Name: Cooking with Saffron (Ashapzi ba za’feran)
Cuisine: Iranian
Ingredients: In a mortar or spice grinder, grind saffron threads with 1 cube sugar until transformed into a powder (the sugar helps the grinding process).; In a glass container dissolve 1 teaspoon saffron powder in ¼ cup/60 ml hot water. For even more flavor, you can use rose water or orange blossom water instead of hot water. Store in an airtight glass bottle in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks and use as needed (saffron water molds easily and should be kept in the refrigerator at all times.

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Food of Life

By Najmieh Batmanglij

Published 2011

About

When buying saffron, choose threads rather than powder (which is too often adulterated with turmeric). Threads should be ground with a cube of sugar, then dissolved in hot water, rose water, or orange blossom water. The saffron-water solution can then be stored in a small glass container in the refrigerator and used as needed. Do not use the unground threads in cooking.