Growing up, I never knew that this dish was called Tahdig until I saw Samin Nosrat (the culinary queen) make it on Salt Fat Acid Heat.
I remember just chilling on the couch of my college apartment and binging the whole series on Netflix. As I munched on my 'healthy' chips (and reminded myself that they weren't in fact Styrofoam), my interest peaked when I noticed her crisp up some white rice with her mother.
That brought back my own memories of making this with my mother. We had a huge variety of ways that we made this and each method took time to learn. After practicing tirelessly to make it properly with my mother and using her sighs of disappointment as fuel, I finally heard the words I was dreaming of:
Not bad. –My Mother
This recipe is the fairly easy version. We made a normal version, a sweet version with raisins, a version with potatoes, another with egg, but my favorite one was made with Goodman's Rice and Vermicelli (aka Rice A Roni but you can use the name brand instead). It is just such a nostalgically salty and crispy experience that I recommend you try it once.
Mom's Crispy Persian Rice
Ingredients
This serves 4 people, but I honestly devoured it myself within a day so...cook at your own risk.
2 cups white short grain rice
2 cups chicken broth, warmed
3 tablespoons butter (or margarine)
Steps
Wash your rice in cold water, strain, and set aside (This step is absolutely vital to having fluffy individual grains).
Add butter to a pot and melt on medium high heat.*
Once it is just melted, add the rice and stir gently to coat the grains and let it cook for 2 minutes (until fragrant).
Pour in the chicken broth (don't be alarmed by the steam, that's normal).
Let the broth boil until the liquid reduces enough that you can just start to see the rice grains. (Takes 3 minutes or so)
Once you can see most of the grains and still see the liquid bubbling, lower the heat to sim and cover. Let it cook for 8-10 minutes.
When you lift the lid, gently stir the rice by dragging it from the outer edge to the center. It will look like you're creating a rice mountain.
At this point, gently press on the 'rice mountain' to flatten it out again and press it to back to the edges. Tuck the edges in a little as well.
Raise the heat to high. Cover and let it crisp up for another 4-5 minutes or until the edges are browned.
Loosen it from the edge of the pan with a spatula. Flip and serve on a plate.
This process sounds different, but it is quite effective. If you use Rice-A-Roni, follow the packet instructions and begin at step 7.
* Rondeau pot or sauté pan preferred to maximize the crispy surface area.
Substitution Suggestions
Same measurements apply.
Vegan: Substitute butter for plant-based margarine and the chicken broth for vegetable broth.
Vegetarian: Substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth.
Gluten-Free: Use white, wild, or brown rice. Rice-A-Roni is not gluten-free.
Dairy-Free: Substitute butter for plant-based margarine.
Kosher: Substitute butter for plant-based margarine.
Halal: This dish is halal.
I really hope you guys get this the first time around cause I definitely didn't. If you have any questions or need any immediate help on it, let me know in the comments or email me, I am happy to help you out in real time!
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