Tahchin (Crispy Persian Saffron Rice)
Tachin is a crispy Persian saffron rice dish that is delicious, beautiful, and surprisingly easy to make. The basmati rice is colored and perfumed with saffron, and the cooking method produces a crispy golden brown crust which looks cool, tastes great, and adds an awesome crunch. This saffron rice dish is a great recipe to have in your arsenal for an impressive rice side dish.
Equipment
- Oven safe nonstick saute/fry pan with lid for this recipe quantity, it's best if it holds three to four quarts
Ingredients
- 2 cups basmati rice rinse and soak for 30 minutes
- 0.75 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 each whole eggs
- 2 each egg yolks
- 1.5 tsp saffron threads
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp hot water
- 8 tbsp avocado oil or other neutral oil
Instructions
- Put saffron in hot water to steep. Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.
- Bring a pot of water to boil and season it with salt. After soaking and rinsing the basmati rice, parcook the rice in boiling salted water for six minutes. Drain the rice in a colander and return back to the pot to cool a little bit.
- Add egg and yolks to large mixing bowl and whisk. Whisk in yogurt, salt, and saffron water. Then whisk in five tbsp of avocado oil.
- Add rice to mixture and fold with a spatula until all the rice is evenly coated
- Thoroughly grease the saute pan with the remaining three tablespoons of avocado oil. Put the rice mixture into the saute pan and flatten it evenly in the pan. (You can also use parchment paper between the rice and pan to guarantee the rice won't stick. However if a good nonstick pan is thoroughly greased, it isn't necessary).
- Cover the pan with lid and put it in 350 deg oven.
- After 25 minutes, take out pan and check the color of the rice crust. Insert a spatula in the side and push the rice away from the pan so that you can see the color of the rice crust. If it is deep golden brown, the tachin is done. If not, recover and bake for another five to ten minutes, until golden brown crust has formed.
- After cooking, allow rice to rest in pan for five minutes. Run a spatula around the side of the pan to make sure rice is separated from the pan. To get the tachin out of the pan, put a large plate upside down on top of the pan. In one clean motion, flip the pan and plate so that the pan is upside down and the plate is right side up. Lift the pan up to reveal your finished tachin.
