Chelo ba Tahdig (Saffron Rice with Tahdig)

Buttery saffron rice, topped with a crisp and golden tahdig, is the right centerpiece in your subsequent Iranian feast.

Yield: serves 6

Time:

2 hours, 10 minutes

Substances

• 3 cups (1 lb. 4 oz.) extra-long white basmati rice
• ¹⁄₄ cup plus 2 Tbsp. kosher salt, divided
• ¹⁄₄ tsp. saffron, flippantly floor between your fingers
• ¹⁄₄ cup clarified unsalted butter, divided
• 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra as wanted

Directions

1. In a big bowl, add the rice and sufficient water to cowl by a number of inches. Gently swish the rice round, then drain. Repeat till the water runs clear, about 5 rinses, then drain fully. Return the rice to the bowl. Cowl the rice with 2 cups recent chilly water, add 2 tablespoons kosher salt, and stir gently to dissolve. Let the rice soak at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. In a 10-inch, flat-bottomed, nonstick pot, convey 12 cups of water to boil over excessive warmth. Add ¼ cup kosher salt and stir to dissolve. Drain the rice (don’t rinse it), and add it to the pot. Stir as soon as gently, and don’t go wherever (the water can boil over very simply). Spoon away and discard any foam that rises to the highest. As quickly as you see the primary grain of rice pop up, set a timer for 4 minutes and place a big, fine-mesh strainer within the sink. Begin taste-testing the rice at 4 minutes. When the grains are tender on the surface with a bit chunk on the within, 5–7 minutes, drain and rapidly rinse with lukewarm faucet water. (Use the spray possibility in your faucet when you’ve got one; if not, place your hand beneath the faucet and create a twig together with your fingers.) Wash and dry the pot and return it to the range.
3. Carry a small quantity of water to boil; take away and let relaxation for five minutes. In a small heatproof bowl, add the saffron and ¼ cup of the new water. Put aside.
4. Place the colander of drained rice by the range. Set the rice pot over medium warmth and add 2 tablespoons of the clarified butter, the olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of the saffron water. Prepare dinner till the butter is melted, then raise the pot and swirl the fat round in order that they evenly cowl the underside of the pot and a bit up the perimeters, including one other tablespoon or two of oil as wanted to coat the underside in a really skinny layer. Work rapidly now: As quickly because the oil begins to sizzle, instantly add sufficient rice to totally cowl the underside of the pot in a skinny layer (about 3 cups). Pack the rice down with a spatula (this may change into your tahdig layer). Gently scatter the remaining rice over the tahdig, mounding it barely within the heart and ensuring that the whole tahdig layer is roofed with extra rice. With the deal with of the spatula, poke a couple of holes within the rice with out hitting the tahdig layer, to permit steam to flee. Flip the warmth as much as medium-high, cowl the pot, and cook dinner for 10–12 minutes to permit the tahdig to set.
5. In the meantime, in a small pot, gently soften the remaining 2 tablespoons of clarified butter. Add the remaining saffron water, and maintain heat.
6. When the ten–12 minutes are up, raise the rice pot lid, taking care to not drip the condensation trapped beneath the lid again into the rice, then drizzle the butter combination over the rice. Wrap the lid in a kitchen towel or a few layers of paper towels to catch the condensation. (Make sure that the kitchen towel or paper towels are secured on prime in order that they don’t catch hearth.) Return the lid to the pot, regulate the warmth to medium, and cook dinner till steam begins to flee from the sides of the lid, about 10 minutes. Decrease the warmth to medium-low and proceed cooking, rotating the pot a couple of occasions for even crisping, till the rice is tender and fluffy and the tahdig is crispy and golden, 30–40 minutes. (It’s difficult to examine for doneness, however search for the rice on the perimeters of the pot to look dry and set.)
7. To assist launch the tahdig, fill the sink with about 1 inch of chilly water, and dip the underside of the rice pot within the water rapidly. (Alternatively, moist a kitchen towel and set the pot atop the moist towel.) To serve, you possibly can scatter the rice throughout a platter and serve the tahdig complete or in items on the aspect. Or, place an appropriately sized flat plate or platter over the pot, take a deep breath, and rapidly and confidently flip the pot over. It’s best to hear a sleek when the tahdig releases. Take away the pot, and serve instantly.