David Tanis’s Persian Jeweled Rice
- Total Time
- About 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 2cups best-quality Basmati rice
- Kosher salt
- Unsalted butter, 6 tablespoons in total
- 1large onion, diced small
- ¼teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled and soaked in ¼ cup hot water
- Large pinch ground cinnamon
- Large pinch ground cardamom
- Large pinch ground allspice
- Large pinch ground black pepper
- Large pinch ground cumin
- ⅓cup chopped dried apricots
- ⅓cup golden raisins or currants
- ⅓cup dried imported barberries or goji berries, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes and drained (or use ⅓ cup dried cherries or dried cranberries)
- ⅓cup blanched slivered almonds
- ⅓cup roughly chopped pistachios.
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
491 calories; 19 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 72 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 15 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 310 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.
Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.
Preparation
- Step 1
Rinse the rice several times in cold water until the water runs clear. Drain. Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a large pot with 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Add the rinsed rice and boil, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, then drain well in a colander.
- Step 2
Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, season lightly with salt and cook until softened and lightly colored, 4 to 5 minutes. Moisten with 1 tablespoon saffron water and stir in the cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, black pepper and cumin. Cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the apricots, raisins (or currants) and barberries (or cherries or cranberries).
- Step 3
Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a heavy-bottomed enamel or nonstick Dutch oven over medium heat. Spread half the par-cooked rice over the bottom of the pot. Spoon over the onion-fruit mixture, then the remaining rice. Leave the pot on the flame, uncovered, for 5 to 8 minutes to gently brown the rice. (Do not stir or move the rice — you will need to rely on your nose to tell if the rice has browned.)
- Step 4
Drizzle the remaining saffron water over the rice and put on the lid. Adjust the heat to very low and leave undisturbed for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and let rest at least 10 minutes.
- Step 5
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat and gently toast the almonds and pistachios for a minute or so, taking care not to get them too brown. Set aside for garnish.
- Step 6
To serve, spoon the rice into a wide bowl or platter. With a spatula, carefully lift the bottom crust, placing the crisp side up. Sprinkle with the toasted nuts.
Private Notes
Comments
You might want to look at Paula Gabriel's Persian Rice With Tah Dig Crust. She adds a few tablespoons of yogurt in addition to the melted butter to a cup of the rice that touches the bottom of the pan. I find that that really helps with browning the crust even when making it in a rice cooker.
This is a wonderful dish. I used hot orange blossom water instead of hot water to dissolve the saffron. I put julienned orange peel instead of the apricots and I omitted the cinnamon. My mother had made this for me in 1966 after a stay in Tehran and I remembered the orange peel...I will make this often.
Basmati rice is typically soaked for several hours in a quarter cup of kosher salt. It is then rinsed many times until the liquid runs clear. This is a customary technique in Persian cooking. Barberries are traditional fruit used otherwise it's really not An Iranian dish. It's like using kale instead of romaine in a Caesar salad.
This is an outstanding dish. I used recommendations of earlier cooks and added a few tablespoons of whole yogurt to the melted butter. After adding rice, i cooked for 8 minutes in a Staub nonstick dutch oven. before adding water and putting cover back on. Crust was a perfect light brown. It needed the coaxing of a spatula to fall out of the pot, but it was the perfect crown to the dish!
I used dried unsweetened cherries instead of barberries. I have no Dutch oven so I just used a heavy 3 quart saucepan. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly. The crust was very crispy and fairly thick. Served with the fish and citrus and an arugula salad. Made some Persian flatbread. Nice dinner.
This was absolutely delicious! My jewels were: dried apricots, dried tart cherries, and dried currants. Only added almonds at the end as I did not have pistachios. Used crispy fried onions instead of cooking raw onions. I didn’t get the crispy crust at the bottom but it did not matter. Was so tasty. Served with Danis Tanis’s Persian lamb shanks. Perfection.
Advertisement