Sweet Yellow Rice – Zarda

Zarda (Urdu: زردہ‎, Bengali: জর্দা, Hindi: ज़रदा, Punjabi: ਜ਼ਰਦਾ) is a traditional sweet from the Indian subcontinent, made by boiling rice with (orange) food coloring, milk and sugar, and flavoured with cardamoms, raisins, saffron, pistachios or almonds. The name Zarda comes from Persian word ‘zard’ زرد meaning ‘yellow’, hence named since the food coloring added to the rice gives it a yellow color. Zarda is typically served after a meal. In the Indian subcontinent, Zarda was and still remains a popular dessert on special occasions such as weddings.

Often in Pakistan, instead of yellow food coloring, multiple food colorings are added so the rice grains are of multiple colors. Additionally, Khoya, candied fruits (Murabba) and nuts are an essential part of Zarda made at auspicious occasions. There also is a popular use of raisins, and other dried fruits to dish.

Dating back to Mughal India, Zarda had a variation with an addition of small fried sweetmeat pieces called ‘Mutanjan’. This dish was a favourite of Emperor Shahjahan and was often made on his request. This rice dish was made for guests at special banquets. This dish is still eaten to this date in Pakistan.

زردہ میٹھے چاولوں کی بہت لذیذ میٹھی ڈش ہے۔ اس کا نام اس کی رنگت سے منسوب ہے۔ کسی زمانے میں اس کا رنگ زاعفران سے بنتا تھا۔

یہ عام تور پہ کھانے کے بعد میٹھے کے تور پر کھایا جاتا ہے۔ کہتے ہیں کہ یہ مغل بادشاہ شاہجہان کو بہت پسند تھی۔ یہ بھی سننا ہے کہ اس زمانے میں اس میں گوشت کے چھوٹے چھوٹے ٹکڑے بھی ڈلتے تھے۔

کئی جگھوں پر اس میں مختلف رنگوں کے چاول ملاۓ جاتے ہیں۔