KESAR BHATH [SAFFRON RICE]
This is a sweet dish of rice. It takes 45 minutes to prepare.
The ingredients for 5 persons
Firstly
One cup small grain rice.
One cup sugar
4 strands of good quality kesar (saffron)
3 – 4 cardamons powdered; 3 -4 cloves, a small sliver of cinnamon
2 tablespoon raisins, 10 unsalted cashew nuts.
2 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)
Method:
Wash the rice and cook it till it is partially cooked. Heat the ghee in a kadai (wok) and add the cloves and cinnamon. Add the rice, sugar, powdered cardomom and saffron to it. Now place the wok on a pan and let the rice cook on a low flame. The idea is not to expose the wok to a direct flame. The sugar will melt and you may add the raisins and cashews at this point. Continue heating on the low indirect flame. Stir occassionally. The mixture will solidify and the kesar bhath is done.
The aroma will fill the whole house. The dish maybe eaten as part meal, part desert.