Golden Persian Rice
Persian rice gets its extraordinary crust, or tah dig, as it slow-cooks in a thin layer of oil. The crust is bolstered here by crunchy triangles of pita bread. Tehran-born Alireza Sadeghzadeh, a software developer, learned the technique from his mother. "My mother did most of the cooking, and my father was her favorite critic," he recalls. "It definitely made eating together interesting as the two battled over the exact amount of salt or debated about whether the rice was over- or under-cooked." More Middle Eastern Recipes
December 2007