Rinse the rice, then leave to soak in a bowl of cold water for 30min. Once soaked, rinse and drain.
Step 2
Meanwhile, make the onions: heat the butter in a wide frying pan over a medium heat and add the onions with a generous pinch of salt. Cook until softened and turning a deep golden brown, stirring regularly to prevent them from burning. Turn the heat down if you think they are browning too quickly. This will take 40-45mins. Once the onions have caramelised, transfer them to a plate lined with kitchen paper. This will help absorb excess grease and will also help to crisp the onions up.
Step 3
Heat the saffron with the yogurt in a small saucepan until just warm, stirring well to help release the colour, then set aside to infuse. Add a splash of water so that it has a more pourable consistency.
Step 4
To make the rice, melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the spices and bay leaves and cook for 2min, until fragrant. Add the rice to the pan and stir to coat
well. Pour over 500ml (17fl oz) cold water and add ½tsp salt. Bring to a simmer with a lid on and cook for 10min over a low heat, until the rice has absorbed most of the water. Remove from the heat and leave to stand for 10min.
Step 5
Fluff up the rice carefully with a fork then transfer to a serving dish and drizzle with infused yogurt and scatter with the crispy onions.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
