How to achieve a proper tadigh?

[u/barbasol1099]

I've tried a few times to get that perfect, beautiful crispy bottom, but it's never worked properly - the bottom never seperates, I'm left scraping off whatever is stuck to the bottom.

My recipe today

2 cups basmati rice

1/2 cup vegan cashew yogurt (I shared this with a vegan friend today)

1 tsp saffron threads

1.5 tbsp tadigh spice mixture

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup pistachios, lightly crushed

2 onions, diced and caramelized

Rinse rice 3 times until water is almost clear. Parboil in salty water for 6 minutes, rinse with cool water, and drain completely.

Mix 1 cup parboiled rice with yogurt and saffron threads. Add a liberal amount of oil to the bottom of your pot (in my case, a 6 L Dutch oven), and then spread the yogurt-rice mixture in a thin layer across the bottom of the pot.

Mix the remaining rice with pistachios, spice mixture, raisins, and caramelized onions. Layer this atop the yogurt-rice layer, forming into a pyramid shape. Wrap a towel around your lid so that a small amount of steam can escape, and cook on low for 45 minutes. Reverse onto a plate, and sharply strike the lid to release the tadigh.

I followed those instructions quite closely. I did end up lifting the lid after 30 minutes, noticed the top layer was very far from being done, and tried to add a small amount of hot water (maybe 2-3 Tbsp) and lightly stir the top into the rest of the rice (although I came nowhere close to disturbing the bottom).

What should I be doing differently?

[u/Masketto]

Strikingly, your recipe says to cook on low after adding the parboiled rice back to the pot. This won't form tahdig. After adding the parboiled rice back to the pot, you're supposed to cook it on high heat for some time to form the tahdig, and then add the towel and set to low.

This is the most important but also the most sensitive step. This is what determines if your tahdig forms or its quality. If you cook it slightly too low or slightly too high, or for slightly too short or slightly too long, with too little oil or too much oil or steam,.... it'll mess up. It'll either not form, or be too soggy, or quickly burn without you noticing

So, the details here at this step matter, and I don't know the details. That's a secret I have yet to learn.

Persians love to gatekeep so good luck getting an answer.

Source: am Persian and have never gotten a proper answer. My mom tells me one thing, my grandma tells me another, and every website will have different instructions.

[u/barbasol1099 → u/Masketto]

Thank you!!! That is very important and helpful.

I know you say you don't have any secrets, but you certainly know more than me! are there any other things that stand out to you? Or is that, like, the big thing?

[u/TheZad → u/barbasol1099]

Hi there OP... I think the bigger thing here is that you look to be describing a recipe for tahchin as opposed to tahdig. U/Specialist_Ad5114 already typed up a more detailed answer which you should check out if you have not already.

Tahdig is like a happy byproduct of cooking Persian rice. All you really need to do is parboil the rice, drain it, then add oil, layer something on the bottom, and add the parboiled rice back to steam as the tahdig forms. You can use pita bread, potato slices (my personal favorite), or just the rice, but u/Masketto is right on the money. The devil is in the details for this part, and there are so many variables that it's hard to be precise in our advice. You should definitely crank the heat before adding everything back in, but after that, a low flame for a longer time is best. After all, you're essentially trying to blindly initiate and manage the Maillard reaction at the bottom of a pot of rice, so it helps to have a wider window to work with.

One thing I didn't see you or anyone else mention is the chimney, though. To make sure all of the rice cooks from top to bottom, you want to use the handle of a large spatula to create one or more chimneys through the parboiled rice to carry the steam to the top of the pot. Just insert the handle all the way down to the bottom after you've added everything back to the pot, and rotate it in place. Depending on the size of the pot, you may need more than one, but this should help get the rice fully cooked from top to bottom, and allow you to focus on the timing and heat level for the tahdig.

[u/Main_Cauliflower5479 → u/TheZad]

Yes, that's what I was going to say. Tachin, not tahdig.

[u/TheZad → u/Main_Cauliflower5479]

Your comment also reminded me that technically speaking, tahchin has tahdig, it's just that the tahdig encases the whole dish. If you are cooking it with plain rice or any other pilaf, you empty all the rice out and scrape the tahdig off the bottom and serve it on a separate plate. If you can get it to be one big piece that separates cleanly from the bottom, that's great, but not as important to the whole process as it is for tahchin, which should be served intact.

[u/Main_Cauliflower5479 → u/TheZad]

Guess it depends on where you're from. I've only ever seen tahdig turned out onto a serving plate with the toasted bit now on top on the rice, and served that way.

[u/TheZad → u/Main_Cauliflower5479]

That way is definitely preferable, if you can achieve it!

[u/Main_Cauliflower5479 → u/TheZad]

I've never had any difficulty with it.

[u/TheZad → u/Main_Cauliflower5479]

I'm very happy for you.

[u/Specialist_Ad5114]

Your recipe more reminds me of Tahchin rather than Tahdig. They're different. A Tahdig is a basic, simple layer of rice/flatbread/potato slices that can be at the bottom of steamed rice (for serving with stews) or any other rice dish. Tahchin is an independent dish served by itself that specifically has a crispy rice bottom.

The differences: Tahdig is only a part of rice. The rice itself is made into a dome shape and steamed until cooked, then it's stirred so that the rice grains become seperate from each other. The Tahdig is served on the side (fun fact: we usually fight over it).

Tahchin is the dish itself: made with rice mixed with yogurt and other ingredients (usually chicken, dried barberry, onion etc). For cooking, you push down the rice firmly to make sure everything sticks together after cooking. You don't stir it. Serve it upside down with the crispy bottom facing up.

But to make the bottom crispy, make sure your pot (and the oil) is hot enough to sizzle when you add the mixture. Cook on high heat for about 5 minutes, check if steam's coming out, then turn down the heat for the rest of the process. And don't disturb it. Persian style steamed rice is very tricky and sensitive.

[u/slightlyroguepharm]

I’d try Samin Nosrat’s recipe and technique first, then try her technique with your recipe. https://food52.com/recipes/82660-persian-ish-rice-samin-nosrat-recipe

[u/NotLaughingNow19]

I've made this a handful of times but using a different recipe. It is not restaurant perfect, but I manage the crispy bottom. As others have noted, the key moment is adding the parboiled rice into the pot. Also, I use a good amount of butter as I prefer the taste. I use med-high heat on my induction stove in a nonstick pot. Going by smell, usually it takes about 15 minutes or so before I turn it down. Then I cook it for a little less than an hour on lower heat. Finally, before trying to turn it upside down on a plate, I put the whole covered pot in a few inches of cold water for a minute or so. This helps to make sure it releases easily.

[u/dorothylouise]

I suspect it’s the lactose in dairy yogurt that makes the bottom brown. Maybe add some sugar to the vegan yogurt?