Chelo - special persian rice

Working from recipe in "Seductions of Rice" by Alford and Duguid (Use half recipe and some simplifications and modifications)

Soak 1.25 cups basmati rice in water for >15 min
Bring salted water to boil (5-6 cups?)
Drain rice and transfer into the boiling water
Bring back to a boil, keep at #4 on the stove
Taste after 2 min, frequently afterwards, until rice is "partially done" (~4-5 min)
(I take this to mean not crunchy in the center)
Drain the rice in the strainer (which I specifically bought for this purpose)
Put strainer back into pot and fill with cold water to stop / slow down cooking
Melt 1.5 tablespoon butter in the special pot (specifically chosen for this purpose) at #3 heat
Put about 1 cup of rice into a bowl, mix with 1 egg and ~1.5 tablespoons yogurt
After the butter has melted and starts to bubble, spread the rice mixture on the bottom of the pot
Dump in the rest of rice over the bottom mixture and level it off
Put on dish towel then pot cover; cook at #3
After 5-10 minutes, it started to smell "eggy" to me - in past, it didn't smell like anything or it smelled like it was burning
Take off heat at 30 min; since this was almost starting to burn, maybe it can be taken off at 25 or 20 min. Or possibly switch to #2 heat halfway.
Put pot into sink with about 1" cold water; lift pot up and down to get good heat transfer to water
After 1 min, this is the moment of truth - take off the pot cover and turn over the rice
Today's result (October 2, 2004)