What it means
دمی (dami) is a homey, one-pot way of cooking rice: you put the rice, water, and any other ingredients in the pot together, bring it down to a low simmer, wrap the lid in a towel, and let the steam finish the job. The word comes from the verb دم کردن (dam kardan), “to steam” or “to let steep,” and the noun دم (dam), which means “breath” or “steam.” It is very close to کته (kateh), the northern absorption-method rice; the main difference people feel is that dami is the everyday word for a quick, all-in-one rice meal, while چلو (chelow) and پلو (polow) involve the longer parboil-and-steam method.
How to use it
- امشب حال نداشتم، یه دمی گوجه درست کردم. (emshab hal nadashtam, ye dami goje dorost kardam.) “Tonight I didn’t have the energy, so I made a quick tomato dami.”
- دمی از پلو خیلی راحتتره. (dami az polow kheyli rahat-tare.) “Dami is much easier than polow.”
- عاشق تهدیگ دمیام. (asheghe tahdige dami-am.) “I love the crust at the bottom of dami.”
- برنجو دمی بذار، وقت نداریم. (berenjo dami bezar, vaght nadarim.) “Just do the rice as dami, we don’t have time.”
Cultural note
Dami is comfort food in Iranian homes: it is fast, forgiving, and makes a complete meal in a single pot, which is why it shows up on busy weeknights. The best-known version is دمی گوجه (dami goje), rice simmered with tomatoes, and there are many others with lentils, green beans, or herbs. Like کته (kateh), it is often seen as the casual cousin of the more formal چلو (chelow) and پلو (polow) that are served to guests. A point of pride with any dami is the تهدیگ (tahdig), the crispy golden crust that forms at the bottom of the pot.