START EARLY -- about 2 hours start to finish.
Adapted from https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/crunchy-baked-saffron-rice-with-barberries
4 servings
Broad summary: (rinse and cook rice; soak saffron; plump up cranberries.) Rinse and cool rice. Make a sauce with saffron, mix in rice, fill a pie plate with rice and cranberries; bake.
Pot for cooking rice
large bowl for sauce
wire strainer
pie plate, w cookie sheet under it
aluminum foil.
Preheat oven to 400; make space for rack in lower 1/3 of oven.
Boil a large pot of water and add 1/2 c salt. Rinse
2c basmati rice
in a strainer with lukewarm water until water runs clear.
Take 2T of the hot water, and add it to a large bowl with
1t saffron threads, crushed.
Then add the rice to the boiling water for 6 min.
While it boils, melt
2T unsalted butter
in a small skillet and add
½ cup dried barberries or 1 cup dried tart cherries or 1/2 - 3/4 c dried cranberries, chopped
and cook until slightly plumped, about 2 min. Off heat, and stir in
1/4- ½ t rose water.
Set aside.
Drain the rice in a strainer and rinse with cold water.
To the saffron, add
2-3 large egg yolks (2 seems to work well)
1 c plain whole-milk yogurt (not Greek) [or use greek, plus 1/4c water]
½ c vegetable oil (could probably use 1/4c)
2 t salt
and mix well. Add
the rice
and mix to cover all grains of rice.
Coat a 10" pie plate with
1T butter,
especially on the bottom. Fill with
half the rice mix
and then scatter
half the berries
over it. Fill with
remaining rice mix
and press down with bottom of a measuring cup.
Cover dish tightly with foil and bake until rice on the bottom and around edges is a deep golden brown, 65–80 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes; discard foil. Loosen the rice around the edges using the point of a knife. Invert rice onto a large plate. Scatter
remaining barberries
over the top and serve. [Alternative: cook 1 hour, uncovered; then add foil for the last 10-20 min and for cooling period. Another alternative: scatter second half of berries atop rice before cooking, so that they dry out and caramelize a bit.]