The rice cooker is built in such way that a crust, affectionately and lovingly known as tahdig is created at the bottom. I’m wondering if I did something wrong, or if it’s a faulty unit… And I’m kind of afraid to use it again now. My mother taught me to grind the saffron threads using a mortar and pestle so it becomes a grainy powder. Whether you’re seeking a culinary companion in the form of a state-of-the-art rice cooker or modern cleaning tools to streamline your household chores, Pars Khazar’s range delivers on both functionality and durability. It was given to me by a friend when I moved into my very own apartment in Redondo Beach five or six years ago.

Measuring Cup: The best way to master cooking rice the Persian way is to have a trusted cup measurement and understand the portions it yields. Use a clean towel or tea towel to wrap the lid of the rice cooker to prevent steam escaping during cooking. So anyway, now that I told you this story, it reinforces the fact that I know nothing about the engineering aspect of it.

The measurements below are for a 5-cup or larger rice cooker and the rice measurements are for a standard measuring cup, not the cup included with the rice cooker (which measures ¾ of a standard cup). The markets overwhelmed me with gems from my childhood: the gaz my dad used to eat that clung to his molars, or the brand of lavashak aloo that made my mom’s face scrunch from sourness. To say that cooking rice in the Pars is simple is an understatement: to make enough for a family of four, you combine two cups basmati rice with two cups of water in the pot, a tablespoon (give or take a few, depending on personal preference) of vegetable oil and a dash of salt, then plug it in and wait for the timer, which starts at 60 minutes, to make its way down to zero. What I found said butter actually has a lower smoking point than olive oil, and Tahdig is not made over high heat. This is a beloved element of Persian rice dishes, adding an extra layer of flavor and texture to your meal.

The timer only goes to 60 minutes so I have to add the extra 30 minutes sometime while it’s cooking. One thing to note: the Pars pot is a product of the early aughts, when Teflon was the name of the nonstick game. The Yum Asia Tsuki Mini is a top-of-the-range rice cooker, ideal for those ready to invest in a top-quality rice cooker. Each model will have different settings, but generally it takes about an hour to turn out a crunchy white rice tahdig.Najmieh Batmanglij uses a “National Deluxe” rice cooker but I can’t seem to find one, not even on line. When the hour is up, you invert the pot on a plate as if you're removing a cake from its pan, and voila, you have a golden brown crust of rice surrounding a steaming cake of white rice. Once you have all your ingredients ready, combine all the rice ingredients except saffron and fava beans in the rice cooker. Remove pot from the heat and allow to cool, covered, for 5 minutes on a damp surface to free the potato rice crust from the bottom of the pot.

Allow me to introduce you to every Iranian home cook’s secret weapon: the Persian rice cooker, or what I affectionately refer to as my “cheat pot.This is all before flipping the pot upside down to reveal a shell of crispy tadig enveloping the fluffy interior of rice.