Modur Pulav: Kashmir's Sweet Saffron Rice

Modur pulav is the rice that turns up at Kashmiri weddings and festivals, glowing gold and studded with nuts. It is sweet, but not like a dessert. It sits beside the meat dishes of a wazwan and balances them, the same way a sweet chutney sits beside a spicy curry.

It looks grand and takes about forty minutes.

What you need (serves four)

• 1½ cups aged basmati rice
• 3 tablespoons ghee
• 20 to 25 threads of saffron
• ⅓ to ½ cup sugar, depending on how sweet you like it
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 1 small stick of cinnamon
• 3 cloves
• 2 tablespoons cashews
• 2 tablespoons almonds, sliced
• 2 tablespoons raisins
• A few dried apricots, chopped (optional)
• 2¾ cups water
• A pinch of salt

Before you start

Wash and soak the rice. Rinse it in cold water until the water runs mostly clear, then leave it to soak for thirty minutes. Drain it well. Soaked rice cooks evenly and the grains stay long and separate.

Soak the saffron. Crumble it into three tablespoons of warm water and leave it while you do everything else.

How to make it

1. Fry the nuts. Heat the ghee in a heavy pan. Fry the cashews and almonds over medium heat until they just turn golden. Add the raisins for the last few seconds, until they puff up. Lift everything out with a slotted spoon and set aside.
2. Wake up the spices. In the same ghee, add the cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Let them sizzle for half a minute until they smell warm.
3. Coat the rice. Add the drained rice and stir gently for two minutes, so every grain is coated in ghee. Be careful not to break them.
4. Add the water. Pour in the water with a pinch of salt and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and cook for about ten minutes, until most of the water is absorbed and little holes appear on the surface.
5. Sweeten it. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the rice. Pour the saffron and its water over the top in a loose spiral. Don't stir.
6. Let it steam. Scatter half the fried nuts over the rice. Cover tightly, turn the heat as low as it goes, and leave it for another ten to twelve minutes. The sugar will melt down through the grains and the saffron will colour the top layer.
7. Finish it. Turn off the heat and leave it covered for five minutes. Then fluff it gently with a fork, folding the golden top through the paler rice below. Top with the rest of the nuts.

Tips

• Use aged basmati. New rice turns sticky under sugar. Older rice stays separate.
• Don't stir after the sugar goes in. Stirring breaks the grains and makes the rice gummy.
• A tawa under the pot helps on a strong flame. It spreads the heat so the bottom doesn't burn while the rice steams.

What to serve it with

In Kashmir, modur pulav usually shares a table with richer dishes like rogan josh or yakhni. It also works with a simple dal and a plain raita on a quiet weekend.

For the dry fruits, our [almonds](/products/kashmiri-almonds), [cashews](/products/cashew-nuts-kaju), [raisins](/products/raisins-kishmish) and [apricots](/products/red-apricots) all belong in it. For the colour, a few threads of [Mongra saffron](/products/pampore-saffron) is all it takes.