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If you feel like eating something sweet then make Zarda Pulao, the taste will be memorable.
Samira Vishwas | March 22, 2026 3:24 AM CST

Zarda Pulao: If you want to make something traditional, aromatic and a little different in sweets, then Zarda Pulao can be a great option. It is a popular dish made from sweet rice, which is especially prepared during festivals, feasts and special occasions. The mild aroma of saffron, sweetness of sugar and the taste of aromatic spices like cardamom and cinnamon make it very special. This pulao prepared with ghee and dry fruits not only tastes delicious but is also very attractive to look at. This is the reason why this dish is liked by everyone from children to adults and is also served as a sweet on special occasions. So let’s know its recipe.

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Zarda Pulao

Zarda Pulao is a traditional sweet rice dish, especially made during festivals and special occasions. In this, Basmati rice is cooked with sugar, saffron, ghee and cardamom, due to which its color becomes yellow and taste is aromatic. It is made richer by adding cashews, almonds, raisins and sometimes tutti-frutti. This dish is a royal version of sweet rice and is much loved as a dessert.
course Main course
Cuisine Indian (Mughlai / North Indian)
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Calories 300kcal

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Kilo Rice
  • 1/2 Kilo Sugar
  • Gram Ghee
  • 8-10 cloves
  • 4-5 Cardamom
  • 2 pieces cinnamon
  • 1 Gram Saffron
  • 1/4 spoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup Almonds and Cashews chopped up
  • food coloring as desired

Instructions

Step 1: Boil Rice

  • First of all, boil about 3 liters of water in a big vessel. Add rice to it and cook it and when the rice becomes soft, filter the water and keep it to cool. Take care not to overcook the rice.
    Boiling rice in a large pot of water until slightly soft, then draining and letting the rice cool without overcooking.

Step 2: Prepare the syrup

  • Now add sugar in a big pan and make solid syrup. Add saffron to it and add a little color as per your choice.
    Preparing sugar syrup in a large pan and adding crushed saffron along with a little food color for fragrance and color.

Step 3: Mix Rice

  • Now add the cooled rice to the syrup and mix gently so that the rice does not break.
    Adding the cooled boiled rice into the prepared sugar syrup and gently mixing so the rice grains do not break.

Step 4: Add ghee tempering

  • Heat ghee in a small pan and add cloves, cardamom and cinnamon to it to prepare aromatic tadka.
    Heating ghee in a small pan and adding cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon to prepare a fragrant tempering.

Step 5: Add tadka to rice

  • Add the prepared tadka to the rice and mix slowly with the help of a ladle so that the rice remains separate.
    Pouring the aromatic ghee tempering over the sweet rice and gently mixing so the grains remain separate.

Step 6: Let it cook

  • Now let the Jarda Pulao cook on low flame for 8-10 minutes. When it seems that the syrup has dried completely, then turn off the gas.
    Cooking the Zarda pulao on low heat for 8–10 minutes until the sugar syrup is well absorbed.

Step 7: Garnish and serve

  • Garnish the prepared Jarda Pulao by adding chopped almonds on top and after keeping it covered for some time, serve it hot or slightly cold.
    Garnishing the prepared Zarda pulao with sliced ​​almonds and serving it warm or slightly cooled

Notes

some additional tips
  • While boiling rice, add 1 teaspoon ghee in water, this makes the rice separate and fluffy.
  • To increase the aroma in Jarda Pulao, you can add a little rose water or kewra water at the end.
  • If you fry cashews and raisins in light ghee along with almonds, the taste will increase even more.
  • Do not add too much color, light yellow or saffron color makes Zarda Pulao more attractive.
  • After adding rice, cover the pan and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes, this will allow the syrup to get absorbed into the rice properly.
  • If desired, it can be decorated by adding some pistachios or thin coconut pieces on top, this makes the dish look more rich.

The post If you feel like eating sweets then make Zarda Pulao, the taste will be memorable appeared first on NewsUpdate.

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