The humble rice transformed into an epic side! Called Tachin or Tahchin, this baked Persian Saffron Rice is crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It’s seasoned enough to eat plain but terrific paired with even heavily spiced mains. That crust is everything!!
Brought to you in partnership with Farmers Union Greek Yogurt.
Have you ever seen a more spectacular looking rice dish?? Look at that insane golden crust!!!! Look at that beautiful vibrant yellow rice!!
Word of warning: Don’t take this Persian Saffron Rice to gatherings because it will steal the show and the host will get annoyed.
Instead, make this as part of your own Persian Feast. Because it’s PERSIAN WEEK here on RecipeTin Eats!
Here’s what we’ve got on the menu for this week:
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This Persian Saffron Rice – there are no words. JUST LOOK AT IT!!!!
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Persian Lamb Shanks – braised until fall apart tender in a beautiful aromatic broth. Incredibly easy with every day spices you’ll find at any supermarket!
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Persian Cucumber Tomato Salad (in the Lamb Shanks recipe)- lovely and fresh, with a little sprinkle of Sumac for a touch of Persian exoticness; and
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Persian Love Cake – made with semolina and almond meal, you’ll love how this cake is soaked through with hot syrup!
IT’S CALLED TACHIN
This Persian Saffron Rice is not something I made up. It’s a real-deal Persian dish called Tachin.
Often you’ll find recipes where it’s layered with a bit of chicken or other protein of vegetables. But for my Persian menu, I’m using it as a side dish so I opted to keep it plain.
Not that there’s anything plain about Tachin!!!
You’ll often find recipes for Tachin – also sometimes referred to as Tahchin – cooked on the stove. But having tried that several times, I can tell you definitively that oven is much easier and safer! On stove top, there’s a high risk of breakage when you flip it, you can’t see when the base is perfectly golden brown and actually, it’s harder to get lovely even golden browning on the stove, you tend to get darker and lighter patches.
YOGURT MIXTURE FOR SAFFRON RICE
All those vibrant colours and textures on the table, and I swear all I can focus on is the saffron rice! Not to talk down everything else on that table, because it’s all super tasty. 🙂 But I have a big soft spot for the rice because it’s one of those recipes that looks exotic but is deceptively easy.
Love recipes like that!
The key to this recipe is a yogurt-egg-oil-saffron mixture that is mixed with par boiled rice, then layered with barberries in a pie dish and baked until crispy on the outside.
This is the yogurt I use – Farmers Union Greek Yogurt. It’s the yogurt I’ve always used for all my cooking – savoury and sweet – as well dolloping / dipping / drizzling on everything from this Lamb Shawarma Chickpea Soup to Crispy Baked Chicken Tenders to this San Fran Chicken Salad with Granch (Greek-Yogurt-Ranch-Dressing).
It’d be a rare occasion if you opened my fridge and didn’t see a big tub of it. 🙂
DRIED BARBERRIES
They look like dried pomegranates (is there such a thing??!!) and taste like sour cherries. A very Persian ingredient, you won’t find these in every day supermarkets but don’t fret! Yes, having barberries makes it authentically Persian. But from a flavour and visual perspective, it can be substituted with chopped dried sour cherries or cranberries.
You’ll find dried barberries at Persian / Middle Eastern stores or at gourmet stores like The Essential Ingredient. In this Persian Saffron Rice, it’s used in the layers as well as a garnish. Beautiful pops of colour against the yellow rice and deep golden crust.
Let’s be honest – I can talk up how the rice inside is fluffy and flavoured with the yogurt mixture, and how it’s so tasty you can eat it plain, and how you’ll love the little pops of sourness from the barberries that cuts through the richness of the rice.
But you and I both know that this recipe is all about that golden crust. That crust you want to peel off and have all to yourself.
Pull yourself together!! This is a dish for sharing!! – Nagi x
A PERSIAN FEAST
Persian Lamb Shanks • This Saffron Baked Rice • Persian Chopped Salad (in Shanks recipe) • Persian L♥ve Cake (coming Friday)
OTHER THINGS TO SERVE WITH TACHIN
This Persian Saffron Rice will be right at home alongside anything Middle Eastern and Mediterranean. Make a big platter for sharing with a pile of Chicken Doner Kebab meat, Lamb Shawarma or Chicken Shawarma!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Persian Saffron Rice (Tachin)
Ingredients
Parboiled Rice:
- 2 cups / 360g basmati rice, uncooked (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp salt
- 3 litres / 3 quarts water
Barberries:
- 1/2 cup dried barberries (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp / 30g unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 tsp rose water (optional)
Saffron Rice:
- 1 tsp saffron threads (Note 3)
- 2 tbsp warm water
- 1 cup / 250 g plain yogurt (I use Farmers Union Greek Yogurt)
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml oil , neutral (or butter!)
- 3 egg yolks
- 3/4 tsp salt
Instructions
Parboiled Rice:
- Bring water to the boil in a large pot. Add salt and rice. Bring back up to the boil then cook for 5 minutes. Drain and leave to steam dry for 5 minutes.
Barberries:
- Melt butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add barberries and cook for about 1 1/2 minutes until they plump up (see video!).
- Remove from heat (they will shrivel quickly) then stir through rose water (if using).
Saffron Rice:
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan).
- Lightly grease a glass pie dish with oil.
- Ground saffron into powder (optional step). Add water and leave to seep for 10 minutes.
- Mix yogurt, egg, oil, saffron water and salt in a large bowl.
- Add rice, stir well.
- Pour half the rice in the pie dish, smooth surface. Top with 1/3 of the barberries.
- Cover with remaining rice, smooth surface, sprinkle over another 1/3 of the barberries. Press down firmly, cover with foil.
- Bake 60 - 80 minutes until the crust is deep golden all over.
- Rest for 10 minutes. Remove foil. Place serving plate on pie dish then flip upside down (it won't stick because of the oil, see video!).
- Scatter surface with remaining barberries then serve.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Big goodbye hug as I head off to Vietnam for a couple of weeks. I love this damn dog so much.
As for Dozer – he’s off to the golden retriever boarder where it’s 24/7 fun and rumbles!!!
Today’s recipe is brought to you courtesy of Farmers Union. I’ve used their Greek style natural yogurt for as long as I can remember. So it was a no brainer when they asked if I’d create a recipe for them!!
am i able to sub saffron for tumeric?.. all i can get my hands on at the moment ..
Hi Casandra, it wont be quite the same unfortunately, saffron is a key ingredient in Persian Saffron Rice. N x
I actually went out to go buy some – it’s in the oven now! I’m so excited! Thank you
We made this for part of our dinner tonight and as someone who has travelled to Iran (twice), this is legit. So delicious! Thank you!
That’s the best!!! Thanks so much Candace ❤️
Hi nagi, love the persian lamb shank recipe. I want to make the saffron rice and would like to confirm if you sub the 1 tsp of saffron thread with 1/16 tsp powder? It seems very little to me. Can i sub the rose water with water ? Thank you.
Hi Ly, yes that’s right, it’s potent stuff so you don’t need a lot! And you can just leave the rose water out if you don’t have it 🙂
I’m in the midst of testing recipes for a murder mystery dinner party I’m hosting next month. I was not particularly impressed with this dish UNTIL I spooned over some of the braising liquid from the Persian Lamb Shanks. OMG, I could not stop eating. The outside was wonderfully crispy and the inside tender. The perfect foil for the shanks.
Thanks for a wonderful side. Hugs and kisses for Dozer from Obe.
I’m so glad you loved it Kris!
Can it cook inside metal dish?
Thank you
Can I add dates, raisins, and chicken?
Totally! Sounds divine Attia – N x
Did you cook the chicken first?
Hi Nagi,
It turned out wonderful only when I inverted it, the bottom portion did not fall immediately I had to make it straight And loosen the sides and then it fell also the crust i.e. the rice seemed crispy dry is that ok ? What can you eat along with the rice ?
Thanks
Hi Mayanka, sorry the rice didn’t come away straight away! Yes the crust of the rice is my favourite bit, I like eating this with Persian Lamb shanks ❤️
Nagi,
First let me say that I love all of your recipes. All I have to tell my husband is that we are having one of Nagi’s Recipes for dinner and he is sooo happy! Regarding the teaching recipe…. is it possible to prepare everything up to the point of baking and then refrigerate before baking a few hours later?
OK Nagi!!! Where do I start? As a Persian Girl who fancies Myself a rice Expert,(All Persians do! LOL) YOU NAILED THIS!!! I’m sending you a Big HUG from AFAR!!! YOU ARE AWESOME!!! So is YOUR rice and your PUPPY!!! XOXO
Woah what a great compliment, thank you so much Shahla!
I was told by a professional Iranian chef (who was famous for his tachin recipe!) to never preheat the oven when making this dish, I can’t remember why but he said it was a mistake. Also he said to make sure to make it in a glass dish to achieve the perfect tadhig. Just thought I’d pass along the tips:)
I’ve never heard that, what a great tip – I’ll have to try it!
Nagi, I made this tonight and it was just brilliant. Soooooo full of flavour. I also made your Persian lamb shanks to go with it. Amazing!!! Thanks for the recipes 😊
I will be trying this recipe very soon. Look amazing!
Thanks for another winning recipe, Nagi! I made this last night and we all really enjoyed it 🙂
I know you said that yogurt is key, but what can I substitute it with if I want to make it vegan? Thanks.
Thanks so much, Nagi ! Any recipe with Persian as the first word gets bookmarked!! It looks amazing by the way!!
Hope you get a chance to try it Aless! It’s pretty amazing! 🙂 N x
Oh my goodness I am so proud of myself I made this and it came out perfectly. The only difference was I used dried cranberries because I could not find barberries. What a great recipe.
I also want to mention that right after you posted the recipe for the cornbread muffins I made them and loved them using the cream corn made them amazing. I also made the chili with the muffins Thanks for all your lovely recipes.
YES YES YES!!! I’m so pleased you enjoyed this Beth, thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know you enjoyed this!!! It’s an amazing recipe and I’m truly glad it inspired you to try it 🙂 N x
The Persian Saffron Rice looks yummy! Love Dozer!
And it TASTES even better than it looks! 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi,
I’m allergic to cranberries, cherries, gooseberries, etc., so I imagine that berberries might fall into the same category of allergen. Can you think of something else to replace with?
Thanks,
Becca
The dried berberries can be mixed with crushed nuts like pistachio or almond and some sugar to create a sweet savoury taste. You can also completely omit it; it’s for dressing purposes. It’s important to know that Persians usually use shredded chicken or beef or sometimes thin cut eggplant as the inside layer instead of berberries. So, yes, you can bake this tasteful cuisine without berberries/cranberries. Enjoy!
Toasted slivered almonds.
Hi Becca! Try heating lemon juice and soaking goji berries to add the tart flavour into them! N x
Hey! This looks great! Quick question: COULD you use pomegranate seeds for this, instead of the barberries/cranberries/cherries? I sincerely dislike sour or tart things like those [ironic since I LOVE my acid dishes], and wanted to see if those could be subbed. Thanks!
Not fresh pomegranate, they would be too juicy 🙂 What about goji berries? That would work a treat!
Great recipe Nagi. I recently moved to south California and this is where I discovered Persian food. I love it! Since I’m yet to try any of them at home, I think I will start with this Saffron Rice. It looks so good!
Hope you get a chance to try it Lola, it’s pretty amazing! N x