Balls and Walnuts
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Crispy rice
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My sister wants the crispy rice recipe. This one isn’t easy, Sis, but it is tasty.
This is from In a Persian Kitchen — not a bad Persian cookbook, especially for the price, but I’m looking for a better one. Any suggestions?
Chelo (AKA steamed rice . . . AKA crispy rice)
2.5 cups basmati rice
1.5 tbsp salt
2 quarts water
2 tbsp salt
0.5 cup butter (melted)
1. Wash the rice three times in lukewarm water, then soak in salted water (that’s the first 1.5 tbsp of salt) for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
2. Combine 2 quarts of water and 2 tbsp salt. Boil.
3. Drain rice and add it to the boiling water. Boil for 10-15 min, stirring occasionally.
4. Strain the rice and rinse with lukewarm water.
5. Put 1/3 of the melted butter into the bottom of a nonstick pan. I used a deep saute pan, for which I had a lid. (That’s important, as you’ll soon see.) Add 2 tbsp water to the butter.
6. Pile the rice on top of the butter. Distribute the rest of the butter over the rice.
7. If you have saffron, sprinkle a bit over the top of the rice.
8. Cover the saute pan or pot. Cook 10-15 min on medium heat, then 35-40 min on low heat.
9. When you have about 10 min of cooking time left, remove the lid and check the bottom. You should have a golden crust on the bottom. If you don’t, increase the heat and finish cooking it.
Getting that golden crust is key. It’s the reason you’re going to all this bother. Also, if you’re going to make this recipe, you had better make a main course with lots of tasty gravy — otherwise, once again, what’s the point of having crispy rice?
I suspect the leftover rice would make great stir-fried rice, although the butter taste might be a bit unusual for a Chinese dish.
D.
Most of the rice cookers on the market are Asian, and do not produce the crust at the bottom. However, if you are near a Middle Eastern Market, and they happen to sell rice cookers (Usually manufactured in Lebanon), then those ususally produce the crust. It does make the production a tad easier, but you have to be dedicated to the product to go find a special rice cooker which ramps up at the end of the cooking cycle.
When I was a child, my comfort food was rice and string beans: Saute onions in butter and chile pepper flakes. Set those aside. Boil up some green beans. In a bowl put the fluffy rice and crusty rice. Then put on green beans, then a dollop of mazoun (OK, “yogurt” if you insist on being all Turkish), then garnish with the spicy limp onions. Warm and crunchy, spicy and cool–absolutely wonderful.
My grandmother kept a jar of sauteed spicy onions in her refrigerator at all times for me. I think she loved me.
I, too, discovered that Asian rice cookers are designed NOT to form a crust. So I do mine in a pan over the open flame. And oh how I wish I had a local Middle Eastern market!
You can use cast iron for that, I think. The Korean dolsot bibimbap also forms a rice crust on the pan.
I make something similar to this called Lubia Polo. Added to the rice is well browned minced steak (although i think it originally called for lamb, but I’m cheap.), onion, chilli, greenbeans and occasionally, almonds. I’ll add a dash of curry powder, and cook the rice in chicken stock. We fight over the crust. As Chef, I get the biggest bit.
I’ll have to try my cast iron pan, May. It’s well seasoned, so hopefully I won’t have a mess!
Sounds good, Lyvvie 😉
Thanks Doug…everything you make is tasty. I was dead in the water when I read Basmati Rice; I don’t even know what that is.