How to Make Perfect Persian Tahdig (Crispy Rice Recipe)
Crunchy tahdig is what you get at the bottom of a pot of Persian rice, and with this recipe, it comes out perfectly every time.
Servings: 6
Calories: 461kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups basmati rice you can use 2-8 cups, depending on your pot or pan, see notes
- 3 tbsp salt
- 6 tablespoons oil flavorless, like vegetable or canola
- 1 pinch saffron ground and bloomed in 2 tbsp hot water or over ice
Instructions
- Wash the rice in cold water until the water runs clear. This takes 3-6 times. Fill the bowl with cold water and let the rice soak until the next step two steps are done.
- In the meantime, prepare your saffron. Grind it using a mortar and pestle, then steep it in 2 tablespoons of hot water, or put a few cubes of ice on it. Set aside.
- Bring about ⅔ a pot water of water to boil. Add 3 tablespoon salt.
- Drain the water out of the bowl of rice, you can use a fine-mesh collander or sieve.
- Add the rice to the boiling water, and cook, like pasta, until al-dente, 5-10 minutes. Stir while it's cooking so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Drain the rice and gently rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Taste it for salt. If it's too salty, give it another good rinse with cold water.
- Grab your non-stick pot or pan. If it's the same pot you used to par boil the rice, make sure it is clean. Heat it over medium, add 3 tablespoons of oil, half the steeped saffron, and stir to mix.
- Top with the drained rice, and form it into a pyramid. Using the back side of a kitchen utensil, make 6 deep holes in the rice, then put the lid on. Cook on medium heat, watching it carefully.
- When the lid gets foggy, ~5 minutes, pour the rest of the oil, 3 tablespoons, around the edges and over the rice. Add 2 tablespoons of water to the top of the rice. Cover with a lid wrapped in a kitchen towl and lower the heat to medium low*.
- Steam for 45-60 minutes until the tahdig is golden and crispy.
- Remove the excess rice from the top of the pot (the part that is domed) and mix in the rest of the saffron water. You can use a fork to fluff it in. Set it aside.
- Carefully and with oven mitts, flip the tahdig onto a serving dish.**
Video
Notes
This recipe works with 2-8 cups of dry rice, but it depends on our pot size I can make this recipe with as little as 3 cups in a 10-inch diameter pan. Ideally, you would have no less than an inch and a half of rice, preferably more.
* If you are using a small burner, or a gas burner, you'll want to rotate the pot every 10-15 minutes to make sure it is browning evenly.
** If you're using an old non-stick pan that isn't as great of a non-stick, you might need some help getting the tahdig to release from the pot. You can either run cold water on the outside of the pot, or place the pot on a cold, wet kitchen towel.
Nutrition
Calories: 461kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 3493mg | Potassium: 107mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 0.04IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg
