600 g (1 lb 5 oz) basmati rice,
washed and drained
4 Tbsp salt
4 Tbsp cooking oil
1 large potato, peeled and
thinly sliced
2 Tbsp butter, melted
Put rice and salt in a large bowl. Add enough water to cover, stir through
and leave to soak for at least 30 minutes.
Parboil rice: half-fill a large pot with water and bring to a rapid boil. Add
drained rice and allow to boil, without stirring, until grains are half-cooked.
Drain using a colander and rinse, if desired, to wash away excess salt.
Pour oil into a medium non-stick pot and swirl to coat bottom evenly, then
line with potato slices.
Spoon rice over the centre of pot, shaking the spoon as you go so rice grains
are loosely stacked. Keep spooning rice over the centre until a mound forms
inside the pot.
Light a medium gas hob and place a flame tamer on top. Wrap pot’s lid with
clean cloth before covering, then set pot on top of flame tamer. Dry rice out
over medium-low heat for 1 hour or until the grains are cooked and fluffy.
If without a flame tamer, reduce heat to low.
Dish out rice and set aside. Carefully lift potato slices and arrange on a
serving plate. Pour butter over rice evenly before serving with potato slices.
Tip: Adding 500 ml (16 fl oz / 2 cups) refrigerator-chilled water to the
boiling rice makes the grains stretch and become longer. In Iranian
cooking, long, separate grains of fluffy rice are desired, while moist,
clumpy rice is considered a culinary disaster.
The rice grains are half-cooked
when they are slightly longer and
softer, but still too hard to eat.
While parboiled rice is draining,
oil a medium non-stick pot and
line the bottom with a layer of
potato slices, each about 0.5-cm
(¼-in) thick.
Parboil rice in plenty of water as
you would pasta. When rice is
halfcooked, drain using a colander.
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