Meethe chawal is a sweet rice, a traditional dish made in India during festival seasons Basant Panchami. Also known as Zarda or Zarda pulao, it is typically prepared with Basmati rice, colour (Turmeric, safforn), whole spices for flavor, ghee, nuts, raisins and sugar or jaggery for sweetening. Let’s see how to make a perfect Meethe chawal with fluffy, not watery results in this post, guides you even if you are a begginer.
Typically made during Festival like Basant Panchami or also as a rich dessert during special occasions.
Do check out my Kashmiri pulao recipe and my Kashmiri naan recipe which also has a sweet note in it.
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Ingredients
Methe chawal is made typically during Basant Panchami festival, where yellow food symbolize prosperity and happiness. I have used only natural food colours, no hidden artificial colour!
- Basmati Rice : Aromatic, long-grain rice perfect for sweet dishes.
- Sugar : Adds sweetness to the dish, adjust as per taste.
- Turmeric : Provides a vibrant yellow color naturally. Has very subtle earthy flavour, matches the flavour profile of the dish.
- Ghee: Adds richness and aroma.
- Coconut Slices: For a mild flavour and texture.
- Saffron: Infuses a luxurious flavor and golden hue.
- Cashews : Crunchy, adds a nutty flavor.
- Almonds: Thinly sliced for texture.
- Raisins : Adds a sweet, tangy taste.
- Cardamom: For a sweet aroma.
- Cloves , Cinnamon: For flavour
- Kewra Water : Enhances the fragrance of the basmati rice.
- Salt : Balances sweetness, making it not flat.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Step by step images
Let’s see how to make one pot meethe chawal in pressure cooker.
- Start by washing rice and soak it in 1 & ½ cups water for minimum 30 minutes. This step is very important for easy cooking and soft texture. I used hot water, but you can soak in plain too.
- Once done, drain water. Then heat a pressure cooker with ghee. Add the tempering items to it.
- After that, add sliced coconut and give it a roast, followed by nuts and raisins.
- Once the raisin bloats, add rice drained from water. Give it a roast to coat ghee and there’s no extra moisture.
5. Then, add water, salt, saffron, kewra water, turmeric and mix well. Bring to boil.
6. Let it boil for 2 minutes or until the rice is seen on the surface.
7. Add sugar and give it a stir without breaking the rice.
8. Cook in lowest flame possible for 14 minutes firstly.
9. After that, open and give it a mix. For me at this point it was still watery at the bottom.
10. So again gave another 5 minutes low flame cooking.
11. Once done, let the pressure go down naturally (if any). Again give it a mix, you may still have some moist syrup at the bottom. But no need to worry.
12. Mix and keep closed for 15 minutes.
13. After 15 minutes, all the syrup will be absorbed by the rice and become fluffy.
14. If you want you can again heat, garnish with a drizzle of ghee and serve hot!
Enjoy with a mild gravy like paneer pasanda or something like Dum aloo. I can have it as such as there’s the coconut + nuts texture, the rice is delicious and fragrant.
Substitutions & Variations
- You can use any raw rice or fragrant rice of your own region. For example jeeraga samba rice is a fragrant rice in southern part of India.
- Use any nut of your choice, chironji, pistachios work well too.
- Replace ¾ cup white sugar with 1 cup powdered jaggery. I like to use organic jaggery powder in case if using jaggery as it has less/no chemicals.
Storage
You can refrigerate the rice for couple of days and reheat to serve again.
Top Tip
My notes
- Soaking the rice really well is important, especially in this recipe where along with sugar, rice takes long time to cook.
- Depending on the cooker make and model, the cooking time may vary. Just make sure to not let it burn in the bottom.
- When you open the cooker, if there is lot of sugar syrup at the bottom, that is dripping amount of syrup, cook furthermore. But if it is just moist and not very watery, you can just mix and give it resting time. As it cools, it gets absorbed, no need to panic.
- I soaked rice in measured amount of water and used the same water for cooking the rice.
FAQ
Since we add lot of whole spices and fragrant kewra water, there would not be any smell of turmeric at all.
It’s normal for the rice become rigid as we cook with sugar, but it should not be hard. It will be slightly chewy. To trouble shoot, you can add 2 tablespoon milk and reheat.
Make sure to soak minimum 30 minutes prior cooking. Boil 2 minutes before adding sugar. Cook for long time in low flame as mentioned and give 15 minutes standing time.
Since we add sugar, it turns bit chewy. But increasing the cooking time and adding sugar after 2 minutes boiling helps.
Recipe card
Meethe Chawal Recipe
Meethe chawal is a sweet rice, a traditional dish made in India during festival seasons Basant Panchami. Also known as Zarda or Zarda pulao, it is typically prepared with Basmati rice, colour (Turmeric, safforn), whole spices for flavor, ghee, nuts, raisins and sugar or jaggery for sweetening.
Equipments (Amazon Affiliate links)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- 1.5 cups Water
- ¾ cup Sugar
- 10 strands Saffron
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric
- ½ teaspoon Kewra water
- A pinch Salt
To temper
- 2 – 3 tablespoons of Ghee
- 2-3 cardamom
- 3 cloves
- 1 inch piece cinnamon
- ⅛ cup sliced coconut fresh
- 10 Cashews
- 5 Almonds
- 20 Raisins
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Instructions
-
Start by washing rice and soak it in 1 & ½ cups water for minimum 30 minutes. This step is very important for easy cooking and soft texture. I used hot water, but you can soak in plain too.
-
Once done, drain water. Then heat a pressure cooker with ghee. Add the tempering items to it.
-
After that, add sliced coconut and give it a roast, followed by nuts and raisins.
-
Once the raisin bloats, add rice drained from water. Give it a roast to coat ghee and there’s no extra moisture.
-
Then, add water, salt, saffron, kewra water, turmeric and mix well. Bring to boil.
-
Let it boil for 2 minutes or until the rice is seen on the surface.
-
Add sugar and give it a stir without breaking the rice.
-
Cook in lowest flame possible for 14 minutes firstly.
-
After that, open and give it a mix. For me at this point it was still watery at the bottom, so again gave another 5 minutes low flame cooking.
-
Once done, let the pressure go down naturally (if any). Again give it a mix, you may still have some moist syrup at the bottom. But no need to worry. Mix and keep closed for 15 minutes.
-
After 15 minutes, all the syrup will be absorbed by the rice and become fluffy.
-
If you want you can again heat, garnish with a drizzle of ghee and serve hot!
Video
Notes
- Soaking the rice really well is important, especially in this recipe where along with sugar, rice takes long time to cook.
- Depending on the cooker make and model, the cooking time may vary. Just make sure to not let it burn in the bottom.
- When you open the cooker, if there is lot of sugar syrup at the bottom, that is dripping amount of syrup, cook furthermore. But if it is just moist and not very watery, you can just mix and give it resting time. As it cools, it gets absorbed, no need to panic.
