Ingredients for cooking pilaf. How to cook real pilaf: secrets and rules that you can't do without

01.12.2020

Pilaf is considered one of the most delicious and ancient dishes, its homeland is the Middle East - it was cooked there in the second century BC. The name "pilaf" means - boiled rice. For its preparation, rice, carrots, meat, as well as onions, salt and sunflower oil are usually used.

Of course, different nations prepare pilaf in different ways, however, there are a few general rules that will allow you to make this dish perfect.

How to cook a delicious pilaf:

It is necessary to cook pilaf in cast-iron cookware with straight walls and a thick bottom. Do not cook the dish in a thin-walled enamel pan.
Rice for cooking pilaf is best to use transparent varieties and medium length. The best options are Thai and Indian varieties. Rice groats are also great - they perfectly absorb fat with water.
Before you start cooking, rice must be sorted out, washed several times, and then soaked for two hours in water with the addition of salt. This is the main secret of the perfect dish - then you will get a real crumbly pilaf, and not a lumpy porridge.
Cooks advise using brisket, shoulder or back of lamb for pilaf. If you do not eat such meat, you can take beef, pork or chicken. Veal for pilaf recipes is not suitable categorically.
In the cooking process, you can use sunflower or corn oil. But, if possible, replace the oil with fat tail fat.
Seasoning for pilaf is also of great importance. The ideal spices are barberry berries, hot peppers, cumin seeds, zira and Khmeli-suneli.

The most delicious pilaf recipes

There are many recipes for cooking pilaf, in some ways they are similar, in some ways they differ from each other. Consider the classic cooking recipes using different types of meat.

Classic lamb pilaf

Ingredients:

sunflower oil - 240 ml;
rice - 900 gr;
salt - 3 teaspoons;
lamb - 650 gr;
zira - 7 gr;
carrots - 4 pcs.;
garlic - 8 cloves;
onion - 4 pcs.

How to cook:

Cut the lamb into bite-sized pieces.
Pour oil into a cauldron and heat it up.
We wait until the oil boils, and then we throw in the lamb - in this case, a crust will immediately appear on the surface of the meat, which will allow you to keep the meat juice inside. Fry until the meat is browned.
Finely chop the onion - ideally, it should be cut into very small pieces, then the onion will fry and become invisible in the finished dish.
Pour the onion to the bottom of the cauldron and simmer the food together a little.
We rub the carrots, add it to the frying, pour boiling water. Let's not forget the salt.
Lightly knead the zira in a mortar - this will reveal its aroma - and add half to the cauldron. Next, send the garlic cloves. It's not worth cleaning them up.
Simmer until the carrots are soft, then remove the garlic.
Fill the food with hot water so that it covers the food by one and a half centimeters. Boil under an open lid.
After the liquid has completely evaporated, we fall asleep rice so that a slide is obtained. We fall asleep the rest of the cumin, put the garlic back.
Make a hole in the center of the rice so you can see the bottom. This will help the couple come out.
Cover with a lid and simmer for thirty minutes.
We remove from the fire, we stand for about a quarter of an hour.

Pilaf with lamb on tail fat

Cooking pilaf using tail fat is a great idea, because it is the fat tail that helps the food become fat, golden and crumbly.

Ingredients:

lamb - 750 gr;
salt - to taste;
Khorezm rice - 2 cups;
garlic - 7 cloves;
favorite seasonings - 2 tbsp. spoons;
fat tail fat - 160 gr;
sesame oil - 110 ml;
sunflower oil - 160 gr;
onion - 320 gr;
hot pepper - 1 pod;
carrot - 370 gr.

How to cook:

Carrots should be large and juicy, rub them on a grater with straws of about 3 mm.
The onion is cut into rings.
We chop the fat into small pieces so that the fat is well rendered.
Heat the cauldron and throw the fat tail into it, fry it so that the cracklings become dry.
We remove the remnants of fat, pour in sunflower and sesame oil. Ignite.
We calcine well, spread the meat, salt and add onion rings.
Mix thoroughly and fry until golden brown.
Spread the carrots on top in an even layer - do not mix. We roast for an hour.
We fall asleep all the seasonings and unpeeled garlic.
Pour boiling water over the products to completely cover them. Simmer for about forty minutes.
Rice is placed for thirty minutes in warm salt water - this manipulation will allow the rice not to boil in the process.
We spread the rice in a layer on the carrot, and then pour it with boiling water. Pour water carefully so as not to destroy the integrity of the layer.
Cooking another fifteen minutes. After evaporation of the liquid with a spoon, we form a neat slide in the middle of the cauldron. We stick hot pepper at the top of it, cover with a bowl, simmer for half an hour.

Diet pilaf with chicken

Ingredients:

chicken fillet - 1 kg;
onions - 1 kg;
carrots - 1 kg;
rice - 850 gr;
head of garlic - 2 pcs.;
vegetable oil - 150 gr;
raisins - 50 gr;
spices for pilaf, black pepper, salt - at your discretion.

How to cook:

Wash the chicken thoroughly, dry it, cut into portions.
Pour vegetable oil into a saucepan - it must necessarily have a thick bottom.
Fry the chicken in a saucepan until golden brown.
We clean all the vegetables, chop the onion and garlic, three carrots on a medium grater.
Saute the onion and garlic in a frying pan for five minutes, add the carrots and fry the same amount more.
Thoroughly wash the rice, put it to the meat, pour the fry on top. Pour everything with boiling water, add all the seasonings and bay leaf.
We cook for thirty minutes. Periodically look at what is happening in the pan - if the water boils away too quickly, feel free to add more boiling water.

Quick pilaf in a slow cooker

If you don’t want to bother with cooking food for a long time, you can cook pilaf using a slow cooker. Its taste will not deteriorate from this, and the miracle device will save a lot of time.

Ingredients:

chicken fillet - 0.5 kg;
large carrots - 1 pc.;
garlic - 2 cloves;
bulb - 1 pc.;
rice - 260 gr;
water - 600 ml;
seasoning and salt - to taste;
any oil - 30 ml.

How to cook:

We clean and chop all the vegetables with a knife, only chop the carrots on a grater.
Chicken fillet cut into small pieces.
Fry the vegetables in a slow cooker on the “Baking” mode for ten minutes.
Add the chicken fillet and sauté all together for another fifteen minutes.
Turn off the kitchen appliances, add rice, spices, salt, pour boiling water, mix everything and cook in the “Pilaf” mode for 40-45 minutes.

Delicious pilaf with mushrooms

In order to diversify your menu and pamper your loved ones, try an unusually delicious recipe for cooking pilaf with the addition of champignons. The taste of the dish will be tender and refined.

Ingredients:

carrots - 1 pc.;
steamed rice - 120 gr;
spices - 10 gr;
champignons - 0.15 kg;
chicken meat - 0.3 kg;
salt - to taste;
bulb - 1 pc.;
vegetable oil - 70 ml;
some green onions.

How to cook:

We process and cut the onion.
Chicken meat cut into cubes.
Roughly cut the peeled fresh mushrooms.
We put the meat, mushrooms and vegetables in a pan, sauté in vegetable oil for five minutes.
Add grated carrots, salt and your favorite spices for pilaf.
We mix the products, put the washed white rice.
We continue frying for 2 minutes, then pour water, begin to simmer, while removing the fire to a minimum level.
After 20 minutes, the food will be ready. We spread it on plates and sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Pilaf with pork in a cauldron on a fire

Pilaf in a cauldron on a fire is much easier to cook than it seems at first glance. The main task is to strictly follow the instructions below and monitor the burning process of the fire. For this purpose, it is best to identify a special person who should not leave the fire.

Take care in advance of the availability of the necessary utensils for cooking - it should be a thick-walled cauldron with a ten-liter lid.

Although this recipe is not quite as simple as making pilaf at home, it will be a great substitute for a standard picnic barbecue. Even if you have too big a hungry company at a picnic, a ten-liter cauldron is enough to keep everyone full and satisfied.

Ingredients:

meat (preferably lamb, but pork or beef is also suitable) - 3 kg;
sunflower oil - 900 ml;
onions - 1.5 kg;
carrots - 2 kg;
rice - 2 kg;
water - 4 l;
garlic - 5 heads;
salt, spices, seasonings, herbs - to taste.

How to cook:

The meat should be cut into fairly large pieces. Do not be afraid - when frying, it will still decrease quite a lot in volume.
In order to start cooking pilaf, you need a very strong fire. We hang the cauldron on spacers, pour vegetable oil. After the oil is very hot, add the meat to the bowl.
After the water that has fallen into the cauldron along with the meat has evaporated, add the onion cut into half rings. Stir foods regularly. Just be careful when working with a fire - approach it from the side where the wind blows.
We put the carrots, chopped on a grater, into the cauldron as soon as the onion acquires a noble golden color. Fry a little with the addition of spices and onions. Most likely, at this moment the meat will be ready - feel free to fill it with water and bring to a rapid boil.
After that, we disassemble the fire and cover the cauldron with a lid - then the dish will be cooked on coals. Leave the cauldron closed for thirty minutes.
And now it's time for the main ingredient - add rice. Follow the basic requirement - do not mix rice with other products, it should be in an even layer on top of meat and vegetables.
We add fresh firewood to the fire and inflate it again.
After the rice, saturated with water, peeks out from under its surface, distribute the garlic cloves in the dish. They must be completely drowned in rice so that they are not visible. We close the cauldron again, put out the fire - we cook the dish on the coals.
When the rice has completely absorbed all the water, the dish is ready. Remove the vat from the spacers, let it cool for a while.

Pilaf cooked on a fire turns out deliciously fragrant, tasty and satisfying. And most importantly - the rice turns out crumbly.

Pilaf in the oven with beef

This recipe requires the use of a microwave or duck dish, as long as the dish is made of heat-resistant glass. Pilaf cooked using an oven has a special aroma, and all components are baked evenly.

Ingredients:

carrots - 1 pc.;
vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. l.;
beef meat - 0.3 kg;
garlic - 2 cloves;
onions - 2 pcs.;
bay leaf - 1 pc.;
water - 0.6-0.7 l;
ground zira - 2-3 pinches;
rice - one glass;
salt, crimson and dark pepper - to taste;
ground turmeric - 2-3 pinches.

How to cook:

We clean and chop the necessary products, fry until golden brown.
Add beef, fry for a few minutes.
We fall asleep washed rice, spices, pour water.
We bring the dish on the stove to the boiling point, then stick the cloves of garlic and send the masterpiece to the oven. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cook for about an hour, no need to stir.

Rice

This is the main stumbling block of all cooks who have ever cooked pilaf. Nevertheless, almost all of them agree that devzira rice is the best, as well as other Uzbek and Tajik varieties.

You can try to cook pilaf with other types of rice, but preferably not too starchy. And in any case, the rice should be washed well before laying (until the water is clear). This will wash away the starch dust and prevent the pilaf from sticking together. Cooks also advise soaking it in cold water for an hour or more.

By the way, instead of pilaf, you can use wheat, chickpeas, corn and mung beans. But that's a slightly different story.

Meat

Lamb is traditionally used for pilaf, but beef is also suitable. You can also use pork, although Muslim cooks are unlikely to forgive you for this. A chicken option is also possible, but it already has little in common with the classic Uzbek pilaf.

It is better to choose the meat of adult animals: it gives the necessary rich taste.

The meat must be cut into fairly large pieces, about 5 × 5 cm or a little more. You can fry meat in large, non-portioned pieces and grind it just before serving. It is believed that the larger the piece, the juicier the finished meat will be.

Vegetables

There are two main vegetables in pilaf: onions and carrots. Onions can be used. It is more difficult with carrots: in Central Asia, pilaf is often cooked with yellow carrots, but in its absence, the usual orange one is also suitable.

The main rule is not to grind. Onions are cut into rings or half rings, carrots are cut into large sticks about 5 mm thick. If you finely chop vegetables and meat, you will no longer get pilaf, but rice porridge.

Butter

For the preparation of pilaf, either odorless vegetable oil, or animal fat (tail fat), or both types together are used. At home, the easiest way to use refined sunflower oil.

No need to skimp: pilaf is a fatty dish. On average, 1 kg of rice takes about 200–250 ml of oil.

Spices

There is a lot of room for experimentation here. And yet, more or less traditional seasonings can be distinguished:

garlic (slightly peeled and laid with whole heads);
hot red pepper (laid with a whole pod);
zira;
barberry;
ground black or red pepper.

You can also add thyme, coriander, suneli hops, saffron or other spices to your taste in pilaf. The easiest way is to use a ready-made seasoning mix.

Other Ingredients

In addition to the components listed above, pre-soaked chickpeas and dried fruits are often added to pilaf.

What dishes to choose

A cauldron, a cauldron and another cauldron. With thick walls. In it, the meat does not stick, and the rice cooks evenly and remains crumbly. It is best to use a cast-iron cauldron (especially if you cook pilaf on a fire), but aluminum will do.

A duck can be a good substitute for a cauldron. But a saucepan, a deep frying pan, a wok and other kitchen utensils will not give the desired effect, no matter how much you want it.

The basic principle of pilaf is as follows: first, zirvak is prepared (meat and vegetables fried in oil with spices and broth), and then rice is poured on top.

The standard proportion for pilaf is equal parts of rice, meat and carrots. The number of onions may vary, but be at least 1-2 heads. The same with garlic.

Heat up the pot and pour the oil into it. It should warm up well so that later the ingredients can brown quickly.

Next, the onion or meat is fried. If you are cooking pilaf with a lot of onions, you can fry the meat first. Spread it into the cauldron gradually so as not to bring down the temperature, and do not turn over immediately - otherwise it may begin to release juice.

Onions need to be fried until golden brown so that the finished broth gives color to the rice.

Tveda.ru

When the meat and onions are fried, carrots are laid. It is fried for several minutes until softened.

tveda.ru

Then all the ingredients are poured with hot water. It should cover the meat by 1-2 cm. Garlic, red pepper pod, spices and other ingredients are put next. Everything is salted to taste (or a little more salt is added than you like: the rice will absorb it) and cooked over moderate heat for at least 40 minutes until the meat is tender.

tveda.ru

After the zirvak is cooked, rice is laid. It is better to do this with a slotted spoon to distribute the rice evenly. From above it can be flavored with a couple of pinches of cumin - for flavor.

Rice is drowned in the broth (if necessary, more hot water is added through a slotted spoon so that it covers the dish a little) and stewed open until the water is completely absorbed (about 20 minutes). Then the fire is turned off (if the pilaf is cooked on a fire, then by this moment the firewood should simply smolder), the cauldron is covered with a lid and the rice is left to steam for about 15-20 minutes.
After laying the rice, the cauldron is immediately closed with a lid and the contents are stewed for about half an hour at minimum heat, and then for about 10 minutes it comes without fire.

When the fire is turned off, wrap the lid with a towel: it will absorb the condensation and prevent it from getting into the dish.

Garlic and pepper are removed from the finished pilaf. If large pieces of meat were used for cooking, then they are also taken out, cut and spread on top of the mixed pilaf. If small pieces were used, you can mix the pilaf with them.

Pilaf is traditionally served on a large plate and topped with a head of garlic. This dish goes best with fresh vegetables.

tveda.ru

Do you know other secrets of cooking pilaf? Share them in the comments.

Proper cooking of pilaf at home is quite difficult. Not everyone has a cauldron, and not everyone can afford to cook outdoors. But still…

Cooking pilaf - theory and practice

(This long introduction can be omitted, immediately starting to view and cook the pilaf recipe, in which EVERYTHING IS CLEAR. However, the introduction describes important details about real pilaf, which will certainly come in handy ...)

When talking about pilaf, almost everyone has in mind the Uzbek version of this dish. Despite the fact that there are quite a few variants of pilaf, the Uzbek one is still considered the most, real, correct, authentic. This is the same pilaf that is laid out on a large dish in a slide, large pieces of meat are laid out around, and in the center there is a head of garlic stewed right in the husk. This pilaf is so crumbly, fragrant, bright sunny color. And the most amazing thing is that it does not need a large set of products, but some knowledge is needed ...

Rice for pilaf

The most important part of cooking Uzbek, or rather, Ferghana pilaf is the choice of rice. So, rice called dev-zira growing in the Ferghana Valley. This rice is firm, low in starch, and is able to absorb a lot of water and oil while remaining crumbly. Rice varieties such as chungara, dastar-saryk, bark-koltak, bugday-gurunch, arpa-sholi, koniligi. But it is highly likely that such rice will not be found, then choose Spanish varieties of rice “for paella”. If they are not there, basmati remains - this is wrong, but still better than “Krasnodar” or “for risotto”. Basmati is a relatively non-starchy rice. The only caveat is that it cooks much faster than “flat” varieties - only 10 minutes. Rice varieties that contain a lot of starch are categorically not suitable for cooking pilaf - with them, pilaf will never turn out crumbly. Before cooking pilaf, rice must be soaked in slightly warm water for an hour and a half, after which it is washed in several waters.

Zirvak - non-cereal part of pilaf

As for meat, the traditional pilaf is made from lamb, but it also turns out very tasty from other meat. At home, lamb chicken is more popular - we will cook from it. The proportion of dry rice and meat for pilaf is one to one.

For cooking pilaf, they take quite a lot of carrots.. Carrots need one that retains its shape during stewing and does not fall apart, it must be cut into strips. Onion is also often added to pilaf - it gives the dish flavor.

Zira is considered the most important spice for pilaf.. In addition to zira, not very many spices are added - usually hot peppers, a head of garlic, barberry. Bay leaves are not put in pilaf.

Proper utensils for pilaf

Important is the choice of dishes for cooking pilaf. Ideally it should be cauldron. But, you see, not everyone has such dishes at home. And therefore, you can cook pilaf in a wok, a deep frying pan or a saucepan with thick walls.

A few words about pilaf technology

Rice cooking technology can seem confusing for a beginner. But once you cook pilaf a couple of times, and you will already do it without too much fuss. So, all the ingredients must be prepared in advance. Then the oil is heated, in which vegetables and meat will be fried.

When the zirvak is ready, spices are introduced and rice is added. But this is not the end: as soon as the rice is stewed, the process of cooking pilaf will continue: the pilaf is covered with a lid and allowed to ripen for half an hour, or even better - an hour. Only after that you will get that magical and unique dish, which can be called “the right pilaf”.

Cooking time: about 2 hours

Ingredients

400 grams of rice (basmati)
400-500 grams of chicken meat
300 grams of carrots
1 large onion
1 whole head of garlic
75 ml refined vegetable oil
a set of spices for pilaf, which includes cumin, red hot pepper and barberry
salt, black pepper - to taste

Cooking

Large photos Small photos

First of all, soak the rice in slightly warm water (45-50 degrees).

Now cut all the rest of the ingredients. Onion cut into half rings.

Cut the meat into large pieces.

Peel the carrots and chop into strips.

Now you can start cooking. To begin with, pour the vegetable oil into the dishes and heat the oil over a fairly high heat - white smoke should start to come from it.

Gently fold the onion into the hot oil. You need to constantly stir the onion so that it cooks evenly. In just a couple of minutes, it should turn rosy.

At this point, send meat to the dishes.

It should also start to crust.

As soon as this happens, send the carrots to the dishes. Stir the contents, but do it very delicately and affectionately.

Fry everything for 5 minutes, then pour in 500 ml of water and add a whole head of garlic. This is the beginning of the final stage of the preparation of zirvak. Let it boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer the zirvak for 30 minutes.

After this time, remove the garlic and add salt and spices to the zirvak.

And then send the washed rice. Rice should not float in a large amount of liquid, otherwise the pilaf will not turn out crumbly.
As soon as you add rice, the fire should be reduced to a minimum, but so that the liquid still boils a little.

Another trick: so that the rice does not burn during cooking, stir it as if from above, without touching the meat and vegetables at the bottom, with light stroking movements.
After 10 minutes, when the rice is almost ready, form a hill out of it, put the head of garlic in the center, which was stewed in zirvak before.

Then cover the dishes with a tight lid, turn off the heat and leave to ripen for at least half an hour.
And when the pilaf is finally ready, take out the garlic and all the pieces of meat, and fluff the rice itself with a slotted spoon or spatula so that it becomes airy and light.

Place a pile of rice on a large dish, garnish its top with garlic, and arrange the meat nicely around. You can only supplement it with a vegetable salad and a cup of green tea - that's the whole feast. Bon Appetit!

Housewives who cannot boast of any experience in cooking pilaf often get rice porridge filled with a whole mass of sticky lumps, but not a traditional Uzbek dish. When this happens every time, all sorts of experiments begin. Cooking enthusiasts use different types of rice, certain types of meat, try to follow the advice of friends. Quite often, the results of such actions are deplorable, which makes you give up.

How to cook crumbly pilaf? What recipes should be adopted? We invite you to learn about this by reading the practical recommendations presented in our publication.

About the choice of dishes

How to cook pilaf? It is difficult to achieve the expected results using the first pot that comes across, which has a thin bottom and walls. Following proven solutions, it is worth using a cast-iron cauldron. The latter is better to put not on the stove, but on an open fire. If it is not possible to cook outdoors, you can choose the first option. The main thing is that the dishes correspond to the canon. Suitable here is not only a cauldron, but also a capacious cast iron pan or a deep duckling.

The above samples of containers have specific qualities. The main property is the ability to retain heat inside, uniform temperature distribution. Ready pilaf is not taken in lumps. The meat comes out as juicy and soft as possible.

What kind of meat is better to give preference?

How to cook delicious pilaf? To achieve the traditional taste, lamb should be used. However, there are many noteworthy recipes that allow the use of beef, poultry and pork. If you plan to get a classic, spicy taste, lamb should be preferred.

It is recommended to choose meat obtained from the shoulder blade or brisket. The flesh of the femur is also suitable. You can add meaty ribs. Pronounced hardness of the product is not a problem. Due to the languishing of the meat on the fire, the product will definitely soften.

How to cook rice for pilaf?

Nowadays, there are an impressive number of individual varieties of rice available to lovers of cooking. You can use traditional Uzbek and Tajik varieties. We are talking about groats of the category Alanga, Devzira, scalded, kenja. Good solutions - Mexican, Arabic, Italian rice.

When choosing the basis for the preparation of pilaf, the nature of the product should be of decisive importance. It is better to use long-grained varieties. It is desirable that the indicators of the starch content are at the lowest level. Cooking masters advise pre-soaking rice. It is recommended to wash the grains and drain the water 6-8 times. Such actions ensure the removal of excess starch from the structure of the product. As a result, the risk of grain sticking will be minimized.

Fat or vegetable oil?

During cooking, you can use vegetable oil or animal fat. The final decision always rests with the chef. The use of an extremely limited amount of the ingredient will make the finished dish dry. Therefore, it is better to make pilaf fatty. Refined oil does not have a pronounced taste and aroma. On the contrary, animal fat will bring specific shades to the character of pilaf, which will not appeal to every consumer.

A few words about spices

The classic recipe involves the use of zira, cumin, barberry and hot pepper as seasonings for pilaf. These spices have a bright, spicy aroma, giving the dish a moderate spiciness and perfectly complementing the meat component. Garlic, thyme, suneli hops, saffron will serve as a good addition to such a composition. It is recommended to put the garlic in the whole pilaf, having previously cleaned the head from the husk.

Fried pork pilaf

According to cultural beliefs, Muslims never use pork as an ingredient in pilaf. If there are no such restrictions in the family, you should use the recipe, which will be discussed later.

How to cook pork pilaf? The following set of ingredients should be used:

Pork pulp - 500 grams.
Long grain rice - 1 kg.
Sunflower oil - half a glass.
Onions - 4-5 pieces.
Large carrots - 3-4 pieces.
Garlic - 2 heads.
Black pepper, bay leaf, salt, turmeric - to taste.

Meat, rice and vegetables are taken in approximately equal proportions. In this case, the dish will turn out to be balanced in all respects and will give a rich taste. Cooking must be done in a deep cauldron.

So, how to cook pork pilaf? Rice is washed several times first. The water should become clear, which will tell you about the high-quality leaching of starch. Carrots and onions are peeled. Vegetables are rinsed and then chopped. Carrots are cut into thin strips, and onions are cut into half rings. Pork is soaked in water, dried and divided into pieces of medium size.

Half the norm of vegetable oil is poured into a pan, and then heated until the first bubbles form. Prepared pork is placed here. The meat is fried until a light brown crust appears. The product is sent to the cauldron. Add oil to the frying pan and place onion and carrot slices. Vegetables do not need to be fried. It is enough to soften them a little. The ingredient is also moved to the cauldron. Then everything is seasoned together with a mixture of spices.

Strained rice is laid in an even layer on the meat, mixed with vegetables. Inside the cauldron, water is slowly poured along the wall of the container. The liquid should cover the cereal by a few centimeters. They make a big fire on the stove. When the water boils, the flame level is set to minimum. The pilaf is covered with a lid.

Cooking continues for half an hour. Then the cauldron is removed from the fire. Garlic is stuck into the pilaf. The container is again covered with a lid and wrapped in a warm blanket. The dish is allowed to reach the condition.

Pilaf with chicken meat

The recipe should be used by those who want to enjoy a tasty and fragrant, but at the same time quite light in content dish. How to cook pilaf using poultry as a meat ingredient? As in the previous case, first we note the necessary ingredients:

Chicken fillet - 400 grams.
Long steamed rice - one and a half cups.
Onions - 2 pieces.
Carrots of medium size - 2-3 pieces.
Sunflower oil in an amount sufficient for high-quality frying of the ingredients.
Garlic - 1 head.
Special seasoning for pilaf.

How to cook chicken pilaf? Rice is washed with starch under running water. The bird fillet is cut into moderately small pieces. Clean, wash and cut vegetables. You can grind carrots on a grater. Onions should be cut into half rings.

The bottom of the cauldron is covered with vegetable oil. A mixture of meat and vegetables is placed here. The ingredients are fried directly in the container over low heat. Pre-heat treatment is carried out until the products get a slight golden hue.

How to cook pilaf in a cauldron? Pour a small amount of water into the container. A mixture of meat and vegetables is slightly dried, salted and spices are added. Washed and strained rice is laid on top. The groats are leveled and a series of holes are made inside. Cooking is carried out on medium heat. When the liquid does not remain on the surface of the rice, stick the garlic cloves.

Pilaf is left to languish under the lid for 5-10 minutes. This time is enough for the rice to absorb the residual moisture and become crumbly. At the end, the dish can be mixed and resorted to tasting.

How to cook Uzbek pilaf?

The dish will turn out worthy of the highest praise if you resort to using the traditional Uzbek recipe. If everything is done correctly, there will be no hint of the presence of rice lumps. Pilaf will come out extremely fragrant and crumbly.

How to cook pilaf according to the Uzbek recipe? You need to use the following set of ingredients:

Lamb - 500 grams.
Large carrots - 3-4 pieces.
Large onion - 4 pieces.
Long rice - 500 grams.
Vegetable oil - about 150-200 grams.
Head of garlic.
A mixture of spices: zira, thyme, cumin, barberry, saffron.

The rice is washed several times and then left to soak in cold water. The lamb is cut into medium pieces. Vegetables are cleaned and washed. The onion is cut into large cubes. Carrots are crushed into strips.

Vegetable oil is heated in a frying pan. Meat is placed here and fried until a blush appears. Add a mixture of vegetables and spices. Roasting is continued for another 5 minutes.

The contents of the pan are sent to the cauldron. Rice is laid on top and a few teaspoons of salt are added. Rice is carefully poured with water. The container is sent to the stove, setting a medium fire. After boiling, the cauldron is covered with a lid. The flame is reduced and the pilaf is left to cook for 20 minutes. Then the dish is left to infuse for a quarter of an hour.

Once again, let's return to the question of how to properly cook crumbly pilaf? So that the finished dish never disappoints with its qualities, it is enough to pay attention to the following points:

Products must be added in a specific order. The best solution is to pre-fry the meat ingredients with onions. Chopped carrots are also added here. The mixture of ingredients is seasoned with spices, and then placed in a container that will be used to cook pilaf. Everything is poured with hot water so that the liquid level is at least 2-3 cm above the meat layer.
Putting rice in a container, do not mix it. It is recommended to carefully level the surface of the cereal and place the head of garlic inside.
In the process of cooking, rice should not be boiled, but slowly steamed, languishing over moderate heat. To achieve uniform cooking of cereals, it is worth making a series of holes on the surface with a wooden stick. Through such holes, it will be easier for a couple to rise up.
Rice should be covered during cooking. The latter can be raised briefly to make up for the lack of water in the tank.
After the dish has reached full readiness, it is important not to remove the lid for the next 10-15 minutes. Pilaf must be removed from the fire and let it brew. Otherwise, unwanted lumps may form.

Cooking pilaf in a slow cooker

If desired, you can cook a dish using a modern solution. How to cook pilaf in a slow cooker? The features here are identical to the specifics of cooking a dish using a cauldron. The main thing is that the multicooker has a special “Pilaf” mode. It remains only to prepare meat and vegetable frying, based on the advice from our article. Then it is enough to put the ingredients in the container of the device, add rice, pour water and set the desired mode. A "reasonable" device will do everything on its own.

Finally

The recipes discussed in our publication have some specific differences. At the same time, regardless of the option chosen, strict adherence to the recommendations allows you to achieve the canonical taste and make the rice crumbly. As for the use of spices, there is room for experimentation. Do not be afraid to use different combinations of seasonings. After all, this is the only way to achieve a taste that will fully satisfy individual preferences.

Rice is such an ancient grain crop that it is impossible to determine with accuracy where and when the most successful dish from this cereal was first prepared. We are talking, of course, about pilaf. It is believed that its prototypes first appeared in China and the Middle East, but the recipe itself was perfected to the ideal only after it got to Central Asia.

Now real plov is identified with the Uzbek, because it was in the Uzbek cuisine that its preparation was brought to the ideal. We will reveal to you pilaf cooking secrets, without the knowledge of which no cook will make it the way it should be.

How to cook pilaf

What is the secret of the popularity of pilaf? Complete self-sufficiency! No garnish, no sauce, not even a salad is required for it. Everything you need is already in the finished dish, also in the best possible way.

Determining that pilaf is really good is very simple. He must be ideal thickness and density- not porridge, but not hard. Friability plays a special role: whole grains of rice are easily separated from each other due to the fact that each is evenly oiled. You can achieve this by following five simple rules.

1. Variety of rice

First of all, about the most important thing - about rice. Rice for pilaf should be of the “devzira” variety if we are preparing a traditional Uzbek dish. This does not mean that only he is suitable for him, but the Uzbeks knew exactly what to choose.

"Devzira" is considered the best variety. It is easy to recognize: a pinkish tint, a characteristic dark stripe on a large grain. This product only gets better with time, so it is specially aged for two to three years. It absorbs oil and water like no other variety.

There are similar varieties. For instance, "chungara"(white, starchy, but no less tasty) is more suitable for Ferghana pilaf. Variety "lazar"(also white, but cheaper and more accessible) is ideal for Samarkand pilaf.

2. Choice of meat

The so-called pilaf is cooked with everything: with chicken, beef, pork and even fish. It can be called paella, but not the dish in question. Remember: meat for pilaf one is lamb.

3. Preparation of ingredients

Not only meat is important, but also fat, which must be cut off before cooking and used to fry onions. Traditional pilaf is cooked on a mixture of vegetable oil with fat tail- sheep fat.

Carrots, which must be yellow, cut into thick chips, not straws. Too thinly sliced (grated) carrots will boil quickly, but we don’t need this.

With chopping onions, too, do not be zealous. Thin slices are more likely to burn, which looks ugly and tastes so-so.

Many add seasoning at their discretion, but in Uzbek pilaf there must be turmeric, zira and garlic. Without them, the taste is completely different. Also add barberry and, of course, salt. There should be a lot of salt, rice takes it well.

4. Sequence and technology of preparation

First, in a cauldron, and this should be a cauldron, they melt the fat. Vegetable oil is added to it (at least sunflower, at least sesame - any). Next, fry the onion. The stronger you fry it, the darker the pilaf will be, so wedding pilaf is cooked completely without onions.

Then spread the meat in an even layer and fry until half cooked with constant stirring. As soon as it is reddened, cover it with chopped carrots and keep on fire, stirring constantly, until the carrots begin to bend. Now fill the contents of the cauldron with boiling water and cook for forty minutes to an hour with a tail. The resulting broth is called zirvak, and he is the basis of pilaf.

When the zirvak is ready, throw in salt, zira, barberry and, peeled, but whole, a head of garlic (from one to three). Boil for another 15 minutes. Now you can add rice. Zirvak should cover it by one to one and a half centimeters, so keep spare boiling water always at hand.

When the water begins to evaporate rapidly, cover the cauldron with a lid. Big fans of Uzbek rice say that it is not worth mixing it, but in some cases the grains are boiled at the bottom, watch this. Pilaf is cooked under the lid for 25 minutes.

Cooking pilaf- the process is laborious, it takes one and a half to two hours, but it is cooked in large quantities, and in the field this dish has no equal. And yet, the choice of rice remains the main thing in pilaf, especially if it is “devzira”.

Unscrupulous sellers sometimes slip rice tinted with brick dust. Pay attention to its density: "devzira" is heavy. In addition, the grains creak slightly if crushed in the hand.