Although I’m not Persian and neither is my husband, I grew up loving Persian cuisine. I brought that love into my own kitchen and I try to experiment with different tahdig rice dishes and Persian stews. This is one of the most popular Persian rice dishes. It’s a potato tahdig, (tahdig means crispy bottom). The potatoes become super crispy and the rice is fluffy and delicious. This is a fairly easy dish to prepare and flipping it over is the iconic tahdig tradition. For best results, it’s best to place a larger plate than the pot size over the pot. Then using a kitchen towel, hold it over the handles of the pot for a better grip.
This is my favorite Persian rice, a potato tahdig with fried onions and barberries in the center. This rice dish is super delicious and goes great with any stew of your choice. The ghormeh sabzi stew in the photo, is highly recommended.
Ingredients
- 1 cup barberries
- 1 ¾ cups Persian rice I like royal brand, 3 cups par boiled rice
- Salt to taste
- 2 large onions chopped fine
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon grape seed oil divided
- 4 potatoes peeled and sliced into ⅓-inch circles
- Pinch of saffron
- ¼ cup boiling water
- Toasted almond slivers for serving
Nutritional Facts
Instructions
- Soak barberries in a bowl with boiling water, for about 10 minutes.
- Par boil rice. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add your 1 ¾ cup raw rice. Boil for 6 minutes. Remove from stove and strain the rice. Wash in cold water to stop the rice from cooking and set aside in a bowl. Add salt to rice to your taste and mix.
- In a large pan, sauté onions in about ¼ cup oil until golden.
- Strain barberries from water and add them to your golden onions. Sauté for another 5 minutes.
- Place remaining ¼ cup oil in a good quality non stick pot. Add potato slices and fry them for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Place 1/2 the rice on top of the potatoes. Place all the barberries and onion mixture on top of that. Place the remaining rice on top of that. In a small cup, mix pinch saffron in ¼ cup boiling water and 1 tablespoon of grape seed oil. Pour that over your rice and cover. Lower flame to simmer and cook for about 25-35 minutes.
- Remove cover and place a plate larger than your pot circumference on top of it. Flip it over and garnish with almonds. Enjoy.
Video
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