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English to Persian (Farsi) translations [Non-PRO] Cooking / Culinary / Persian dishes
English term or phrase:Persian crispy rice
Hi,
One of my first contacts with Iranian culture came many years ago when a friend from Iran cooked an extraordinary dish.
If my memory serves me well, this dish was mainly of rice, and the top part of the rice was actually brown and crispy. No doubt I initially thought that he had burnt it, but it was so delicious that I think it must have been an example of true Persian cooking.
Please, what do you call such a dish (or rice which has been crisped by baking)?
Explanation: I guess you've been served with the portion of the cooked rice at the bottom of the dish. When rice is cooked completely, the bottom part is crisped -- I love that, too!
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It is called so because it is cooked at the bottom (ته) of the dish (ديگ).
Should have guessed you would ask! It is the present stem of chidan, which means to place, array, pick, set. You will see it in words like dastchin, golchin, khabarchin. So, tahchin literally means "placed on the bottom".
Nice description of both, Edward. We usually call the crispy rice at the bottom of the pot "tahdig" and every other thing, including potato and bread, "tahchin." This is how I have so far heard the two used and I guess Simon, too, must have been served with this "tahdig."
Simon, if you use Google Images and search on these words you should be able to determine which one it was that you ate. Just remember that tahdig is the bottom of the pot of (usually) white rice. The basic form is just rice that "fries" in the amount of oil that is mixed in at the beginning. You can also make it with bread, potatoes, or yoghurt & rice as the crust. Usually, the tahdig is served separately, either on top or on the side of the rice, which is heaped on a platter, or on a separate plate.
Your description sounds more like it was tah chin, since you describe the top as being brown and crispy. Tahchin is cooked in a large frying pan and then flipped onto the serving plate, so the crispy part (bottom) is on top. Then it is served like slices of cake.
The translation workplace 
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