Traditional cooking of pilaf is a whole ritual in which there is no place for haste. But a fire, a cauldron, a long-simmering zirvak - such luxury is available only on holidays, on special occasions.
And the daily realities of life force us to come up with less time-consuming options for preparing pilaf. So how to make delicious pilaf in a hurry? Feelgood opens the curtain on the world of fast cooking.
Method one: separate pilaf
Traditional pilaf involves cooking meat, rice and zirvak in one vessel. But if you cook the main ingredients separately, you can save a lot of time! While the rice is cooking on one burner, you can fry meat and vegetables on the next one. The already prepared rice must be thrown into a colander, allowed to drain and added to the container where the almost finished meat and vegetables are simmering. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, keep on medium heat for another 5 minutes and the dish is ready. You can safely serve it!
Cooking time for separate pilaf is 25 minutes. And this is the fastest recipe from FeelGood's arsenal.
Method two: with poultry
Everyone knows that cooking chicken or turkey takes much less time than tougher lamb or beef. Someone will say, what kind of pilaf with poultry is this? But FeelGood would like to remind its readers: the main ingredient in pilaf is rice, not meat. And if you choose the right variety, then it doesn’t matter what ingredients you supplement it with.
So, it’s better to cook pilaf with poultry from traditional Devzira pilaf rice. Why is it necessary to use Devzira rice for pilaf:
It perfectly absorbs fat, water and spices;
Always crumbly and velvety after cooking;
Increases several times after cooking;
Thanks to its creamy-brown powder, it has a unique taste and malt aroma.
You will need 0.5 kg of devzir rice and the same amount of chicken (or turkey) fillet. While the rice is soaked, start frying the meat pieces with traditional vegetables and spices. Then drain the rice, rinse thoroughly and add it to the container with zirvak. Fill with water so that it rises 1 cm above the level of the rice. Cook until the liquid has evaporated.
Cooking time for pilaf with poultry meat is 40 minutes.
Method three: lazy pilaf
Another way to save time on cooking pilaf is to use minced meat instead of meat. Please note that FeelGood does not offer any compromises when choosing and preparing rice. Since such experiments can result in the preparation of sticky, undercooked porridge. In order for pilaf to remain pilaf - a crumbly, aromatic oriental dish, it is important to follow all the rules for choosing and preparing rice. But you can experiment with meat.
Let's return to the recipe for pilaf with minced meat.
Soak the rice in water for half an hour. During this time, we sauté onions and grated carrots in sunflower oil. Add a spoonful of tomato paste, 100 grams of water and simmer everything together for a little while.
Wash Devzira rice from TM “Zhmenka” thoroughly several times until the water is clear, then drain it. Mix rice with stewed vegetables.
Then, in a thick-walled saucepan or casserole dish, place layers of rice - minced meat, rice - minced meat. Pour boiling water in a ratio of 1:1. We put it on the fire and, when it boils, add a few cloves of chopped garlic, salt, pepper and spices that you like. Now you can stir everything and reduce the heat. Cover with a lid and cook until done. After turning off the heat, let the pilaf stand covered for a while. All remaining moisture will be completely absorbed into the rice. So the lazy pilaf is ready! Just as crumbly as real pilaf with meat. Bon appetit!
Proper preparation of pilaf at home is quite difficult. Not everyone has a cauldron, and not everyone can afford to cook in the fresh air. But still…
Cooking pilaf - theory and practice
(You can skip this long introduction and immediately start viewing and preparing the recipe for pilaf, in which EVERYTHING IS CLEAR. However, the introduction describes important details about real pilaf, which will certainly come in handy...)
When the conversation turns to pilaf, almost everyone has in mind the Uzbek version of this dish. Despite the fact that there are quite a few varieties of pilaf, the Uzbek one is still considered the most, real, correct, and authentic. This is the same pilaf that is laid out in a heap on a large dish, large pieces of meat are laid out around it, and in the center there is a head of garlic, stewed right in the husk. This pilaf is so crumbly, aromatic, and has a bright sunny color. And the most amazing thing is that it does not require a large set of products, but it does require some knowledge...
Rice for pilaf
The most important part of preparing Uzbek, or more precisely, Fergana pilaf is the choice of rice. So, rice called dev-zira, growing in the Fergana Valley. This rice is firm, low in starch, and able to absorb a lot of water and oil while remaining fluffy. Also suitable are rice varieties such as chungara, dastar-saryk, kora-koltak, bugday-gurunch, arpa-sholi, konilig. But there is a high probability that you will not be able to find such rice, 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 the “pilaf” varieties - only 10 minutes. Rice varieties that contain a lot of starch are absolutely not suitable for preparing pilaf - with them the pilaf will never turn out crumbly. Before preparing 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, traditional pilaf is made from lamb, but other meats also turn out very tasty. At home, chicken is more popular than lamb - we’ll cook it from it. The proportion of dry rice and meat for pilaf is one to one.
To prepare pilaf, you take quite a lot of carrots.. You need carrots that retain their shape during stewing and do not fall apart; they must be cut into strips. Onions are also often added to pilaf - it adds flavor to the dish.
The most important spice for pilaf is cumin.. In addition to cumin, not many spices are added - usually hot pepper, a head of garlic, and barberry. Bay leaves are not placed in pilaf.
The right utensils for pilaf
The choice of utensils for preparing pilaf is important. Ideally, this should be a cauldron. But, you must admit, not everyone has such dishes at home. Therefore, you can cook pilaf in a wok, deep frying pan or pan with thick walls.
A few words about pilaf technology
Rice cooking techniques may seem confusing to a beginner. But once you cook the pilaf a couple of times, you’ll be able to do it without too much fuss. So, all the ingredients need to be prepared in advance. Then the oil is heated, in which the 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 preparing the 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 this you will receive that magical and unique dish that can be called “proper pilaf”.
Cooking time: about 2 hours
Ingredients
- 400 grams 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 contains cumin, red hot pepper and barberry
- salt, black pepper - to taste
Preparation
First of all, soak the rice in slightly warm water (45-50 degrees).
Now chop all the other ingredients. Cut the onion into half rings.
Cut the meat into large pieces.
Peel the carrots and chop into strips.
Now you can start cooking. To begin, pour the vegetable oil into a bowl and heat the oil over fairly high heat - white smoke should start coming out of it.
Carefully place the onion into the hot oil. It is necessary to constantly stir the onions so that they fry evenly. In just a couple of minutes it should turn rosy.
At this point, place the meat in the dish.
It should also begin to crust.
As soon as this happens, place the carrots in the dish. Stir the contents, but do it very delicately and gently.
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 preparing 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 the rice, the heat should be reduced to minimum, but so that the liquid is still bubbling a little.
Another trick: to prevent the rice from burning 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 mound out of it and place the head of garlic in the center, which was stewed in zirvak earlier.
Then cover the dish with a tight lid, turn off the heat and leave to simmer 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 using a slotted spoon or spatula so that it becomes airy and light.
Place a mound of rice on a large dish, decorate the top with garlic, and arrange the meat beautifully around it. You can only supplement it with a vegetable salad and a cup of green tea - that’s the whole feast. Bon appetit!
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Pilaf is not just a dish. This is a philosophy that every nation has its own. Therefore, despite all the common ingredients, Uzbek pilaf differs from Tajik, and it can also be prepared in Azerbaijani, Bukhara, it can be with poultry, meat and even dried fruits. We will tell you how to prepare pilaf according to all the rules, as well as adapt ancient national recipes for cooking under the conditions and using products of traditional Russian cuisine.
You should start with this type of pilaf, since it can be considered a classic example, and is also extremely common both in any cafes with an Uzbek bias, and in Russian kitchens in general.
So, Uzbek pilaf (it is also often called Fergana pilaf) is prepared in such a way that the rice turns out crumbly, and rice does not stick to rice. How to achieve this?
As the famous culinary specialist and expert on national cuisine Stalik Khadzhiev assures, the volume of products is calculated based on the availability of rice.
Although an experienced cook usually does everything by eye, there is an exact recipe for Fergana pilaf:
- 1 kg of rice;
- 350 g unsalted lard;
- 800 g meat;
- 800 g carrots;
- 150 g onions.
Important! If you want to cook real, even authentic Fergana pilaf, then look for yellow carrots, which you combine with a regular orange vegetable in a ratio of one to three. It roasts beautifully and looks good in the finished dish. If there are no yellow ones, then take the entire volume of regular carrots.
This pilaf is prepared in a cauldron, but in your home kitchen you can use a thick-walled cast iron pan. A duck dish will also do.
Preparation:
- Melt lard in a thick-walled cast-iron pan or cauldron over low heat.
- Heat it well and put in a couple of pieces of chopped meat. (For Uzbek pilaf it is cut into small pieces so that it fits in the mouth for one bite).
- After a minute, these pieces will fry well in hot oil, imparting the aroma of meat to the fat. Now they need to be taken out for now.
- Next, add the onion, cut into half rings, into the fat and fry over high heat until the water evaporates. After this, add the rest of the meat, add salt and lay out some of the carrots cut into cubes - first yellow. Salt it too and sprinkle with cumin (cumin is a mandatory ingredient in Uzbek pilaf).
- As soon as the carrots begin to fry, add the rest of them and mix everything. Let it fry a little. Next add the remaining vegetables and spices. In general, everything except rice, including those pieces of meat that were fried first.
- Salt again, add a small pod of hot pepper, and also add a teaspoon of barberry, it will add the necessary sourness.
- Carefully pour hot boiled water along the edge of the cauldron or duckling pan, covering the meat and vegetables with it. Then, cover with a lid, leave for 40 minutes on the lowest heat.
- While zirvak is preparing (this is the name of this seasoning for rice, it is the same for all kitchens where pilaf is prepared), wash the rice. It is better to do this under running water to wash off the flour. If you don't wash it off, you won't get crumbly pilaf.
- Place clean rice in a zirvak with a slotted spoon, add salt at the rate of 1 tbsp. a level spoonful of salt per kilogram of rice.
- Place a washed whole head of garlic in the rice.
- Pour boiling water so that the water covers the rice on your finger.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover the pan with a lid and wait for the water to evaporate. When the rice is almost ready, turn off the heat, cover the pan or cauldron with a warm towel or blanket and leave for another hour.
- Open the lid, place in an Uzbek flat plate, place a salad of thinly sliced tomatoes with onions next to it and enjoy!
Crumbly pilaf in a cauldron
In principle, the previous recipe is also suitable for a cauldron. All components of the dish are taken in the same proportions and prepared in the same sequence. The only difference is that the almost finished pilaf is covered with a lid, and after that the fire under the cauldron is completely extinguished. But the cauldron remains lying on the bricks of the oven; the bricks give off their heat to the rice layer, bringing it to condition. The lid of the cauldron is covered with a blanket and therefore itself is an additional source of heat. In this form, the pilaf arrives and turns out well stewed - almost as if you were cooking it in a Russian oven.
In Azerbaijani
The difference between Azerbaijani pilaf and Uzbek pilaf is that the meat in it is cooked separately from the rice, and a special flatbread called gazmakh is used to prepare the rice part.
Here's how pilaf is prepared in Azerbaijan:
- Select products - 700 g of lamb, 200 g of pumpkin, five onions, 100 g of ghee, half a pomegranate, half a glass of raisins, a little water, turmeric and salt to taste. You also need to take an egg and 220 g of flour for the flatbread dough.
- We deliberately do not indicate the dosage of rice - it is cooked separately, so you can take it at your own discretion. We wash it under running water or changing the water several times. Place in salted boiling water and cook until almost done. After that, fold it back and rinse with cold water.
- We make gazmah: add an egg and very cold water to the flour, knead a very stiff dough. Roll it out into a thin cake.
- We spread the cake along the walls and bottom of the cauldron.
- Place half of the rice on the flatbread.
- Tint the second part of the rice yellow, mixing it with turmeric diluted in a spoonful of ghee and a teaspoon of boiling water (take a pinch of turmeric).
- Pour melted butter over the first part of the rice, place yellow rice on top, cover the cauldron with a lid and simmer a little more on low heat until cooked.
- Meanwhile, in a thick-walled saucepan or frying pan, fry the pieces of lamb in oil or own fat. Once browned, add finely chopped pumpkin and onion, pour in pomegranate juice, add raisins, mix everything, add salt and, after pouring in half a glass of boiling water, keep for half an hour covered over low heat.
- When all parts of the pilaf are ready, place rice on a large round dish, meat and vegetables on top of it, decorate everything with pomegranate seeds and immediately place the gazmah - break the flatbread with your hands.
If you're wary of unconventional flavors, you can skip the pumpkin.
Tajik pilaf with lamb
The main ingredients in this pilaf are traditional: rice, onions and carrots. But the meat is only lamb. In addition, Tajik pilaf is prepared from special rice - this red grain is called devzira, it is the best and highest quality of all “pilaf” types. However, you can also make quite good Tajik pilaf from ordinary Krasnodar short-grain rice.
The peculiarity of the preparation is that first, onion (2 heads) cut into half rings is fried in vegetable oil, achieving deep frying, then meat (600 g) is added. It is also fried to a noticeable crust. After this, add carrots in sticks (600 g), fry again and then pour in half a liter of boiling water. The meat should be half-cooked, then add rice (600g) soaked in salted water and pour boiling water over it so that the water slightly covers the surface. Spices - cumin and garlic. Under the lid, the pilaf is cooked for another half hour.
How to cook pilaf - basic recipe with pork
If there is no cauldron on an open fire, lamb and barberry, this does not mean that you will not get delicious pilaf for dinner. The basic recipe that always turns out is pork pilaf. It is prepared quickly and simply; it requires 400 g of meat in pieces, a couple of large onions and carrots, 2 cups of rice and five glasses of water. And also salt, bay leaf, a few cloves of garlic, a pinch of cumin and a few peas of allspice.
You need to take enough vegetable oil to fry the meat. After quickly frying the pieces, add the onion. Reducing the heat slightly, fry it and add the carrots. After frying the carrots a little, pour in a glass of water and simmer for about ten minutes under the lid. Put some spices and salt. The broth should be slightly salted - later the rice will absorb the salt. Next is washed rice. Fill it with water through a slotted spoon at the rate of twice as many glasses of water for 2 cups of rice. Bring to a vigorous boil, add the garlic cloves, reduce the heat to low and leave to simmer under the lid for 40 minutes. Then turn off the heat and wait the same amount of time for the rice to cook.
How to properly cook pilaf with chicken?
In the same way, you can use chicken instead of pork. You can cook chicken pilaf even faster, because it takes very little time to stew the meat and vegetables. You need to fry medium pieces of chicken in oil and add salt. Separately, fry finely chopped onion and a little garlic, add grated carrots, simmer for a little while and add to the meat. Sprinkle washed rice, bay leaves, peppercorns on top, salt thoroughly again and pour boiling water over it. Cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes until the rice is soft. If necessary, you can add boiling water.
The recipe below is for 4 servings:
- Cut 250 g of any meat into small pieces, chop 1 carrot into bars, and chop an onion into cubes;
- Pour steam into the open multicooker. spoons of vegetable oil, set the frying program with a time of 25 minutes;
- When the oil heats up, add the meat one piece at a time. There is no need to put everything in at once, otherwise it will not fry, but will be stewed;
- After 10 minutes, add carrots and onions;
- When the frying is over, add salt, spices for pilaf, a couple of cloves of garlic, and place washed rice on top;
- Pour about half a liter of boiling water (the water should cover the rice a little, one and a half to two cm);
- Set up the program “Pilaf”;
- When the task is completed, open the lid, stick in a couple of fresh cloves of garlic, pierce the rice to the bottom with a wooden stick and leave the pilaf to cook for another twenty minutes in the heating program.
In a slow cooker you can perfectly make vegetarian pilaf without meat, as well as a sweet dish with dried fruits. Instead of meat, you need to put only vegetables or dried apricots with raisins, and reduce the frying time to 5 minutes.
