Stuck-Pot Rice With Yogurt and Spices Recipe (2024)

Easy to make, and easy to screw up too...I have made this numerous times. The flavor is always good. What's difficult is making sure you use enough oil in the bottom of a heavy cooking pot. Add a liberal amount of oil, otherwise the rice will need to be scraped out, not smacked out. If you do it well, all the rice will come out in a beautiful circular "cake" with the brown bits on the bottom and the rest on top.

This is my favorite recipe for rice - have made it at least once a month for several years. The crunchy rice is addictive. Great as a side with seafood, vegetarian or just as is out of the pot. Looks beautiful on a platter for a special dinner. I like to squeeze a little lime on top before serving and anything green like peas or parsley looks wonderful with this rice.

Great recipe! I made the rice, and then afterward I sautéed onions, garlic, a couple of green bell peppers, and some chicken sausage together. Mixed everything and topped with scallions and feta. Ideal weeknight dinner.

Added fresh spring peas to this recipe because they were available. We doubled the recipe, being liberal with the amount of curry powder. As we used a heavy cast iron pot, didn't attempt to turn it out onto a platter, but served it right out of the pot. Very nice recipe!

Excellent! Mine did not stick- I used a small Dutch oven for even heat. Also, I added two tablespoons of water with the yogurt. It seemed too dry to moisten and stick together enough. Based on the texture, browning, and ease of removal, I think it was the right choice. We used a Balti Curry powder, and all loved it.

"Curry powder" is actually a blend of several spices. In keeping with the spirit here I'd suggest as an alternative small amounts of allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg - say a 1/2 teaspoon each of the first two, 1/4 teaspoon for the last - along with a couple pinches of cardamom is you have it and a 1/2 teaspoon of ground fenugreek (optional). I'd also suggest tucking a bay leaf or two into the rice for the initial cooking, removing them after the first cook.

I think cardamom, cinnamon or nutmeg, or some combination, would take this more sweet than savory, but would still be tasty (I might use lemon instead of lime in that case). Zaatar also seems to me like it would be worth trying, as it is common in Mediteranean cooking which also uses yogurt and rice, and either lemon or lime would work there in my opinion.

I haven't done it yet, but this suggestion from a friend makes sense. When you're ready to unmold the rice, reheat it briefly over a burner, then quickly place the bottom of the pan in a bowl or sinkful of very cold water --with ice if necessary. There'll be some dramatic sizzling; make sure your hands are protected and your pan is sturdy metal (not ceramic or glass.) When you flip the uncovered pan over the platter, the rice crust will release more easily. When I try it, I'll report back.

My husband says this is the best rice I ever made. Just follow the recipe. It’s grand.

Excellent! Mine did not stick- I used a small Dutch oven for even heat. Also, I added two tablespoons of water with the yogurt. It seemed too dry to moisten and stick together enough. Based on the texture, browning, and ease of removal, I think it was the right choice. We used a Balti Curry powder, and all loved it.

Love it. Used to make a times recipe for Persian Dill Rice that was a lot of work. This is same concept and basically no work.

I’ve made this a few times and each time I’ve found it wanting in distinctive flavor. But I love the crisp, round base — the presentation is festive. I’ll try adding zataar for more oomph next time...

This was great but our rice crust came out in pieces instead of one. Our pot was probably too small. What dimensions do you recommend?

I love this recipe; the yogurt is a nice surprise ingredient. If you're like me and can't cook decent rice stovetop, oven cooked rice is the way to go!

I love this sort of crispy rice. I was daunted by reading all the instructions for tightly securing the lid in this recipe, though. I own a stovetop pressure cooker so I may try to use that for this recipe, and see how it turns out.

Any thoughts for a substitute for curry? Not turmeric. Not Cunene. Can be spicy. Just not those type of flavors.

Easy to make, and easy to screw up too...I have made this numerous times. The flavor is always good. What's difficult is making sure you use enough oil in the bottom of a heavy cooking pot. Add a liberal amount of oil, otherwise the rice will need to be scraped out, not smacked out. If you do it well, all the rice will come out in a beautiful circular "cake" with the brown bits on the bottom and the rest on top.

Great recipe! I made the rice, and then afterward I sautéed onions, garlic, a couple of green bell peppers, and some chicken sausage together. Mixed everything and topped with scallions and feta. Ideal weeknight dinner.

This is my favorite recipe for rice - have made it at least once a month for several years. The crunchy rice is addictive. Great as a side with seafood, vegetarian or just as is out of the pot. Looks beautiful on a platter for a special dinner. I like to squeeze a little lime on top before serving and anything green like peas or parsley looks wonderful with this rice.

Not very good--didn't have a ton of flavor, and we really didn't like the crispy layer--won't make again.

Added fresh spring peas to this recipe because they were available. We doubled the recipe, being liberal with the amount of curry powder. As we used a heavy cast iron pot, didn't attempt to turn it out onto a platter, but served it right out of the pot. Very nice recipe!