Inspired by Samin Nosrat’s book Salt, Fat, Acid Heat, and documentary by the same name, I was brave enough to try out the incredibly flavorful Crispy Persian Rice with Tahdig. I want to walk you through my first attempt following along with Samin’s amazing recipe. The results may surprise you!!

Let’s jump right in!

This post is part of our Basic Cooking Skills series. Each week we will be doing a deep-dive into one basic cooking skill and a brand new recipe to accompany it to practice that newfound skill. Check back throughout the series for updates and new posts.

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Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

I’d be remiss to not give you the opportunity to check out Samin’s cookbook, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. She is such a gem and her personality beams through her stories she presents.

Samin is so knowledgeable and the cookbook really explains these 4 elements of cooking in a way that makes you truly understand the science behind the cooking and how you can easily improve your cooking. Her recipes are amazing and the book is beautifully illustrated throughout.

I cannot recommend her book enough!

what makes crispy persian rice so good?

SALT.

As we learned in our 4 elements of cooking post, salt enhances flavor.

To make Persian rice, cook the rice in extremely salty water. As Samin refers to it in her recipe, “the water should taste saltier than the saltiest seawater you’ve ever tasted.”

Goodness that’s a lot of salt! I’m definitely not used to cooking with that much.

The rice only cooks in the salty water for a brief amount of time and most of it is rinsed, so you don’t have to worry about it overpowering the meal.

what is tahdig?

Tahdig is the delectable, crunchy, golden brown layer of rice that forms along the bottom of the pot. Tahdig literally means “bottom of the pot” in Persian.

Mixed rice and Greek yogurt form this bottom layer of yummy deliciousness that is pan-fried to perfection.

No matter how much you make, there’s never enough to go around!

The rice is incredibly tasty but the tahdig is untouchable!! We could not stop snacking on the crispy rice bits of tahdig and had to force ourselves to leave it be.

how to: partially cook the rice

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Rinse 2 cups of rice with cold water and strain. This process removes starch that would cause the rice to clump together. Repeat 6-7 times or until the water starts to run clear.

As you can tell, the water started out really cloudy but then look after just a few rinses!

Stir in the rice to the boiling water and add LOTS of salt. I’m talking on the order of a third of a cup! The goal is for the water to taste like the ocean and you should be concerned that you over-salted it, then you’re doing it right.

Salt greatly enhances the flavor of the rice in its brief cooking time.

Par-cook the rice for 8 minutes. It will seem like it’s undercooked, but it will continue cooking later in the pan, don’t worry.

Drain the water and rinse the rice in cold water so it does not continue cooking.

how to: prepare the rice mixture

To get a nice crispy tahdig we need to mix in Greek yogurt with the rice that will sit on the bottom of the pan.

Separate a cup of the cooked rice into a small bowl. Mix thoroughly with 2-3 tablespoons of Greek yogurt.

Over medium heat, add 3 tbsp butter and a few splashes of olive oil to a cast iron pan. Press the rice-yogurt mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.

how to: cook crispy persian rice with tahdig

Pour the remaining rice on top of the rice-yogurt mixture and pat to form a slight mound.

To help steam escape and aid the rice-yogurt mixture in getting extra crispy, use the end of a large spoon to make holes that reach to the bottom of the pan.

As the rice cooks it will expand slightly, almost filling in the holes you poked.

Cook the rice for 35 minutes, or until the edges of the bottom layer are nice and brown. To ensure even cooking, rotate the pan every 5 minutes as it cooks. I find that with a good cast iron pan that heats evenly this is optional, but if you’re unsure it’s best to rotate!

Once you start to see these beautiful golden edges, it’s time for the scary part….flipping it over!

Run a spatula around the edges of the pan to unstick any stubborn pieces. Place a large plate on top of the pan, grip tightly in both hands, and flip!

On my first try, I was lucky enough to get this beautiful tahdig and it didn’t fall apart either!!

If it breaks apart, there’s no need to feel bad and it was taste JUST as good, I promise!