For giving
The Crystal Bottle — 1 g
One gram of Super Negin in a crystal keepsake bottle. About 60 cups of tea.
$19.99About 60 cups of tea
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Afghanistan’s national dish
Qabuli Pulao
Steamed long-grain rice over slow-braised lamb, crowned with caramelised carrot and raisin, and lifted by a bloom of Herati saffron. This is the dish that appears at every Afghan wedding, every Eid, every table that matters.
Shop the saffron
Method
Bloom the saffron
Crush 20 threads lightly between your fingers, drop them into 3 tbsp of warm — not boiling — water, and leave them alone for ten minutes. The water should go deep gold while the threads stay crimson.
Brown the lamb
Heat the oil in a heavy pot. Brown the lamb hard on all sides, then lift it out. Add the onions to the same pot and cook slowly until deeply golden, about 15 minutes — this colour is where the gravy comes from.
Braise
Return the lamb, add the cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and enough water to just cover. Simmer covered for 1 hour 15 minutes until the meat gives at a fork. Strain the stock and keep it — it cooks the rice.
Caramelise the topping
Melt the ghee in a frying pan, add the carrots and sugar and cook until glossy and just tender. Add the raisins for the last minute until they plump. Set aside.
Par-cook the rice
Boil the rice in well-salted water for 5 minutes only — it should still have a firm core. Drain.
Layer and steam
Return the rice to the pot over the lamb. Pour the reserved stock, the bloomed saffron and its threads, and the cardamom over the top. Cover with a tea-towel-wrapped lid and steam on the lowest heat for 25 minutes.
Serve
Pile the rice onto a warm platter, bring the lamb up through it, and crown with the carrot and raisin. Serve immediately, with the saffron still perfuming the room.
Notes from our kitchen
- The tea towel under the lid is not optional — it catches the condensation that would otherwise fall back and turn the rice claggy.
- If you want the classic two-tone look, hold back a cup of white rice before adding the saffron and fold it through at the end.
- Leftover stock freezes well and makes the best saffron soup base you will ever have.
Keep cooking
More saffron recipes
The Ramadan sweet
Sholeh Zard
Saffron rice pudding, set soft and scented with rosewater and cardamom, decorated with cinnamon and pistachio.
View recipe →
Afghan saffron ice cream
Sheer Yakh
Traditionally churned by hand in a metal drum packed with ice and salt, sheer yakh is denser and chewier than Western ice cream, heavy with cardamom, saffron and pistachio.
View recipe →
For Diwali and every celebration
Saffron Kheer
Slow-reduced milk, rice and sugar, turned gold with kesar and finished with nuts.
View recipe →Made with
The saffron this recipe is written for.
Single-origin Herati Super Negin, single-origin and harvest-dated.
For the ritual
The Ritual Set
The bottle plus the porcelain teacup and saucer.
$44.991 g + teacup & saucer
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For the kitchen
The Connoisseur Jar — 5 g
For the kitchen that cooks with saffron, not around it.
$59.99$12.00/g
Shop 5 g
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