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Persians take the art of cooking rice very seriously and the end result is always a pot of fragrant and delicious rice that fills your kitchen and home with a wonderful smell that is truly unforgettable.
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Rice is a fundamentally important component of the Persian kitchen. In this article in Cookery magazine, we’re going to tell you how to make traditional Persian rice using Dampokht technique which is basically a steaming technique, and I promise you, the end result will be a beautiful fluffy and delicious Persian rice.
Persian Rice Ingredients
| Basmati rice | 2 cups |
| salt | as needed |
| vegetable oil | as needed |
| Potato | 1 large |
| saffron water | 3 tablespoons |
Soak your Basmati rice with a pinch of salt, so the grains don’t break easily, at least for 2 hours and ideally overnight.
Pour water into a pot until it starts boiling. Add some vegetable oil to it, and also season your boiling water with a bit of salt, which will ensure that your rice has fantastic flavor. And the key is adding your rinsed rice once the water comes to a boil.
At this point, It is essential to watch over the rice because once the water comes to a boil again, you need to wait for 2 to 3 minutes before draining the rice.
You will see that the rice kernels slowly start to come to the surface; it’s a sign that we’re nearly getting to the draining step.
As I said, when the mixture boils, It is time to drain your rice. When you drain your rice, make sure not to rinse it so as not to remove all of the flavors from the rice.
Tahdig in Persian rice
Return the pot back on the heat, and let’s start layering the rice. When you prepare Persian rice, It is really important to prepare Tahdig. Tahdig is basically the crispy part at the bottom of the pot. You may make it either with only rice or potatoes or with pita bread. Here, I will tell you how to make a delicious potato-based Tahdig, the most famous Tahdig. Cut your potatoes into thin slices. Add some vegetable oil to the base of your pot.
Next, layer your potato slices on top. Once you have layered the potatoes completely on the bottom of the pot, turn on the heat and allow the oil to sizzle; then start layering your rice but before that, season your potatoes with some salt. Use a flat-based spoon so that you can easily scoop up the rice and layer it on top of the potato. As you layer the rice, it’s important to layer it into a mold because you want to allow the steam to circulate. Finally, take the bottom of your spoon and poke 3 holes which create space for steam.
Now, combine 1 cup of boiling water with a couple of tablespoons of butter and some finely ground saffron and stir. Once the butter has melted, pour this mixture gently over the rice. Then cover the pot with a lid. After 5 minutes, reduce the heat to low temperature, cover the lid with a towel, and cover the pot with it. The kitchen towel basically acts as a trap to absorb all of the steam that’s been created from the rice so that it doesn’t go back into the rice, and then it makes sure that you have a very nice and fluffy Persian rice as the final result😉
Let your rice cook away for about 45 minutes on very low heat.
Your Persian rice is ready, which looks spectacular! Serve it on a platter and put your crispy Tahdig on top.
I hope you enjoy this recipe, don’t forget to comment with us your recommendations.
Cooking Persian rice tip
- Use a heat diffuser to prepare your rice over a gas hob.
