Saffron rice with barberries, pistachio & mixed herbs from Jerusalem (page 105) by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

stef_iuirt1 on May 19, 2026

It was okay.
rmardel on August 01, 2025

This is very simple and delicious, easy to pull together while working on other dishes, and it also works well at room temperature. This all makes it an stress-free dish for an informal dinner party. It is definitely bright, fresh, and yet subtle -- a perfect side dish that enhances other dishes while not being boring.
joeljkp on April 20, 2025

This looks impressive but comes together easily. The barberries give a nice sour pop. I used a mix of flat-leaf parsley and extra tarragon instead of the chervil. We had it as a light main, but it would have been better with some protein accompaniment, esp. something with a sauce since by itself the rice was somewhat dry.
lholtzman on November 26, 2024

The rice is looks and smells beautiful. I wish it had a bit more flavor. I used tart cherries instead of barberries and omitted the chervil since I can never find it in the US.
nutrica6 on August 26, 2024

Impressive but easy side dish. I served it with sausages and roasted vegetables. The flavors were amazing and the rice was perfectly moist. I loved the detailed instructions, and didn’t need to change anything except exchanging parsley for chervil because it was hard to find. The barberries are the best part, and I found them at the middle eastern grocery store.
lorloff on December 28, 2022

We made dinner for an Iranian friend who brought us saffron from her last trip home. In her honor I made this Saffron rice dish and it was fantastic. We used fresh dill, tarragon and cilantro (chervil was not in season). I made it in the rice maker after the sautéing stage with organic basmati rice and it worked perfectly. I big hit and our friend loved it. Will make again.
Zosia on June 04, 2016

As others have noted, this is a very pretty as well as delicious rice dish. With the tartness of the barberries, it's particularly good with rich protein dishes and without, it's a versatile side that goes with just about everything.
TrishaCP on May 09, 2016

This is incredibly delicious, even just using dill and cilantro as the herbs. The barberries were excellent in this-just bright pops of flavor.
WFPLCleanEating on November 13, 2015

A Really good dish and so pretty too! (Rachel S-K)
Barb_N on June 04, 2014

I love the beauty of this dish (similar to a recipe appropriately called 'jewelled rice') and it is adaptable to ingredients you have on hand. A caution about barberries (which were hard to come by in my corner of Virginia)- rinse them well! Otherwise there will be little bits of grit among the jewels. An easy sub for them is currants.
Rutabaga on April 07, 2014

This is a pretty easy rice dish to get the hang of, with beautiful results. I've made it when I have dill and parsley on hand because it's such a good way to use herbs, but I imagine it would really shine if made with the tarragon and chervil called for in the recipe. Definitely include the barberries if you can get them.
Breadcrumbs on January 11, 2013

p. 105 – Amazing dish! I did make some adaptations which I’ll share here: • No pistachios at the mkt so I omitted. I wasn’t too concerned about this since we were serving this dish w the Meatballs & Favas p.196 and we’d have plenty of contrasting flavours and textures from that dish. • I used my Zoji rice steamer to cook the rice. I used Tilda brown basmati. As a result my brown rice didn’t produce the same visual interest of contrasting colours in the finished dish but I was still pleased that you could easily differentiate the saffron-infused grains from the “naked” ones. • I used flat Italian parsley, fennel fronds and dill as my herbs This is the first time we’ve ever eaten barberries and we really liked them. They add a citrusy pop to the dish. The rice was sensational and I’d like to make it again and add some legumes, lentils perhaps. This is one of my favourites from the book thus far. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/884301#7817550