dish.

Every Eid my mum would make pilau, shorba and zarda. And we we would eat all these three things on the same plate, a bit of sweet and savoury mixed together. This is how my dad’s side of the family would have their Eid meal. Even to this day, I still love eating pilau, shorba and meethe chawal like this. It brings back so many happy childhood memories of Eid dinner. However most Pakistani families will eat sweet rice just as a dessert, which is definitely the more conventional way of eating this dish. It is a lovely dessert to finish off a spicy meal.

You can add raisins, sultanas and coconut to this festive sweet rice. It’s really personally preference. However I personally don’t like raisins and sultanas in my sweet rice ( I pick them out at weddings!). However, I do love adding nuts and coconut to my sweet rice. It adds a lovely crunch and it doesn’t add any extra sweetness as it is really not needed with sweet rice.

I make this sweet rice by making a sugar syrup, called ‘chashni‘. This is the traditional way to make this dessert. This sugar syrup is what adds the sweet to sweet rice! I add my spices to the buttery sugar syrup, which lets the flavour seep out into the syrup. This then is poured over the cooked rice to flavour and sweeten it. This process then gives you a delightful zarda.

Tips on making Meethe Chawal Recipe

Sweet rice is traditionally yellow, but I have also has sweet rice which is multi coloured. Instead of dying the water with yellow food dye as the rice cooks. After adding the chashni, you can add splashes off whatever food dyes you have and gently mix them through the white rice.

The longer you soak the rice before cooking, the quicker it cooks in the pan. Always drain the water the rice has soaked in and cook it in fresh water.

Meethe chawal is a great dessert to make in advance of your dinner party, or even Eid day. The rice freezes really well. You can pop it in the freezer for up to three months. Allow it to thaw out in the fridge before re-heating, ideally overnight. I actually have frozen some today in readiness of Eid ul Adha. Feeling quite smug with myself for being so organised!

Like all my other rice dishes, I always use basmati rice. My preferred brand is Tilda basmati rice. The rice cooks beautifully and of course by following my recipe instructions. The key is not to over cook the rice, cook it until it is just soft enough to eat. If you over cook the rice, it will become mushy. Once the rice has softened, drain off any excess rice with a sieve. Then put the rice back into the pan ready for the chashni. At the end of the “dham”; steaming, you want to be able to see clear rice strands. My mum would often say the rice strands should be standing up on their ends.

See my video on Instagram or TikTok to see how to make this dish!

Ingredients

Feeds- 6-8

Time: 5 minutes preparation, 15 minutes cooking time, 20 minutes dham time.

• 1 mug basmati rice, (275 grams) washed and soaked for at least 30 minutes
• 1 litre water
• 0.5 tsp of yellow food colouring
• a pinch of saffron (optional)
• 1/2 pack of unsalted butter (125 grams)
• 3 cardamom pods
• 3 cloves
• cinnamon stick
• 3/4 mug (175 grams) of granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons blanched/flaked almonds
• 1 tablespoon of dried coconut slices (optional)

Method

1. Boil the water in a medium saucepan and then add the yellow food colouring, saffron and rice. Cook the rice until nearly cooked, about 5-6 minutes. The grains will have softened but not mushy in texture. (The rice will cook full in the oven at step 5 below) Drain off any excess water.

2. In a small sauce pan, add the butter and melt.

3. Turn the heat down and add in the sugar, cardamon pods, cloves and cinnamon stick. simmer for three to five minutes. It should become quite paste like.

4. Add a tablespoon of the flaked almonds (and a tablespoon of the coconut) into the butter.

5. Then pour the paste over the rice and stir through. You will need to make sure the rice and the sugar syrup are full combined. Do this gently, you do not want to break the rice as you do this. . Then cover the pan with the lid and put in the oven for steaming, “dham” for 20 to 30 minutes on 90 degree in fan assisted oven.

Alternatively you can cover the pan with a thin tea towel, then place the lids tightly on top and turn the heat down to the lowest setting on your hob and steam the rice for 20 minutes this way.

6. Sprinkle on the remaining almonds and serve.