Friends,
I was raised on rice. This may be a reason I was never one of the skinny girls growing up, but I come from a Persian family and rice was not optional. It was required. My Bibi, the matriarch of my family, served it at every meal – whether plain basmati stained with saffron with a potato pie crust bottom that was sort of like a crispy golden frisbee, or colored green with dill and dotted with plump fava beans, or fashioned into a jeweled crest with dark raisins, braised veal, pistachios, shredded carrots, and orange peel. The point being; we ate a lot of rice. And it was all magnificent.
When I stick my head into my own rice, and inhale the steam from the water, I can still sense her. I can remember the way the air would turn when the elevator doors opened to her floor, from stale, blank and musty to humid and alive with the smells of rice cooking – soft, warm, and full, like the world turned from dreary black and white to blazing color.
Bibi left the world before my kids were born so they never had her rice, which is its own sort of heartbreak – that they never had a chance to be fed by her, to eat her food, let alone hear her gravelly Persian-London accented voice, or feel the safety of her big boundless love.
I make rice now. I make it every week on Friday nights with some sort of other Persian food – a pot of khoresht, and usually some kebabs or kotlets, maybe some Gormeh Sabzi. Who knows. But the staple is my rice. Also you may notice I call it “my rice” – not “the rice.” That’s the way Bibi referred to it; as “my rice,” sort of like you would refer to your child, your charge, your baby, someone you love.
I make my rice the way Bibi taught me, but I realized over Thanksgiving while perusing recipes online that folks are teaching you to make rice all wrong. Most recipes, like this recipe in the Times, call for cooking rice and water together in a pot at specific ratios that call to mind algebraic equations from middle school. NO NO NO!!! This is not how you cook rice. You do not measure out 1 cup rice to 1 1⁄3 cups of water and put that on the stovetop. Please do not do this!!!
Bib’s method, the Persian way to cook rice, is so much easier and it will make your rice silken every time. And I’m going to blow your mind when I tell you how easy this is. Are you ready? Are you sitting down? Ok here we go. Cook rice like you cook pasta. I know, it sounds crazy but it is the best and easiest way to cook rice. It’s the Persian way. Let’s go.
BOIL SOME SALTY WATER FIRST
First, put a big pot of water on the stovetop and salt it. A lot. Throw the salt in there like you’re hoping to ward off evil spirits or whatnot. The water should be salty like the ocean. The water is what flavors the rice so you want it to get in there. I’d say at least ¼ cup for a full pot of water. Trust me.
RINSE YOUR RICE
First, be sure to use long grain basmati rice (you can get it from Sahadi or Kalustyan, or even Trader Joes – I love their Basmati from India pictured below. But do not use something like Urban Meadows or some generic store brand from the United States. It’s not gonna work. Pour 2 cups of rice into a bowl; this will be enough for a family of four white people or two Persians. Rinse it about 4-5 times with cold water until the water runs clear.
BOIL YOUR RICE
Once the water is rapidly boiling, add the rinsed rice to the pot, just like you would for pasta and now set the timer for about 6 minutes. By then you should see the grains of rice start to float up to the top. Grab a spoon (Bibi used her fingers because they were immune to pain) and scoop out a few grains from the boiling water, and give them a feel with your fingers and then a taste — they should be al dente, soft on the outside but still a little undercooked inside, not crunchy though, you want it slightly more than that. Once you get that feeling of almost cooked, strain the rice in the sink. Leave it there.
MAKE THE CRUST
Now return the stock pot to the stove top over medium-high heat and pour a big glug of neutral oil into the bottom of the pot (using a non-stick stock pot makes getting the crust out much easier); the oil should cover the bottom of the pot completely. Now salt the oil liberally. Then take a potato and slice it into thin circles, not too thin because you don’t want them to burn through.
Lay the circles down in the sizzling oil and let the potatoes fry until they get golden underneath, then flip them. Once they start to turn golden on the other side, add the rice back to the pot and let the crust and the rice cook together over medium high heat for another minute or two, be careful not to let the potatoes burn.
STEAM YOUR RICE
Then lower the heat all the way to low, put a clean cloth or tea towel on the rice, and cover it with the lid, and let it steam there for about 5 more minutes. That will cook the rice through. You’re done. Let it sit there for a few moments to rest before you serve it.
EAT YOUR RICE
Then get a platter – spoon your rice onto it, and then release the crust on top. It doesn’t matter if it’s not one big frisbee it will be delicious in pieces too. Folks will fight over the crust. We did as kids. Oh and if you have kids, they will love you so much more after they try your rice potato crust. Seriously.
Okay that’s the way you do it. I’m not going to put it in a recipe format because I don’t think you need that; just follow my directions. Print this out and keep it close. Your rice will be amazing. Bibi will be so happy.
Sounds delish! Thanks for sharing. I will give it a try.
That sounds delectable but I’m a visual learner. I need to see you do this!!!!! ❤️. And thanks so much for sharing!!!!