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Tahdig

The fat goes into the empty pot first and a separate layer is laid on it, so that layer crisps instead of the rice.

Lamb, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

Method

  1. THE FAT GOES INTO THE EMPTY POT FIRST AND A SEPARATE LAYER IS LAID ON IT, SO THAT LAYER CRISPS INSTEAD OF THE RICE. This is the whole dish and it is worth being plain about, because the name describes a position rather than an ingredient: tah is bottom, dig is pot. Eighty millilitres of oil, or lamb fat, goes into a cold heavy pot and is warmed until it shimmers. Then the layer -- potato discs edge to edge, or a sheet of thin bread cut to the base, or the yogurt mixture spread flat. Only then does the rice go on top. What crisps is the thing you chose; the rice above it stays loose and separate.
  2. IT IS NOT THE CRUST THAT HAPPENS BY ACCIDENT. Rice left in a dry pan will brown on the bottom on its own, and that is a different thing made a different way -- no added fat, no laid layer, and whatever you get is whatever the pot gave you. Here the fat and the layer are put there deliberately and the result is designed: an even disc that lifts out in one piece. Treat it as the accident and you will get a patchy, half-stuck base and wonder where the fault was.
  3. THE RICE IS SOAKED IN SALTED WATER AND THEN PARBOILED TO A FIRM CORE. Rinse the rice in several changes of cold water until the water runs clear, which takes four or five changes, then cover it with cold water with two tablespoons of the salt dissolved in it and leave it for two hours. Drain. Bring a large pan of water to a hard boil with the remaining salt, tip the rice in, and boil it for six to eight minutes only -- until a grain squeezed between finger and thumb gives at the outside and still has a chalky centre. Drain in a sieve and rinse briefly with lukewarm water to stop it.
  4. THE YOGURT VERSION IS BOUND WITH A YOLK AND A LADLE OF THE RICE. Four tablespoons of thick yogurt, one egg yolk, two tablespoons of the saffron water and a large ladle of the parboiled rice, stirred together to a loose paste and spread over the warmed fat. The yolk is what sets it; yogurt alone stays slack and tears when you turn it out.
  5. THE RICE IS PILED IN A CONE AND NOT PRESSED DOWN. Add the rest of the rice a spoonful at a time, heaping it towards the middle so it sits as a loose mound with air in it. Packed down flat it steams into a solid cake and the grains stick together. Pour the remaining saffron water over the top.
  6. THE LID IS WRAPPED IN A CLOTH AND THE HEAT IS LOW FOR FORTY-FIVE MINUTES. Wrap the lid in a clean tea towel, tying the corners on top so nothing hangs near the flame, and clamp it on. The cloth absorbs the condensation that would otherwise drip back and make the surface gluey. Five minutes on a medium heat to get the steam going, then the lowest heat you can hold for forty-five minutes. Do not lift the lid: every look costs you several minutes of steam and the base cooks unevenly after it.
  7. IT IS TURNED OUT UPSIDE DOWN IN ONE MOVEMENT. Stand the base of the pot in two centimetres of cold water for one minute, which contracts the metal and releases the disc. Then put a serving plate over the pot and invert the whole thing in one decisive movement. Done tentatively it breaks in the middle. If a piece sticks, lift it out with a palette knife and lay it back in place -- it is a crust, not a cake, and nobody minds a join.
  8. YOU CHOOSE ONE LAYER, NOT SEVERAL. Potato, thin bread and the saffron yogurt are the three worth knowing, and the article behind this page lists another ten that are used -- toast, pumpkin, tomato, carrot, spinach, lettuce, beetroot, aubergine, and sour cherries among them. Two at once do not crisp: they trap steam between them and you get a soft stratum instead of a disc.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Iran · All recipes