This elegant rice dish with yellow colour and crispy crust (tahdig), is full of aromatic flavour. If you are familiar with Iranian rice and tahdig ته دیگ you would love to try this recipe too. Tahdig is pan fried layer of crust at the bottom of the rice pot. You can make tahdig either with flat naan bread, potatoes, or vegetables and with rice itself too.
For making tahdig with rice , you can add saffron or turmeric to the rice and prepare a yellow golden crust or you can cook plain tahdig with no colour. This is my recipe for making a classy Persian pilaf with a mixture of turmeric spice , Greek yogurt, and eggs.
Turmeric is one of most popular spices in Persian cuisine. Turmeric with it’s earthy flavour and beautiful yellow colour, give a gorgeous colour and taste to the dish. It has benefits for our body due to lots of goods. Turmeric is a good source of vitamins. It increases antioxidant capacity of the body, and a powerful anti inflammatory spice. it has benefits against depression, and ….. You can use turmeric in different ways, you can eat or drink it as a lovely tea . It’s not only a kind of spice but also is a medicine with lots of goods. Turmeric is called ‘Zardchobeh زردچوبه ’ in Faris and is one of key ingredients in In Iranian cuisine. We add turmeric to stews, rice, pickles, omelettes, frittata, soup, aash and halva.

Persian Pilaf with Turmeric Crust پلو با ته دیگ زردچوبه
Ingredients
- 4 cups rice, wahsed and soaked in salted water for 1 hour before cooking
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp turmeric spice
- 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
- Butter and vegetable oil
Instructions
- Wash the rice with cold water. Fill a bowl with cold water, add rice, and 1tbsp salt. Let to soak for 1 hour before cooking the rice.In a non-stick pot, bring water to a boil,
- In a non-stick pot, bring water to a boil, drain salted water and pour the rice into the boiling water.
- Let to cook for 10 minutes.Using a colander, drain the rice and rinse with cold water.
- In a large bowl, add two eggs, turmeric, Greek yogurt and some salt.
- Blend ingredients together and makd a smooth think batter.
- Add about 1 ½ cups of parboiled rice and stirring well.
- Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil and 1 tbsp butter to the pot. Spread the yellow rice evenely at the . bottom of pot
- and cover this layer with remaining of plain rice.
- Using handle of a spoon and make 2-3 holes on the rice to let steam out ( as you see in the photo).
- Place a heat diffuser on medium heat and put the pot on it. Heat diffuser distribute the
heat eaqually and then bottom of rice will cook properly and would not burned. - Add 2-3 small pieces of butter top of rice. Cover the pot with a lid to cook. Rice will be cooked in 30 minutes.
- Once rice is done, hold a plate over the uncovered pot and unmolding the rice into the plate. And now we have a gorgeous turmeric crust. Enjoy – Nosh-e jan, Nosh olsun, Bon appetit
Wow. This looks really delicious. I’ve never eaten or made anything like it. We love turmeric in this household and especially love what it does for the body! The ingredients in this sound easy, yet yummy!
Thank you so much for sharing your culture with us. I love discovering new ideas and traditional recipes from other countries. Many blessings to you! ♥
Oh you’re very welcome. I am glad you liked my post. Merry Christmas and happy new year in advance 🙂