This Persian Style Rice is the base of many Persian dishes. A must-know for anyone who wants to learn how to cook delicious Persian food!
Ah, beautiful Persian food, how can I even start?
I have been waiting so long to write this post because I wanted to share with all of you how amazingly delicious Persian food is. I want to share the love for Persian food, the knowledge of making it and the sincere love I have for my country and its food.
Iranians love to eat. Sweet and savory. Homemade food is part of our culture and eating fresh homemade food everyday is part of Persian life. Persian kitchens are always active, something is always going on in them, either a meal is being made, or family members are just hanging out there. Persian kitchens never sleep! At least, ours never did in Iran.
My lovely maman makes THE BEST FOOD IN THE WORLD. I mean it. She is so fast, and efficient. My maman can make food for 50 people in less than 2 hours, and not just one type of food. at least two types, plus salad and side dishes, plus dessert! My mom's a magician! And when I see her, we are going to cook together and I will tell you all secrets of a Persian kitchen! But because my maman is now far away, I made the Persian Style Rice with my friend Zeinab for you my friends!
Zeinab is one of my best friends, the first best friend. We used to go to the same school and then she moved to London. Then I moved to Turkey. Then we both moved to the U.S and now we can see each other more often! See, you never know what's waiting for you!
I visited Zeinab last week and we made (She did most of it, though) 3 different Persian dishes, one of them was this gorgeous Persian style rice with crispy golden crust. This type of rice is the basic of Persian cuisine and much needed for many stews we make. It needs a bit of practice but it's something that you can (and should) boast about later if people start talking about their culinary skills. Because this is Persian style rice my friends, the best type of plain white rice!
Persian style rice calls for long grain rice therefore the best rice (If you cannot find Iranian rice) to make this dish with is Basmati rice. You will also need some vegetable oil and salt. No fuss, no exotic ingredients.
The best part of the rice is the crispy golden crust that shapes around the fluffy rice. It's like a crispy shell holding the beautiful, fluffy, white as snow rice inside, so basically there are two types of rice in one dish. My favorite part? The golden crispy crust!
So now get your Basmati rice, oil, salt and water, and let's make some Persian style rice with crispy golden crust!
Related Recipes:
Step-by-Step Recipe
Persian Style Rice with Crispy Golden Crust
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- 2-2 ½ cup cold water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Put rice in a small pot.
- Pour water over the rice until it covers the rice and comes ½ inch over it.
- Add salt.
- Cook the rice uncovered over high heat until water evaporates almost completely. (about 20 minutes)
- Using a fork, bring the rice from the edge to the middle, make a mountain shape.
- Add the oil around the edge.
- Put the lid on and cook on medium-high heat for 7 minutes and then on low heat for additional 15 minutes.
- Turn the heat off. Place a plate on top of the pot and carefully turn the pot over so the rice drops into the plate.
- Serve immedietly.
Joseph
Hello ,can you help ,,I was many years ago at the home of an Iranian pro soccer player his wife prepared a rice and chicken dish ,it was in a tall pot she placed a plate over pot and it was spectacular it came out wit chicken a bottom of plate and a tower of a very crisp rice ,served with a flat bread ,,,I have searched and that's how I found you're Wonderfull site Can You help with a recipe ,it was very flavorful. Thankyou Sir
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Hi Joseph. I don't have the recipe that you mentioned on the site, however, you might want to check out our zereshk polo morgh as it's the closest recipe to what you have in mind: https://www.unicornsinthekitchen.com/zereshk-polo-morgh/
John
Hi Shadi.
Is there still a small amount of water in the pan when you add the oil?
Also, once you add the oil, do you flatten the rice back out or leave in a mountain in the center. Thanks much. Can’t wait to try.
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Hi John, Thank you for your comment. Yes, very little water is left when you add the oil. It depends on you whether you flatten the rice or not. I usually flatten just a little bit. Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Suzette Nguyen
I just tried this and all the crispy part stuck to the bottom of the pan 🙁 waaahhhh what do i do wrong? what do I need to do differently next time? Thanks for all the recipes, I make your celery stew recipe all the time!!
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Oh Suzette I'm so sorry to hear that the tahdig stuck to the pan. Did you use a non stick pan? And what did you use for tahdig? Bread or potatoes? If you use non stick pot, it usually shouldn't stick. Tahdig requires a bit of practice and I want you to know that I have ruined so many tahdigs in my early days 🙂 Hope you try it again, and if you do, definitely serve it with some celery stew! <3
Angeline
I have made it only I put rings of potato on the bottom of the pit while the rice cooker and the potato also crisps up. Yummy
Miz Helen
Your recipe is awesome, I have pinned it. We really enjoy you sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you again soon!
Miz Helen
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
Hi! Thanks for visiting! Would love to join again! 🙂 <3
Kylie
Oh my! This looks fab. I'm going to give it a go. Thanks for linking up at #whatkidseatwednesday!
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
Thanks for stopping by Kylie! Loving every link party at your blog!
Amber | Caleigh's Kitchen
OMG, I love anything with a crispy crust! I have never heard of this before!! I want to try it out! Thanks for linking up at Try A Bite Tuesday link party last week! This week is live, we'd love for you to come party again this week! #TryABiteTuesday
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
Coming over right now! I've got a pumpkin pie!
Joy @ Joy Love Food
I love Persian food, this rice with that crispy crust looks amazing! Thanks for sharing at What'd You Do This Weekend? I hope you will join us again next Monday!
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
Thank you Joy for stopping by! Sure I will join next Monday! I have a new Persian Recipe!
Dini @ The Flavor Bender
YUM!!! I absolutely LOVE the look of that beautiful crust! I cannot wait to try it! Seeing as we eat rice regularly, I will make sure I practice!! Now I actually will WANT to eating the crust of the rice (My husband is the one who usually likes it!), in fact it might become my favourite part too 🙂
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
Oh Dini the crust will be your favorite! I never share the crust unless i really love that person 😀
Deedra
That looks very good and very simple to make.
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
I'm with you Deedra!
Neli @ Delicious Meets Healthy
This basmati rice looks amazing!! So so good! Thanks for the recipe!
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
Thank you Neli for stopping by! Yes, it's one of the best!
Michelle
Hello Shadi, This looks simply delicious! I'm gluten-free and my family loves rice, so we'll give this one a try. Looks yummy.
unicornsinthekitchen@gmail.com
Hi Michelle! You will love this! And I am posting a Persian stew tomorrow that is vegetarian and goes so well with this!