{"id":2994,"date":"2011-07-11T07:27:45","date_gmt":"2011-07-11T14:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywaffle.com\/stage1\/?p=2994"},"modified":"2019-07-15T19:14:06","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T02:14:06","slug":"persian-crispy-rice-lamb-kebabs-polo-tahdig-koobideh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywaffle.com\/stage1\/persian-crispy-rice-lamb-kebabs-polo-tahdig-koobideh\/","title":{"rendered":"Persian Crispy Rice & Lamb Kebabs (Polo Tahdig & Koobideh)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Polo Tahdig, Persian Crispy Rice gets its crunchy layer from yogurt colored with turmeric and scented with saffron.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During our trip up to Tofino, we watched a show with Bob Blumer<\/a>, you know, the Surreal Gourmet guy, where he faced off with 2-3 Chinese chefs in Vancouver in a Xiao Long Bao battle. Dumplings themselves are challenging and forming them quickly and consistently takes practice — yeeeeeears of practice. And, as you’d expect, for most of the show, Bob was no good at folding dumplings. I felt like Bob Blumer today going into making this Persian rice.<\/p>\n

Eh, what’s so hard about rice? Regular steamed rice? Nothing. But, this rice? This rice has a beautifully crunchy, saffron and turmeric-scented crust, and like those dumplings, getting it just right and out of the pan in one piece takes a little practice. You want it beautifully browned, but not burnt. That crispy bottom is “the treat.” You know how you hold your breath when you’re tapping a cake out of a cake pan or releasing something from a mold, waiting for that tell-tale plunk or suction-y sound that says it’s out in one piece? That was me with this Persian rice.<\/p>\n

It takes a few steps, first soaking the rice in salted water for two hours, then briefly boiling it, then separately creating the crispy bottom followed by a final steam for 40-45 minutes. It’s worth it.<\/p>\n

I adapted PersianFoodie’s recipe dialing back on the salt and saffron (I used Spanish saffron, since it’s what I had on hand). I don’t know if the dishtowel (see recipe below) is really necessary for the steam if you’ve got a tight-fitting lid, but it was mentioned in more than one recipe, so I went with it. But I also stayed with the pot, just to make sure nothing caught on fire.<\/p>\n

The rice did come out in one piece, but had a couple of funny dents since I didn’t get it quite centered on the plate. I’ll call it not bad for a first go.<\/p>\n

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By comparison, the lamb (and partially beef) kebab that went with, the koobideh, was a breeze. I just had to find the spice mix everyone says you’ve got to use — the Sadaf Meat Kebab Seasoning mix<\/a>. It’s a combo of onion, garlic, sumac, parsley, salt, pepper, tumeric and “other spices.” Following Sadaf’s recommendation, I used 1 oz. of seasoning mix to 2 lbs. of meat, in my case 1 1\/2 lbs. of ground lamb, 1\/2 lb. ground beef. It seemed like a lot of seasoning going in, but turned out delicious.<\/p>\n

We had a simple cucumber, red onion, parsley, and mint salad dressed with white wine vinegar and olive oil and a little yogurt and lemon dipping sauce.<\/p>\n\t\r\n\t

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\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i> Print Recipe<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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Crispy Persian Rice (Polo Tahdig)<\/h2>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tServes: 3-4<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i> \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCooking Time: 45 mins (plus soaking time)<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t
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Ingredients<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t