Rice Chelo

Ingredients for people 4

• 6 Basmati rice cups
• 8 cups of water
• Salt
• Olive oil
• ½ teaspoon of powdered saffron pistils dissolved in 4 tablespoons of hot water.
• ½ jar of whole white yogurt
• Egg yolk (optional)

Preparation

Wash the rice, rinsing it in water initially cold and gradually warmer until it remains clear. If you have time available, let it soak in warm water for one or two hours, in this way the rice will be more digestible.
Put the water and two teaspoons of salt in a non-stick pan with a wide bottom and bring it to the boil. Add the rice and boil it for a few moments over high heat, stirring gently. The times of this operation vary a lot depending on the quality of the rice. Taste and drain the rice when it is about to reach half cooked. Rinse it in a colander under a stream of warm water and set it aside.
In a bowl, beat 4 tablespoons of oil, 2 ladles of rice, ½ jar of yogurt, ½ cup of warm water and 1 tablespoon of the water in which you have dissolved the saffron (if desired, you can also add a beaten egg yolk to this mix. ). Arrange the preparation on the bottom of the pot, where when cooked it will form a crisp and golden crust, the so-called tah dig (in Iranian "bottom of the pot") that you can serve separately or leave with the rice. Tasty alternatives to yogurt for tah dig can be a sliced ​​potato or slices of kabab-like bread and crisp lettuce leaves to line the bottom of the pot with before placing the rice.
At this point, pour the rest of the rice into the pot, arranging it to form a cone with the base on the bottom and then leave free space for when it swells. Pierce the cone here and there with the handle of a wooden ladle to allow the steam to escape and the rice to dry perfectly even inside.
Raise the heat and cook in this way for the first 6 ', after which sprinkle the rice with half a cup of cold water mixed with 2-3 tablespoons of oil. Add the rest of the water in which you dissolved the saffron. Lower the heat to the minimum, cover and cook for 50 '. Cooking rice on the gas stove
It is a good idea to use a flame-spreader net and wrap the lid of the pot with a cloth to absorb moisture.
To dish the cooked rice with its crust, immerse the covered pot for 5 'in cold water. This operation will facilitate the detachment of the crust from the bottom of the pan. Finally, to complete the preparation of a good chelo, color a few handfuls of cooked rice with the rest of the saffron dissolved in hot water and place it on top of the remaining white rice. Aside, serve some butter in a butter dish.