Basant Panchami Special, Meethe Chawal/Gur wale Chawal is a delicious rice preparation from North India, prepared in desi ghee and jaggery, colored with saffron and turmeric, flavored with spices like cardamom, with lots of nuts.
Soak saffron strands in warm milk few hours(at least 1 hr) before preparing the rice.
Soak Rice
Wash rice and soak for at least half an hour(30 mins) before cooking. Roughly chop nuts.
Prepare Jaggery syrup
In a pan heat water and add jaggery. Mix and give it one boil. Keep aside.
Cook Meethe Chawal
In a thick bottomed pan/kadhai, heat ghee. Add the whole spices, roast for a few seconds, then add nuts to it and roast till they give the aroma. and start turning light brown.
Add dry coconut, fry for few seconds.
Add raisins and cranberries, fry for another few seconds.
You can keep few nuts and raisins and berries for garnish.
Now add saffron milk and then rice. Drain water from rice before adding it.
Cover and keep the rice on medium flame and cook till the rice becomes 60%soft, like biryani rice. Cooked rice grain should be a little raw and not soft.
Now add prepared jaggery syrup and mix very lightly. Do not over mix, rice grains may break and rice will turn mushy.
Cover and cook on low flame, till the water is absorbed and rice grains are cooked.
Take off the flame and keep covered for few minutes. Do not open or mix rice just after the you take it off the flame.
Serve hot and add a few roasted nuts before serving.
Video
Notes
For Vegan version use any plant milk and oil. But. the real flavour and aroma of the rice comes with ghee. I have used basmati rice, you can use any other long grain rice or the rice you prefer. You can add coconut sugar/brown sugar or castor sugar also, in place of jaggery if it is available to you.Do not over mix cooked rice, as rice may turn mushy.Keep the rice covered for few minutes after your switch off the flame.