The Tip Everyone Needs To Know Before Cooking Tahdig Crunchy Rice
Fluffy, pillowy rice can make your heart sing, but have you tried rice that is slightly crunchy? Tahdig, also known as crunchy rice, is a Persian dish that consists of a crispy layer of rice that forms at the bottom of a pot. "Tahdig" is a Persian word that translates to "bottom of the pot" in English.
Cooking rice can be hard — we have some tips for that — but making tahdig might be a little harder. In particular, there is one specific technique to create its charred crust: place the pot immediately into an inch of cold water or on a wet towel. This will help ease the removal of the crispy rice from the pot.
That's because tahdig is traditionally scraped from the very bottom of a pot. It's recommended that rice is cooked in a nonstick pot with a tightly covered lid to prevent moisture from returning. Tahdig is typically cooked via a lengthy process with a mixture of water and butter.
How tahdig came to be
The main characteristic of tahdig is, of course, its golden crispy crust. However, it is served alongside regularly cooked rice, and the dish as a whole resembles a giant cake. It just so happens that the crunchy parts are prized among most eaters — but it wasn't always like that.
The origin of the dish is a bit murky, but tahdig may have originally started out as just unwanted scraps. Tahdig is part of Persian cuisine that dates back to the 1800s. According to one legend, the dish came about when servants were arguing about who gets to eat the scraps from the food cooked for the king of Iran's Qajar Dynasty. Eventually, the king wanted to try the crunchy rice, and he enjoyed it so much that he ordered it regularly.
The dish soon became a popular Persian dish, and cooks were purposefully trying to get scorched, crunchy rice. Though it can take years to perfect, techniques were developed to help making tahdig easier. In addition to keeping the bottom of the pot cool, try wrapping a towel around the pot lid to prevent moisture from returning. You can also invest in a damkesh — a cotton lid cover — typically used for Persian cuisine.
Enhance tahdig by adding extra ingredients
While tahdig is delicious on its own, it is also the perfect dish to add an extra ingredient or two to enhance its flavors. Tahdig is often paired with "khoresh" or Persian stews, such as yellow split pea khoresh or green herb khoresh.
Once you master making tahdig, try adding your favorite vegetables, meats, and protein to the dish. In some cases, liquid saffron, yogurt, and egg yolk are added during the cooking process (in addition to the standard butter) in order to enhance the flavors.
Crunchy rice isn't only unique to Persian cuisine. Other countries, such as Korea and Puerto Rico, have their own version of scorched rice. You can even try incorporating some ingredients used in other cuisines in tahdig. In Puerto Rico, its scorched rice dish is called pegao, which consists of peas, beans, chicken, pork, and tomato sauce. Or try adding chicken to your tahdig, which is added in Korea's nurungji.