Persian Rice Cooking Method with Rice Cooker

A few months back I wrote about Persian Rice Cooking Method, which is done on the stove.  In a past post I have also talked about the difference between a Persian Rice Cooker and other rice cookers on the market.  Fortunately, for all of us my regular reader Aaron saved the day by letting us know about the technological explanation.

The big difference between Asian rice cookers and Persian is Fuzzy Logic. Fuzzy Logic is the system in most rice cookers to avoid burning, which makes Tahdig impossible.

Another smaller issue is most Asian rice cookers the pot is not non stick rather it is aluminum.

Indeed, Persian rice cookers have a non-stick interior which should be taken care of with much care. In fact, it is important to keep the surface of the pot scratch free.

So, a big thank you to Aaron for his explanation.  By the way, in recent months Aaron has started a blog of his own:  Level Up Your Cooking. It is absolutely awesome and you will notice that he is very ambitious in the kitchen! Please be sure to check it out.  🙂

I absolutely love my Persian Rice Cooker. It was given to me as a gift when I moved into my very own apartment in Redondo Beach in 2004.  It was an awesome place. I knew I had to have it when I walked into the spacious kitchen and the lemon tree in front of my door pretty much sealed the deal.

I use my rice cooker often to make rice because it is easy and a pretty quick way to make rice.  It took me a while though to figure out the correct water vs. rice ratio.  Persian Rice Cookers simply don’t have directions. I consulted with a couple of cookbook and also asked my mom.  I found that when going by their directions the amount of water was too much.  After some experimentation I have finally mastered the ratio that works out best for me.

For this recipe I am using two cups of rice which is small amount made for The Sous Chef and I to consume during two meals.  Since the ratio of water to rice is one to one you can increase the amount to your need.  However, I would not go below two cups when making rice in a rice cooker.

Ingredients

2 cups rice (the equivalent in standard measuring cup is 1 1/2 cups)

2 cups water

1 tbsp canola oil

salt

Place two cups of rice in a bowl.

Wash rice well until water is clear.  I find that it is best to soak the rice for a couple of hours when using a rice cooker. I soaked mine for about 3 hours.

Once you are ready drain water.

Load up rice in the rice cooker.

Use the same measuring cup that you used for rice to measure water.  I always use my rice cooker’s cup when making rice.

Add 2 cups of water.

Add about half a teaspoon of salt.

Add about 1 tbsp of canola oil. You can use butter instead of oil if you want.  Just do not use olive oil.

Give it all a nice and gentle stir.

Cover and press the button to down to COOK.

DISCLAIMER: The following is an extra step that I do.  I find that it makes my rice come out the same as steamed rice in a pot.  Traditionally,  the rice cooker is loaded and left alone until done.

This is what I do: I keep an eye on the rice until the water has been absorbed, which takes about 10 minutes for this amount of rice.

I place a kitchen towel over the lead of the rice cooker and wait for the rice to get done.

Once the rice is done, the light will switch to WARM.

You can either remove the rice from the rice cooker with a spatula…but who wants to do that when you can do it the pretty way? Place a plate on top of the rice cooker.

Take a kitchen towel or kitchen  mittens.  Pull out the inside pot and place it on the counter upside down.

Gently remove the pot and…..

Voila! Look at this beauty! Making rice with a rice cooker is pretty much fool proof!!!

Look at that tahdig and how nice the rice looks inside! YUM!