Persian Rice

“Hi Lennie,The best rice to use is Basmati (or Jasmine Rice). This will give the optimum cake effect, and the flavours will be awsome.The recipe your friend gave you is authentic, but you need a good quantity of butter/oil to get the crispy bottom Tahdiq part to work. You can make this dish with or without the potatoes. Standard Tahdiq is just a crispy golden disc of rice at the bottom of the pan. You can do this by adding oil/butter at the bottom of the same pot you’ve boiled the rice in, let it heat a little, then carefully poar your part-boiled rice on top & follow the recipe to the end. I normally start it off on low to medium heat for 10 minutes, then turn the heat right doen to very low and let it steam gently for 30 – 40 minutes. You can exactly the same with the potatoes.The quality of the ‘base’ of your pot must be good; your pot should preferably have a heavy base to ensure an equal distribution of heat. Do not give up! Getting a good-shaped Tahdiq takes years of practice! Generally it is something that only Iranian grandmothers know how to do best;-)”

“There is NO better rice than Iranian rice!I was married for 33 years to a good, Iranian-American who is a better cook than most of his female relatives and Iranian friends.There are a few things to note, some of which have been touched on by other reviewers.First, tadiq (tadeek) is fabulous for all except those who do not like crunchy things.Secondly, using Basmati is a must and your first water should be pretty heavily salted, but covering your (heavy pot) lid–we called it “diapering” it–is also a must.Just put the lid on a terrycloth kitchen towel, pull all the ends up and secure it with a clothespin.Thirdly, put about a 1/4 inch (I am guessing the amount) of water and about a tablespoon of oil in the bottom of the pan after draining the rice, let it start to boil, and do as one reviewer said “exactly”:mound the rice and use the wooden spoon handle to poke several holes in the rice mound.Then cover with the diapered lid, wait about 3-5 minutes, and then turn the heat down quite low.My ex-husband always cooked his rice dishes at least an hour and 15 minutes, and no one disputes his success with it.Absolutely fabulous.The potatoes and all are not necessary, but one more important note:he also drizzles a little bit of olive oil with saffron crushed into it over the mounded rice before replacing the lid and inverting it to display the tadiq.”

“I’m a New Yorker who has had many friends from all over the world, including the middle-east. A former Persian/Israeli boyfriend added a beautiful twist to this recipe—-A great tip for a great dish:Ad 1/4 tsp. cumin seed, 1/8 tsp. tumeric, and very thinly sliced onion, in addition to the sliced potatoes, in the bottom of the pan to lightly crisp before adding rice.”

“I have always used a “damp” towel or paper towels under the lid. This dish is yummy with out the potatoes. I serve it with Ghormeh Sabzi.”

“I too was married to an Iranian, In fact I lived there too. Tadiq is served all over the country. I do know up in northern Iran, the people like a short grain rice,and what my ex used to call sticky rice. But I lived in Isfahan and they usually had a type of basmati, This recipes is good but when you put the rice in pile it like it is a mountain, take a wooden spoon and put a kind of steam hole in the middle, cover with a dish towel or a layer of 4 paper towels and then put the top on so its tight fitting. You dont have to use potatoes, you can make this rice have a crispy brown crust by putting a layer of buttered rice on the bottom and piling the rest of the rice on top. or you can use onions or anything else you like on the bottom. You can also put down a few inces of rice add your khoresh and cover the rest with rice, or add dried fruit to the middle of the rice. Its also really tasty if you mix dried dill in the rice before putting it back in the pot, Iranians like that rice with fish. ( they mix lima beans and dill) but I dont really like lima beans! Happy cooking, I only make this type of rice, I have had success with basmati and jasmine. “

“And I think one has to be Iranian to really enjoy tadiq. People were fighting over it while I would have enjoy it more as a snack. Good recipe.”

“Basmati is a must.Another good way to get the tahdig to come off of the pot/pan nicely, is to get a tea cloth/kitchen towel damp and spread it on the counter and sit the pot/pan on it.This is similar to dipping the pot in water.Either helps release the tahdig.You can also layer bread on the bottom instead of potatoes.”

“Thank you for posting this yummy recipe, and thank you to all the helpful reviewers who really expanded upon the well-written directions.I made this to try out my new superslick camping cookpot, and it worked like a charm.The rice tasted delicious with a heavy dose of dill.”

“This was pretty cool. I followed the instructions exactly and it came out as expected.. well, some of the bottom crust remained in the pan, but as instructed, I just put it back where it belonged. Nice presentation. One thing I did that Lennie (author of recipe) did not mention was press down the pre-cooked rice in the pot prior to the simmer stage.. I pressed that rice like it had no where else to go on a Saturday nite, I bet that’s what she did wrong that it fell apart.. Mine was nice and firm, cooked perfectly and if there was no one else here for dinner I would have eaten all the potato crust myself, lol..”

“We made this and enjoyed it very much.”

“I had some problems getting the potatoes brown and crispy, they would either turn out burnt or steamed.So I decided to grate the potatoes and squeeze the excess moisture out of them before pressing them down in the bottom of the pan and adding the rice. The result was a uniformly ricey/potatoey crust perfectly browned that held together well.Great recipe though! I’ve made it a few times in the past month.”

“I think this is the best way to cook the rice & it is so nice & yummy & if you mix some saffron with some of the rice that would be nice too “

“Using another recipe, I’ve made this many times. The secret is to use a wide skillet rather than a “pot”. Also, in lining the skillet with thinly-sliced potatoes, use as many potatoes as necessary so you have an attractive layer of overlapping slices. Before adding the rice, I season the potatoes with ground Sumak. After adding the rice atop the potatoes, I drizzle it with ghee.”

“Chef #161175- I can’t believe that you haven’t come across “tah-dig”, the browned rice or potatoes that comes from cooking traditional Persian rice “polo or chelow.”Ask your husband about it…it’s delicious.And basmati is a form of long-grain rice. “

“I’m married to an Iranian man and have experienced plenty of authentic Persian cooking and I can say that I’ve never heard nor tried this dish.I don’t know too many Iranians who use long grain rice.The norm is typically basmati rice.”

“You may want to place the pot (with the lid still in place) in a bath of cold water. The water should go as far as the rice and potatoes go. This should help to remove the rice and potatoes in one shot. I put the potatoes on the bottom only. I don’t take them up the side.”