Today I’m excited to have my friend, Michael Natkin, of Herbivoracious guest post on Savory Sweet Life. His recipes are not only stunning to look at, he makes a vegetarian lifestyle very tempting for a carnivore like me to cross over. Although Michael works at Adobe, he has also worked in some of Seattle’s finest restaurants including a recent two week internship at Canlis restaurant. Today he shares a wonderful recipe for Persian rice pilaf called Chelo. Thank you Michael!
One of the great things about food blogging is the opportunity to meet other people in the community who share that passion. I’ve known Alice for about a year now, and been amazed at how quickly she’s built a tremendous following for Savory Sweet Life with her beautiful, delicious and approachable home cooked food. I’m honored to exchange guest posts with Alice and introduce our readers to each other.
Just about every culture that cooks rice has a crispy variation, whether it is the beloved crust on the bottom of the Spanish paella, fried rice in Chinese cuisine, or Indian bhel puri (a snack of crispy puffed rice, potatoes and chutney). For Persians, the basic basmati rice pilaf with a crust is called chelo, and the crust itself is tahdig.
Although it is a bit more work than just tossing rice in the rice cooker and pushing the button, I think you will find the result more than worth the extra effort. You do need to have the forethought to soak the grain for a couple hours in advance.
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