Can burnt rice be delicious? It can be in this incredible dish

THE DISH
Tahdig, Iran

PLATE UP
Don’t let the apparent simplicity of tahdig fool you. To the uninitiated, this probably just seems like burnt rice – and how good can burnt rice be? We’re here to tell you that burnt rice can be very, very good. Incredibly good. Life-changingly good.

Consider the way this essential Iranian dish is prepared. Persian basmati – already a candidate for the world’s tastiest rice – is steamed or boiled until about half-cooked. Some of that rice is then mixed in the bottom of a dry pan with butter, yoghurt and sometimes saffron, spread into an even layer, and then topped with the rest of the rice.

The whole lot then cooks until the upper rice is perfectly fluffy, and the lower rice has magically formed into a crunchy, salty and slightly tangy layer known as tahdig. This layer is the prized titbit on any table, and the hallmark of a great Iranian cook.

FIRST SERVE
A dish as iconic as tahdig deserves a fanciful creation story, and it has one. Rice always appeared on the menus of the Qajar kings of the Persian Empire in the early 1800s, and the servants who prepared that rice would usually eat the burnt leftovers in the bottom of the pan. Legend has it that one day, those servants argued so loudly over who would get the scraps that the king overhead, and demanded they be brought to him instead. The rest is history. Regardless of the truth of that, by the early 1900s, two well-known Persian cookbooks included recipes for tahdig.

ORDER THERE
Sadly, the best food in Iran is usually served in people’s homes, so you will have to score an invite to try tahdig at its finest. It is also, however, served at the Traditional Banquet Hall in Isfahan (Naghsh-e-Jahan Square).

ORDER HERE
In Sydney, try multiple styles of tahdig at Divan Restaurant in Killara (divanrestaurant.com.au). In Melbourne, call into Caspian Cuisine in Forest Hill (instagram.com/caspiancuisine1).

ONE MORE THING
There are other ways of crisping up the base of your rice. Some Iranians will layer the bottom of their pot with potato slices, bread or even an egg-yolk mixture to alter the texture and taste.