DAMPOḴT(AK)

 

DAMPOḴT(AK), DAMĪ, terms referring to rice cooked in a single pot (cf. polow and čelow; see čelow-kabāb). Dampoḵt or damī may consist of plain rice, in which case it is sometimes called kata, or rice mixed with other ingredients, like sautéed onions, fava beans, mung beans, and seasonings. Plain damī is prepared by placing rice, water, and butter or oil in a pot and allowing it to boil until the water has been absorbed, then steaming the rice in the same pot over low heat. When other ingredients are to be included, they are either cooked first in the pot and the rice added to them, or they are added later, depending on the required cooking time.

Although this method of cooking rice was commonly used in earlier centuries, the first surviving cookbook in which the term dampoḵt appears is Sofra-ye aṭʿema, written by Mīrzā ʿAlī-Akbar Khan Āšpaz-bāšī (p. 18), chef to the Qajar ruler Nāṣer-al-Dīn Shah (1264-1313/1848-96). Āšpaz-bāšī described two kinds of dampoḵt: The first included rice, sautéed onions, fava beans, dried fruits, and seasonings; the second was similar but with the addition of bulgur. In recent years varieties of damī or dampoḵt have usually been identified by the ingredients used in them, for example, damī-e vālak (a wild herb of the genus Allium common in northern Persia), damī-e bāqelā (fava beans), and damī-e morḡ (chicken).

 

Bibliography:

Mīrzā ʿAlī-Akbar Khan Āšpaz-bāšī, Sofra-ye aṭʿema, facs. ed., Tehran, 1353 Š./1974.

F. Hekmat, The Art of Persian Cooking, Garden City, N.Y., 1961.

R. Montaẓemī, Majmūʿa-ye ḡeḏāhā-ye īrānī o farangī, Tehran, 1347 Š./1968.

M. Tehrānī, Ṭabbāḵī-e kadbānū, Tehran, 1346 S./1967.

(Mohammad R. Ghanoonparvar)

Originally Published: December 15, 1993

Last Updated: November 14, 2011

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Vol. VI, Fasc. 6, pp. 639-640