Tahdig (crispy Persian rice)

delicious. tips

1. Yuma’s top tips for perfect tahdig…

   Use a heavybottomed, good quality non-stick pan.

   Making sure the slices of potato are all the same thickness is more important than getting them as thin as possible, which is why a mandoline is useful.

   Be liberal with the oil and butter when brushing – along with the saffron, it’s where the majority of the flavour comes from.

   The temperature you cook at impacts the overall cooking time, so it’s a bit of a guessing game for the first one you make. If you think of the heat of your hob on a scale of 1-9, you want to aim for a 3. The cooking can take anywhere between just over an hour and an hour and a half.

   You need to use your nose to work out when the tahdig is ready.
   Lift the lid slightly and smell – it’s ready when you get the toasty, nutty aromas
   of brown butter. If it’s not quite there, cook it for 10 minutes more; if it smells bitter, you’ve burnt your tahdig!

   As soon as the tahdig is ready, invert the plate over the pan, hold it on and flip over to turn out the rice onto your serving platter. Remove the pan quickly. If you leave it on top for too long, the steam will get trapped around the crust and it’ll turn soggy.

   Finally, if you do burn your tahdig, don’t worry – the rice will still be
   perfectly good and delicious to eat. You’ll miss out on the crust,
   but you’ll know for next time you need to reduce the temperature or start checking the smell earlier.

2. Tahdig is a dish of slow-cooked basmati rice. The word literally means ‘bottom of the pot’, referring to the caramelised crispy base that develops during cooking. The rice is served as a side to meaty stews – but ask any Iranian and they’ll tell you it’s the tahdig crust, not the stew, everyone goes for first.

   Take your time washing the rice, says Yuma. There are three stages…

   Wash First, submerge the rice in plenty of cold water. Shape your hand into a claw and, with a circular motion, start swishing the rice around. Once the water turns chalky, drain the rice and repeat the process until the water remains  clear. Yuma recommends washing the rice 10 times (yes, really!) to ensure you’ve got rid of as much starch as possible.

   Soak Next, to get rid of even more starch, Yuma soaks his rice overnight in plenty of cold water and – crucially – a teaspoon of salt. This kicks off the seasoning process but also helps soften the grains so they absorb more water.

   Drain and parboil You now drain the rice, wash it again (for good measure), then boil it with a little saffron and more salt for just a few minutes. As soon as the grains double in size, the rice is drained and rinsed under cold water to halt the cooking process. Now it’s time to build the tahdig.