Saffron, the most expensive spice in the world, has the most incredible colour and aroma. It is used in almost all of Persian dishes, and in some other cuisines as well, including Indian.
You can buy saffron either as stigmas, like the one I have used here, or powdered. However, buying stigmas usually guarantees that you are buying genuine pure saffron flower stigams, without any red food colouring, and not imitation saffron, which lacks the incredible aroma and flavour of pure saffron.
Also, the highest grade saffron, only includes red stigmas. If you have a look at lower grade ones, you will see they have some yellow stigmas as well, which are really useless as they do not release the color and aroma you are after.
Brewing saffron develops its color and aroma. That’s why it is always better to brew it first with the simple steps below. I hope you find it useful! 😉
Ingredients:
Saffron stigmas
Boiling water
Special Equipment:
Mortar and pestle
Method:
1. Place the saffron flower stigmas in your mortar.
2. Grind with the pestle until you have powdered the saffron.
3. Pour over boiling water.
4. Cover with a lid and let sit for about 30 minutes.