Spiced Persian Pilaf with Pomegranate and Almonds

Name: Spiced Persian Pilaf with Pomegranate and Almonds
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 300 g (10½ oz/1¾ cups) white basmati rice; generous knob of Vegan Butter or vegan spread; 1 cinnamon stick, broken; 3 cardamom pods, crushed; 2 spring onions (scallions), chopped; a good pinch of saffron (if available); 2 pared strips of lemon zest; 50 g (2 oz/scant ½ cup) raisins or sultanas (golden raisins); 50 g (2 oz/½ cup) blanched almonds, whole or flaked (slivered); 25 g (¾ oz/scant ¼ cup) toasted pine nuts; small handful of flatleaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped; seeds of 1 pomegranate; salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Rose Elliot's Complete Vegan

By Rose Elliot

Published 2019

About

This beautiful dish is easy to make, light but satisfying to eat and surprisingly filling. I love to serve it simply, with steamed broccoli spears and perhaps some creamy hummus and fresh dates on the side. To make a feast of it, serve with a Middle Eastern fruit platter for dessert, with some good coffee to finish.

Ingredients

300 g (10½ oz/1¾ cups) white basmati rice
generous

Method

Half-fill a large saucepan (with a lid) with water and bring to the boil. Put the rice into a sieve (strainer), rinse quickly under running cold water, then tip the rice into the saucepan. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 7 minutes. For perfect rice, the timing is important. Drain and shake off excess water, but don’t let the rice get too dry.

Rinse and quickly dry the saucepan and