This rice jewelry saffron recipe is a colourful jewelled rice with saffron, chicken, candied orange peel, barberries, almonds and pistachios. Each garnish is prepared separately, then arranged over fluffy basmati so the colours stay bright and the textures remain distinct.

Persian jeweled saffron rice with chicken orange peel barberries almonds and pistachios
Prepare each colourful garnish separately, then add it after the rice is steamed so the platter stays bright.

“Rice jewelry” is the archived English name for jewelled rice. The description is apt: red barberries, green pistachios and orange peel sit across the saffron grains like small stones, while seasoned chicken makes the platter a complete main dish.

Rice Jewelry Saffron Recipe

Serves: 8–10
Preparation: 45 minutes
Cooking: about 1 hour 15 minutes

For the rice and chicken

  • 5 cups basmati rice
  • 500 g chicken fillet, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 150 g butter, divided
  • 2 teaspoons strong saffron infusion, plus more to taste
  • Fine salt and black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons neutral oil

For the jewelled garnish

  • 2 cups thinly julienned orange peel, with most white pith removed
  • 2 cups sugar and 4 cups water, for candying the peel
  • 1 cup slivered pistachios
  • 1 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/2 cup dried barberries
  • 1 teaspoon sugar, for the barberries
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Parboil and Steam the Rice

  1. Rinse the basmati until the water is nearly clear. Soak it in cool salted water for one to two hours, then drain.
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rice and cook for six to eight minutes, until the outside of each grain is soft but the centre is still firm.
  3. Drain in a colander and rinse briefly with lukewarm water.
  4. Melt 30 g butter with one tablespoon oil in the pot. Return the rice, shape it into a loose mound and make several steam holes with a spoon handle.
  5. Cover the lid with a clean towel, reduce the heat to low and steam for 35–45 minutes.

Cook the Chicken

While the rice steams, heat one tablespoon oil and 30 g butter in a frying pan. Cook the onion until soft and pale gold. Add the chicken, salt and pepper and brown the pieces.

Add 1/2 cup water, cover and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through and only a little concentrated liquid remains. Check the thickest pieces reach 74°C (165°F), then keep them warm.

Remove Bitterness From the Orange Peel

  1. Put the thin peel strips in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for five minutes, drain and repeat with fresh water three more times.
  2. After the fourth blanching, soak the peel in cold water for one hour. Taste a strip. If it remains aggressively bitter, blanch once more.
  3. Combine two cups sugar and four cups water in a clean saucepan. Heat until the sugar dissolves, then add the drained peel.
  4. Simmer gently for about 30 minutes, until the strips are translucent but still hold their shape. Stir in the lemon juice, remove from the heat and drain before using.

Removing most of the white pith before blanching makes the bitterness easier to control. Lemon juice at the end adds a little acidity and helps balance the sweet syrup; it replaces the unclear “lemon ink” wording in the old translation.

Prepare the Barberries and Nuts

Pick over the barberries, rinse briefly and drain well. Melt 15 g butter over low heat, add the berries and one teaspoon sugar, and stir for 30–60 seconds. Add one teaspoon of saffron infusion and remove the pan before the fruit darkens.

Soak the almond and pistachio slivers separately in cool water for 20 minutes, then drain. During the final 10 minutes of rice steaming, place each kind on its own small piece of foil with a teaspoon of butter and set the parcels on top of the rice. Fold the foil loosely rather than sealing it; the aim is to soften and warm the nuts, not steam them wet.

Assemble the Jewelled Rice

Mix about two cups of cooked rice with the remaining saffron infusion. For an even colour, use a concentrated infusion prepared by the method in our guide to brewing saffron for rice.

Spoon half the plain rice onto a warm platter, add the chicken in a broad middle layer and cover with the remaining rice. Arrange the saffron rice across the top, then distribute the orange peel, barberries, almonds and pistachios in separate ribbons or a loose pattern.

Do not mix all the garnishes forcefully through the pot. The appeal of rice jewelry comes from seeing and tasting the components separately.

Make-Ahead and Storage

The orange peel can be prepared two days ahead and refrigerated in a covered container. The nuts can be slivered ahead, but keep them dry. Prepare barberries close to serving so they remain red and plump.

Refrigerate leftover rice and chicken within two hours and use within three days. Reheat only the portion needed until piping hot, adding a spoonful of water and covering it so the rice steams rather than dries.

Allergen note: the dish contains milk and tree nuts.