“Tahdig” is the Persian version of crisp rice. Means “bottom of the pot.” Rice is a staple in Persian cooking, and “Tahdig” is the famous part. When the Persian housewife makes the rice, the bottom of the pot with that unique brown and yellow color has lots of fans around the table; the funny thing is that most of the time, the family members have this cute fight about who should eat the big piece of “Tahdig.” Among the traditional Persian families, mostly during our grandparent’s era, the big part of “Tahdig” belongs to the father of the family, but these days, children are the boss, so they will take the big piece.

In Persian cooking, we have different types of “Tahdig,” and the famous ones are:

Rice Tahdig, Potato Tahdig and Bread Tahdig.

The common ingredient in all the above-mentioned is “Saffron.”

Saffron gives a golden-yellowish color to all kinds of foods.

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• Rice : 2 cups
• oil : two tablespoon
• butter (melted) : 4 tablespoon
• Yogurt : 2 tablespoon
• Saffron   : … filaments

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Valuable Tips to Know:

Choose suitable rice, such as Basmati Rice.

Before using saffron in this cuisine, it’s better to make it as a liquid; check how to use saffron in the Persian way.

We do not put salt directly in rice during the soaking part; it’s better to put salt inside a small soft cotton pouch and then put the bag inside the rice.

Each cup of rice is enough for one person to serve.

Your pot should be non-stick to remove the “Tahdig” easier.

The famous Persian “Tahdig” is made of egg, rice, saffron, and for sure, rice.

1. Two cups of rice. Rinse the rice with cold water until the color changes to clear white.
2. Put aside the rice soaked in water.
3. Put the pouch (salt inside) inside the rice.
4. The professional Persian housewife prefers to soak the rice at least seven to eight hours earlier, but if you don’t have time, it’s okay, and two to three hours is enough.
5. Put water inside a pot and boil it.
6. Pour the rice inside the boiling water (8 cups); this is the time you need to check on your rice while boiling. You should occasionally check if the rice has changed to a soft texture. 5 to 6 minutes for cooking the rice in oven is enough.
7. When the rice changes to soft and puffed up but the inside is still a little tricky, is the time you need to remove the pot from the oven.
8. Strain the rice into a mesh and rinse under warm water.
9. Taste the rice; if you feel it’s a little salty, you can pour more water to remove the salt.
10. Now it’s the time to prepare your pot for “Tahdig”:
11. Put the oil and butter when the pot is warm.
12. In the meantime, mix one egg with 2 tablespoons of yogurt, rice, and the prepared saffron. The amount of rice should be enough for covering the bottom of the pot for one-centimeter tackiness.
13. Spread this mix to the bottom of the pot, then add the remaining rice slowly on top of your saffron mix.
14. Make some holes by the back of your spoon on top of your rice to allow steam out of the rice.
15. An important trick for making real Persian rice which we call “Chelo” in Persian is the steaming part; you need to wrap the lid with a clean kitchen towel. It’s also good to know that the Persian housewife keeps such clean fabrics in her kitchen called “Damkoni” which means something that does the steaming. So, these fabrics are just used for preparing “Chelo”.
16. Cook over low heat, for 25 to 30 minutes.
17. In the Persian way of cooking, the housewife also pours some saffron and melted butter on top of the rice, which makes the taste and the smell super amazing.
18. Remove the rice to a suitable plate and add the melted butter on top next pour the remaining saffron which has already made it into the liquid and used for “Tahdig”.
19. Now it’s time to take the “Tahdig” from the pot. Although you used the non-stick pot but sometimes it’s a bit difficult to remove “Tahdig” from the pot. Do not worry just use a wooden spoon and remove “Tahdig” with patience because it is worth it!

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You can make Tahdig, the way that you mostly make your rice, and we would be happy if you share your pictures of making "Tahdig" with us!

Our suggestion to all of you is to be creative with what you are making in your kitchen, but don’t forget to add a pinch of Niakan saffron to your food!

Prepared by: Leily Ghafourian

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