Review of fruity and nutty Persian jewelled rice dish with cranberry and walnut from Amira!
Yield: 4 servings
Prep time:
Cook time:
If I were writing a status message on social media about this rice, it would be: this rice, tho. Becuase OMG, this rice! A Michelin-starred chef commented that "Absolutely no other rice available in the UK compares [to Amira]" and I'd have to agree. Amira rice is gourmet rice, it doesn't cook up into a stodgy mess, it's full of flavour and it's dead fluffy. And versatile, too. Included in my parcel of ingredients to make the Persian rice dish were recipes for rice and prawn cucumber salad and another Middle Eastern rice dish with halloumi. But first, let me tell you about this jewelled Persian rice:
I'm no stranger to jewelled rice, so I knew what to expect before I even started reading the recipe. The ingredients list calls for such an impressive collection of good things, it's hard to imagine this dish not being fantastic! We're talking about saffron--generous pinches of the stuff, dried cranberries, cinnamon, cardamom, walnuts, garlic. The good stuff.
For the jewelled rice
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cardmom pods
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons olive oil
60 grams unsalted butter
100 grams walnuts, roughly chopped
150 grams dried cranberries
300 grams Amira Superior Aromatic rice
generous pinch of saffron threads
salt and pepper
seeds from 1 pomegranate
generous bunch of chopped parsley
finely grated zest of 1 orange
Yield: 4 servings
Prep time:
Cook time:
Jewelled Persian Rice with Pomegranates, Walnuts & Parsley
We're big rice eaters; it's definitely one of our staples. Recently, I've become completely enthralled with Middle Eastern cooking and am enjoying being swept up in the rhapsodic flavours of spice mixes like ras-el-hanout and rediscovering the juicy sweetness of plump Medjool dates and figs. So when a PR rep got in touch to ask if I'd be interested in reviewing Amira Superior Aromatic Rice by recreating a Persian rice recipe, I leapt at the chance!If I were writing a status message on social media about this rice, it would be: this rice, tho. Becuase OMG, this rice! A Michelin-starred chef commented that "Absolutely no other rice available in the UK compares [to Amira]" and I'd have to agree. Amira rice is gourmet rice, it doesn't cook up into a stodgy mess, it's full of flavour and it's dead fluffy. And versatile, too. Included in my parcel of ingredients to make the Persian rice dish were recipes for rice and prawn cucumber salad and another Middle Eastern rice dish with halloumi. But first, let me tell you about this jewelled Persian rice:
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| Ingredients needed to make Jewelled Persian Rice with Amira's Superior Aromatic Rice |
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cardmom pods
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons olive oil
60 grams unsalted butter
100 grams walnuts, roughly chopped
150 grams dried cranberries
300 grams Amira Superior Aromatic rice
generous pinch of saffron threads
salt and pepper
seeds from 1 pomegranate
generous bunch of chopped parsley
finely grated zest of 1 orange
Amira Jewelled Persian Rice
Instructions:
Verdict
I love the rice; it's fantastic, but overall, I'm not 100% satisfied with this recipe. Here's why:
- The timings aren't accurate: 40 minutes to cook doesn't include the 30 minutes in Step 2 and 40 minutes preparation doesn't include the 1 required to soak the rice
- Speaking of soaking, soaking rice isn't something I've done for years, so I wasn't prepared for this nor the lengthy amount of time required.
- I love dried cranberries, especially their tart, concentrated sweetness. Soaking them removes that and I think it takes away from what could be a really nice element of this dish.
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