How to cook healthy pilaf. Pilaf at home

Uzbek pilaf is not just a name, but a real national food brand - like, for example, Provencal cabbage, Siberian dumplings, Gurian lobio and so on. The aroma of spices, the unique consistency of the pilaf, where the rice is both crumbly and slightly sticky, the delicious taste - this is all about Uzbek pilaf. Although to be precise, there are many varieties of this dish. It is prepared in its own way in Tashkent and Bukhara, Samarkand and Andijan. Nevertheless, there are several common ideas that unite all types of Uzbek pilaf. We will tell you how to prepare real Uzbek pilaf while maintaining all the traditional cooking features.

In addition to the fact that it is prepared differently in different areas, there are also traditions of preparing pilaf from different components. In Uzbekistan, you can find wedding pilaf and pilaf with dolma, dried fruits and other ingredients. However, Russians are accustomed to the classic Uzbek pilaf, which is prepared from rice, meat with carrots and onions. This is what we will talk about.

In Uzbek pilaf, the meat can be different, even chicken, but the classic recipe calls for lamb or beef.

But here are the differences that are characteristic of this particular pilaf:

• carrots are taken not orange, but yellow;
• meat and vegetables are simmered in a sauce called zirvak, and then combined with rice and cooked all together;
• Vegetable oil is used, but usually the dish is enriched using a mixture of different oils. It can be sunflower, sesame or nut;
• lamb pilaf is prepared using fat tail fat combined with vegetable oil;
• Proportions are strictly observed - carrots and meat are taken in equal quantities, and there should be approximately the same amount of rice.

Important! The choice of rice is an important point. For traditional pilaf, you should not spare time and find the real rice that Uzbeks use to prepare pilaf - this is devzira rice, long-grain and transparent. It will not turn into porridge and will not be dry; this rice steams perfectly, increasing greatly in volume.

Real Uzbek pilaf in a cauldron with lamb

A cauldron is used for cooking - it can be either on the fire or on a regular stove. The thick cast-iron walls of the cauldron retain heat for a long time, and quick and uniform heating of all the walls of the cookware ensures that the dish turns out to be the most delicious and aromatic. The ideal option is a copper outdoor cauldron on an open fire, but if this is not available, then a heavy cast iron cauldron-saucepan will do. The vessel must have a well-fitting lid so that the pilaf simmers covered for as long as possible.

You will need:

• kilogram of rice;
• kilogram of carrots;
• 4 large onions;
• 2 liters of water;
• vegetable oil 300 g;
• salt, pepper, cumin and other spices to taste, a head of garlic.

And here’s what the step-by-step preparation of pilaf looks like:

1. Place the rice under running water to rinse. It is very important to rinse the rice until the liquid is transparent, so that not a trace of rice flour remains, then it will be crumbly and at the same time moderately sticky.
2. Meanwhile, cut the lamb into cubes, cut the carrots into medium-sized strips about 1 cm thick. Cut the onion into half rings, taking three heads.
3. Heat a cauldron and put oil in it. Uzbek pilaf is always quite fatty; cooks pour two glasses of vegetable oil into a five-liter cauldron, adding fat tail fat to it. If there is no fat, and you are not a fan of excessively fatty foods, then you can limit yourself to less oil. This recipe uses 300 g. To check if the oil is well heated, throw in a little dry salt. It starts to crackle - it's ready.
4. Place the washed and dried remaining onion in hot oil and fry it directly in the husk until black. After that, take it out and throw it away. The point of frying this way is so that the oil is saturated with the intensely fried taste of the onion.
5. Add chopped onion to oil and fry until dark golden brown. This will take about seven minutes, after which add pieces of meat to the onion and quickly fry them until evenly browned.
6. Add carrots and continue frying for another three minutes without stirring. Then mix everything and fry for another 10 minutes with constant stirring.
7. Pour in a little boiling water, pepper, salt (about two level tablespoons of salt) and add spices. Uzbek spices are cumin (1 tsp), barberry (2 tsp), a pinch of turmeric or saffron for color.
8. As soon as the meat is almost ready (you need to bring it until soft), add the rice and smooth it out with a slotted spoon. Stick in an unpeeled head of garlic. If the heads are small, then two are possible. Add the rest of the boiling water, bring to a boil and leave over low heat until the rice has absorbed all the water.
9. When the rice is almost ready, collect it in a cauldron in a mound, pierce it in several places with the handle of a slotted spoon to allow steam to escape, and then cover with a lid and let it cook over low heat or wrapped in a warm blanket. You can put the dishes under the pillow. But the best option is Uzbek-style pilaf in a cauldron, standing right in the oven when the boiler is built into the firebox. Then its hot walls will retain all the necessary heat.
10. Before serving, the contents of the cauldron are mixed, placed on plates and sprinkled with finely chopped cilantro.

Important! The classic way to serve pilaf in the East is with a salad of thinly sliced ​​tomatoes and onions. Vegetables, as a rule, are not seasoned with anything other than salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Uzbek pilaf with beef

Of course, the best pilaf is lamb. It has a special oriental aroma and delicate taste. However, as true Muslims, Uzbeks avoid pork, but respect beef. Uzbek pilaf with beef can be made with lamb flavor if you add a little fat tail fat.

The Uzbek version with beef is prepared from the following products:

• meat - 0.8 kg, including a small piece on the bone;
• rice - 0.6 kg;
• half a kilo of onion;
• carrots - 0.6 kg;
• vegetable oil and tail fat - 250 g in total;
• spices - salt, pepper, cumin;
• garlic.

Finely chopped pieces of fat tail fat are heated in a cauldron, the cracklings are collected and discarded. Place the meat with the bone and fry until deeply browned. Next, oil is added, heated, and then everything proceeds in the same way as in the previous recipe. This pilaf is slightly different in proportions; it is also called Fergana pilaf.

Uzbek pilaf with pork

Pilaf with pork is, rather, a Russian derivative of the famous Uzbek one. However, the dish turns out no worse than the classic version.

To prepare, you will need 700 g of pork, onions and rice, 300 g of carrots and 200 g of vegetable oil. Fry the pulp cut into pieces in oil, add chopped carrots and onions, fry well and then simmer with a little water. Place long-grain rice, pre-washed, into the prepared zirvak. Salt and pepper. Add bay leaf (optional) and spices you like. Pour two fingers of boiling water over the rice and cook covered.

How to cook with chicken?

You can also make Uzbek pilaf with chicken - this is the fastest and most win-win dish. In equal quantities we take rice, carrots and chicken breast 3 x 500 g. Onions are enough 300 g. Spices are taken to taste, but usually it is pepper, cumin, you can also take ready-made seasoning for pilaf.

In a cauldron in hot oil (1 cm at the bottom), first fry the chopped onion until golden brown, then add the chicken, cut into small pieces. If you don’t have breast, then meat from the chakhokhbili kit or any other chicken meat will do. Cover the fried chicken with coarsely grated carrots and simmer for another 15 minutes, then add washed rice, salt and pepper, add spices and the whole head of garlic. Pour boiling water over two fingers over the rice and simmer until done. Wrap the pilaf well and leave for another forty minutes.

First, the meat is fried in the frying mode (heat 2 tablespoons of oil and add 250 g of meat pieces). Fry everything without a lid for 25 minutes, so that the meat does not stew, but fry. After ten minutes, fry the onion in the same program, and then add the carrots. When the frying is over, add pilaf spices to taste, stir, put rice on top and pour boiling water over it. Using the “Pilaf” program, cook the dish until done. When the cooking time is over, stick a few peeled cloves of garlic into the pilaf and poke a few holes in the pilaf. Close the lid and let it sit on heat for another 20 minutes.

An unusual variation - sweet pilaf in Uzbek style

A vegetarian and sweet dish - pilaf with dried fruits or pumpkin. Everything is done in the same way as when preparing ordinary pilaf, only zirvak is not prepared, but instead dried apricots, raisins, and dried fruits are fried in hot oil. Carrots and apples can also be put into pilaf, cut into strips. After frying everything, mix and cover with washed rice. Poke holes in the rice and pour boiling water over them, cook until the rice is done.

Product composition:

• 1 carrot per glass of rice;
• 100 g raisins;
• 100 g fruit mixture;
• 1 apple;
• a handful of dried apricots;
• a couple of tablespoons of butter;
• a pinch of salt.

If you have ever tried real Uzbek pilaf, you will never forget its spicy aroma and unique taste. The recipe for making pilaf at home is not at all complicated.

How to cook pilaf correctly

Pilaf is an ancient national dish of Transcaucasia, the Middle East, and Asia. There are a lot of options for preparing this dish. However, eminent chefs assure that if several people simultaneously prepare pilaf using one recipe, everyone will still end up with a dish with different tastes.

How to cook pilaf correctly, what is the secret of Uzbek pilaf? Especially for our readers, we have put together the most important recommendations that will help you create a small masterpiece of great art called pilaf.

Secret 1 - Technology for proper preparation of pilaf

One of the main secrets of ideal pilaf is not the composition of the products used, which is also not unimportant, but the method of its preparation itself. Mainly, the taste and aroma of the dish depends on the correct combination of two main components of pilaf: rice and meat base (zirvak). Sometimes wheat, corn, and peas are used to prepare this dish instead of rice. However, in any case, in order for the pilaf to absorb all the tastes and aromas, the grains in the dish are not boiled, but stewed (simmered).

Secret 2 - Bookmark products

Another important stage in the technology of preparing pilaf is the choice of the variety of rice and carrots, as well as their preliminary preparation and sequential laying. In addition to these products, you will definitely need: meat, onions, fat, salt, water, spices and seasonings. It is important to know: the ratio of carrots, rice, onions, meat should be one to one. If the meat is not very fatty, then you should add a little more oil. It is better to cut the carrots into long strips, and the longer the strips, the tastier the dish will be. Spices and salt must be added halfway through the preparation of the “dressing”, which includes meat, onions and carrots.

Secret 3 - Meat for pilaf

Almost any meat is suitable for preparing this dish. You can get amazingly tasty pilaf if you use beef, pork, rabbit, turkey, and chicken. However, the most suitable meat for classic Uzbek pilaf is lamb (back, shoulder or brisket). Only lamb can give a dish a delicate, unique taste.

Secret 4 - What kind of rice is needed for pilaf

The quality and taste of pilaf mainly depends on rice. An important condition is that the rice in the dish should not stick together. It should be crumbly, strong and keep its shape. For example, round or long grains of rice should not be used for pilaf - since they are too soft and boil quickly, and the pilaf turns into meat porridge.

What kind of rice is needed for pilaf? Uzbek or Tajik varieties of rice are best suited for pilaf. They perfectly absorb fat and water, while remaining crumbly. These varieties have a certain appearance - dark oblong stripes remain on each grain even after they are cooked, and the pink powder covering the rice gives the pilaf a divine aroma.

IMPORTANT! Rice should be chosen with low starch content, strong and transparent. The grains should be pearly, of medium length, and absorb fat and water well.

Secret 5 - Spices and seasonings for pilaf

If rice and meat are the main components of oriental food, then vegetables, herbs and spices for pilaf are additional tools with which you can improvise its taste and aromas.
In addition to onions and carrots, you can add raisins, garlic, cumin grains, barberry, quince, dried apricots, hot peppers, and herbs to pilaf.

Secret 6 - Oil for pilaf

The choice of oil for pilaf also needs to be taken with full responsibility. The most delicious pilaf is considered to be cooked in vegetable oil (sesame, cottonseed) or tail fat.

Secret 7 - Dishes

The ideal utensils for pilaf are a copper cauldron, a thick and deep frying pan or a cast iron pan. In any case, the dishes should have thick walls and a tight-fitting lid.

IMPORTANT! During the cooking process, no matter how much you would like to open the lid until the recipe instructs, you cannot do this!

When the pilaf is ready, wrap the pan in a thick blanket and leave for an hour - the pilaf will become even tastier.

And now that you know the intricacies of proper preparation of real pilaf, you can safely choose any recipe we offer and try to cook it. We are confident that you will have an amazing dish! All family members will ask you to cook pilaf again and again!

The classic recipe is pilaf with lamb. But there are varieties of the dish that use other meats, such as chicken, beef, pork. There is even an option for vegetarians - with vegetables or fruits.

Classic recipe for Uzbek pilaf with lamb

Compound:
lamb – 1 kg
rice-1 kg
fat (tail fat) or vegetable oil - 300 ml
onion-1 kg
carrots -1 kg
raisins - 100 g
garlic - 1 head
cumin (cumin)
seasoning for pilaf

Preparation:

Coarsely chop the lamb, cut the fat and vegetables into 3-4 cm strips, rinse the rice thoroughly in running water.

First, the fat is rendered in a cauldron, then the meat is fried until golden brown. Then add onions and carrots (alternately). After 5-10 minutes, add spices, salt, garlic (unpeeled) and cumin crushed between your fingers.

If the meat is ready, then the zirvak is ready. Zirvak is the basis for pilaf, a mixture of meat and vegetables.

Now it's time for rice. Half the volume of cereal is poured into a cauldron with vegetables and meat, then raisins and rice again.

It is necessary to add hot water so as not to reduce the temperature in the cauldron. The water level should be two fingers higher than the rice. The dish is cooked over high heat until the water boils away, then the rice is raked from the walls to the center. It turns out to be a kind of slide. Then another 30 minutes on low heat under the lid (do not open the lid at this time!). Turn off the heat, cover with a warm towel and let sit for 1 hour. Place the pilaf on a special plate - lyagan.

Pilaf with chicken

This recipe makes pilaf with chicken more dietary and tender.

Compound:
chicken fillet – 0.5 kg
onions – 4 pcs.
carrots - 4 pcs.
rice – 2 cups
vegetable oil – 100 g
salt - to taste
spices and seasonings for pilaf (pepper, cumin, dogwood, etc.) - to taste

Preparation:
Wash the chicken, dry with a paper towel, and pound lightly. Cut the fillet into large cubes, carrots and onions into strips. Fry everything in a cauldron or saucepan (separately). Then add chicken, salt, spices and washed rice to the container where the vegetables were fried.

All products are thoroughly mixed. Add 4 cups of water and let it all simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes. Then close the lid, reduce the heat and do not open for 25 minutes, let it simmer.

Cover with a towel and let sit covered for 15 minutes.

That's it - chicken pilaf is ready. Fast and fun! Serve with fresh vegetables.

Beef pilaf

It is prepared using the same products as in other options. We are pleased to share a recipe for beef pilaf, which is more flavorful than with chicken.

Compound:
rice - 3 cups
spices and spices - to taste
vegetable oil - 200g
meat (beef) - 1 kg
vegetables (onions and yellow carrots) - 3-4 pcs.
salt - to taste
water (boiling water) – 5-6 glasses

Preparation:
Rinse the meat in running water, pat dry with a paper towel and cut into large pieces. In a deep cast-iron saucepan, heat the oil, add the meat, and fry it thoroughly. In a separate pan, fry the carrots and onions until golden brown. Add vegetables to the meat and mix, simmer everything together a little. After which, without removing from the heat, you should add boiling water, and then salt, spices and rice. Mix well so that all ingredients are saturated with fat and juice. After 15 minutes of vigorous boiling, assemble the rice into a mound and place the garlic in the middle. Cover with a lid and simmer over low heat for another 40 minutes until done. At the end, be sure to let the finished dish sit for 1 hour.

Before serving, place the pilaf on a large dish, cut the meat into pieces and place on top. Bread is inappropriate for pilaf, so you can serve lavash.

Pilaf with pork

When preparing Uzbek pilaf, you can deviate a little from the rules and use pork instead of lamb. The result is a very satisfying and juicy pilaf with pork.

Compound:
pork – 1 kg
carrots – 1 kg
onion – 1 kg
tomato (fresh) - 1 pc.
vegetable oil – 150 g
rice – 3 cups
spices and seasonings - to taste
salt - to taste

Preparation:
The quantity of products depends on the size of the cauldron. However, the proportions must be observed: the ingredients are taken in equal proportions of cereals, carrots, onions and meat. According to tradition, pilaf is cooked over a fire, but at home it is no less tasty and crumbly, the main thing is to adhere to the cooking rules (see the beginning of the article)

In a cast-iron bowl, beef, pre-cut into large pieces, is browned in heated oil. Next, the meat is removed and onions (in strips) and carrots (in large cubes) are fried in the same fat. After all the components of the pilaf are fried, add finely chopped tomato and mix. "Zirvak" is ready.

Add salt to taste, add spices, favorite seasonings and herbs. Add rice and carefully pour in boiling water (water should be 1.5-2 times more than cereal).

Pilaf with pork takes 40 minutes to prepare. At the end, be sure to put a head of unpeeled garlic in the middle for flavor, close the lid again and let it brew for 1 hour.

Sergey Vasilenkov

Recently we cooked pilaf again. We were expecting guests, and I wanted to cook something delicious for them! And since this delicious Uzbek dish is always welcome at any table, without thinking for long, I decided to cook it.

To my surprise, two of the guests present said that they themselves now often cook it at home. And to my pleasant surprise, they said that they prepare it according to my recipes from the blog. They said that they had finally learned how to cook it, and now they always succeed without surprises.

Moreover, one of the guests expressed the wish that it would be nice to have several recipes in one article at once, so as not to waste time searching. Yes, time is valuable for everyone now.

Well, fulfilling my friend’s request, and myself being in high spirits, because pilaf is not only delicious to eat, but also great to talk about, I begin today’s story.

And we’ll start with perhaps the most popular one today. I also suggest using it as a basis for all subsequent recipes. In it I will describe in great detail the preparation for the cooking process, and the process itself, of course.

Therefore, if you cook according to the second or subsequent recipes, be sure to read the first one too. Everything is described in great detail.

It cooks quickly and always turns out delicious. And what is important, it is a fairly economical dish. And although the classic versions are prepared mainly from lamb and beef, this option is very popular among the people. I already have it on my blog, so choose for yourself which one you like best.

We will need:

• chicken – 800 gr
• onion - 400 gr
• carrots - 600 gr
• rice - 600 gr
• garlic - 2 heads
• vegetable oil - 0.5 cups
• spices - cumin, coriander, rosemary
• salt - half a tablespoon
• ground red and black pepper - to taste

We will also need a cauldron and a slotted spoon, as well as a wooden stick; you can make a Chinese one. If you don’t have one, then prepare a spoon with a long handle; later I’ll tell you why we need it.

Preparation:

Cooking any of the dishes of oriental cuisine requires a special approach, and of course pilaf is no exception in this matter. You need to start preparing it without haste or fuss, always in a great mood, with enough free time.

It is also required to follow all cooking rules and maintain the required time at each stage of cooking. In general, the matter must be taken quite seriously and responsibly. Only this can guarantee the preparation of a real Uzbek dish exactly the way it is prepared in its homeland.

But I will say right away that the problem is completely solvable. There is nothing impossible about this. And when they say “that only an Uzbek can cook real Uzbek pilaf,” don’t believe it, it’s not true. Anyone can cook, especially those who really want it.

1. First, let's start with the chicken, because that's what we'll be cooking with today. To prepare this dish, it is better to purchase fresh or chilled chicken. Don't use just the breasts, or just the thighs, or the wings. It is best for the chicken to be whole. Different meats will give a richer, more intense flavor.

And you should remember that any pilaf will be tasty only if there are bones in the meat. This applies to absolutely any meat you plan to cook from.

Usually in Uzbekistan it takes 500 grams of rice, 500 grams of carrots and the same amount of meat. But I always put in more meat so that no one looks at each other and there is enough for everyone. As a rule, meat is eaten first.

But if you wish, take less meat.

2. Wash the chicken, dry it with a paper towel and cut it fairly large. If you cut it finely, then all the meat will be boiled, as it cooks quite quickly. It will be better if the pieces are kept whole

3. Cut the onion into thin half rings. To do this, you need to have a fairly sharp knife, otherwise it won’t work out thin. And it is important for us to cut it exactly so that the onion has time to evaporate during cooking, giving all the juice to the dish being prepared.

4. First cut the carrots diagonally, cutting them into long thin plates no more than 0.5 cm thick. And then stack several plates and cut them into strips. Try to cut the carrots carefully to avoid cutting yourself. When the stack is large enough, the knife can easily slip off. Therefore, to begin with, cut no more than 2 - 3 plates at a time.

So be patient and cut as expected.

The role of carrots is very important, it gives sweetness, juiciness, color and appearance. But if we grate carrots, we will not get the desired effect. Just like if you cut it into cubes or thick bars.

Yes, a whole science! But you have to try to master it if you want to eat delicious food!

5. Rice is also a special topic. Any store-bought rice will not work. Choose varieties of rice with an elongated shape; short-grain varieties are not suitable for making pilaf. Steamed varieties are good; they do not become soggy when cooked, and the rice turns out fluffy, as it should be.

You can often see such a picture at the bazaar in Central Asia; when buying rice, they taste it. So, if the grain is easy to bite into, then such rice is not suitable for pilaf; you can only cook porridge from it. The grain must be hard; it will definitely not boil or stick together.

Rice must be washed by placing it in a bowl until the water is clear. This will release excess starch and make the rice crumbly. Steamed rice varieties are washed fairly quickly. But some other varieties will need to be washed for 10 minutes or more.

In addition, such varieties are also left in water for a short time and allowed to lie down so that the rice swells and cooks faster.

6. You also need spices; without cumin it will not get the desired aroma. It gives a real smell and taste, without it the dish will not turn out truly Uzbek. Often they also add ground coriander. Barberry will also never be superfluous. Therefore, purchase them in advance.

7. Garlic is also added for flavor. There is no need to completely peel it and cut it into pieces. You just need to clean off the place where the roots were located, there may be remnants of soil there, and remove the top layers of the shirt. The garlic also needs to be washed thoroughly.

8. It is advisable to cook pilaf in a cauldron, this is how it turns out the most delicious. This happens due to thick walls and uniform heating. If you don’t have a cauldron, you can cook it in a thick-walled frying pan with high sides. You won’t be able to go there for a big campaign, but you can feed your family.

It looks like everything has been prepared. You can start cooking.

Preparation:

1. Pour oil into a cauldron and heat it to a bluish haze. Don’t look at how much oil there is, don’t reduce the amount. There are also a lot of ingredients, and each piece needs to be lightly oiled.

2. Carefully place the chicken parts into the cauldron so as not to get burned. To prevent the oil from splashing, the chicken should be dried. There is no need to salt or pepper it in advance. We need to achieve a quick golden brown crust so that the flesh inside remains juicy. For this we need maximum fire.

Fry the chicken until golden brown. Periodically stirring the contents with a slotted spoon.

3. Add onion and stir immediately. If it starts to burn, you can reduce the heat to medium and cook the onion until soft or golden brown.

4. Pour a glass of hot water and let the onions simmer for 10 minutes until all the water has boiled away. During this time the onion will become almost transparent.

5. Now it's time for the carrots. As we remember, it gives taste and color. To get a golden color, the carrots must be lightly fried so that they release their juice. There is no need to create a strong fire. Carrots should simmer rather than fry.

After sweating the carrots for about ten minutes, without forgetting to stir the contents of the cauldron, we move on to the next step.

6. Now is the time to add spices, salt and pepper. Stir, then stick two heads of garlic directly into the middle. Stick it in harder so that it doesn’t float up when we add water.

After this, we will no longer interfere with anything until the very end of cooking.

7. Lay out the washed rice in an even layer. Smooth it well over the entire surface.

8. Then a very important point, you need to fill it with water correctly. You need hot water, so boil the kettle in advance.

It is necessary to pour water into the cauldron through the holes in the slotted spoon. This simple step will allow the rice to stay in place. It is necessary that the carrots do not float. And if we pour water from the kettle directly onto the rice, a funnel will form and the carrots will immediately float to the surface.

9. You need to pour in enough water to cover the rice by 1.5 - 2 cm. Usually the index finger is the measure. If you put it in water (although it will be hot), then the first phalanx should be completely covered.

Let the contents boil over high heat, then reduce it to medium.

10. Wait until the water boils, let it simmer for 5 minutes, then taste the broth. While there is broth, you can salt it if there is not enough salt. When the broth boils away, it will be too late to add salt; the salt will not have time to disperse.

11. Cook the rice until almost done, boiling should occur evenly over the entire surface. Otherwise, the rice will be cooked on one side and may remain raw on the other.

During this time, there should be no liquid left on the surface. But she still remained inside. We need it to boil too, otherwise we will end up with ordinary porridge.

To do this, carefully collect a mound of rice. To do this correctly, you need to take a slotted spoon and collect the rice from the edge to the center. At the edges the rice was already completely cooked, but in the middle it was more difficult for it to get ready. Therefore, we will help him with this.

By moving the rice from the edge to the center, we seem to cover the raw center with the already cooked one. When the mound is ready, take a Chinese chopstick, or a spoon with a long handle, and make holes over the entire surface of the mound with rotational movements. They need to be done to the very bottom, which is why a simple spoon will not work, the length of its handle is simply not enough.

All the water that remains below us now has an outlet. And when leaving, she will simultaneously help the still raw rice reach the desired state. And for this to happen, and also for the bottom layer not to burn, the fire must be reduced to a minimum and the cauldron covered with a lid.

12. Simmer it like this for 15 minutes. Then turn off the heat and, without opening the lid, cover it with a towel so that steam does not escape through the holes. It will steam what is still not steamed.

Leave the dish in this state for about 15 minutes. Then open the lid, making sure that the condensation that has formed on the lid does not fall back into the cauldron.

13. Pilaf can be carefully mixed in a cauldron, then placed on a large dish. However, there are special types of preparation, and we will talk about them today, where it is not mixed, but laid out in layers. First there is rice, then carrots and the last layer is meat. Garlic tops it all off.

It has retained its appearance, but its taste has changed dramatically. Having given its aroma to the rice, it in turn absorbed all the aromas of the dish and its taste. Be sure to try it! He has both his fans and his opponents. Some people really like this garlic, and I am among them. And some people don’t understand this taste.

In any case, it has already done its job, and therefore, if you don’t eat it, just throw it away.

If you wish, you can leave the chicken pieces whole, or you can cut them into smaller portions, and someone will also remove all the bones. It's a matter of taste here!

14. Serve pilaf on a large flat dish, sprinkled with fresh herbs.

It is also usually served with a salad of fresh cucumbers and tomatoes with onions, seasoned with vegetable oil.

And no mayonnaise or ketchup! Real pilaf does not need any additives.

Otherwise, I have met people who ask him for this or that. Don't give! Delicious pilaf is so tasty that you can eat “even a spoon” unnoticed.

That's basically it! A lot has been written, I agree. But this is just so that everything is clear to everyone! Everything is happening faster!

Well, how do you like the recipe? Have you already felt how delicious it will be? And they felt correctly, it couldn’t be otherwise. Well, if you’re not tired, then move on to the next recipe.

Beef pilaf according to the classic recipe - “Fergana”

This classic recipe comes from Fergana, and therefore has the name “Fergana”

I’ll immediately explain why this particular recipe is a classic. Well, first of all, this is the most prepared recipe in Uzbekistan. It is prepared everywhere. Secondly, it is the basis of all others. Already on this basis, all other options are prepared, with the addition of many other ingredients. We will look at some of them today.

This recipe is described in great detail in one of my articles. And therefore today I will only briefly recall all the main provisions. If anyone wants to cook this recipe, please ask for a detailed description.

We will need:

• lamb - 700 -800 gr
• fat tail fat - 100 g
• onion - 400 gr
• carrots - 600 gr
• rice - 600 gr
• cumin - 1 teaspoon
• spices - for pilaf (optional)
• garlic - 2 heads (optional)
• salt - 1 tbsp. spoon
• pepper - to taste
• greens - for sprinkling

Preparation:

This recipe also has a preparation step, which is the same as the first recipe. Here I will only briefly outline all the steps, and see the details above.

1. There is one feature here that should be discussed in more detail. The recipe should use bone-in meat and pulp. It is advisable to use lamb for this. But if you couldn’t find a good piece of such meat, then buy beef. It is very good if the meat is fresh or chilled.

Wash the meat on the bones and dry it. And cut the pulp into small pieces, 2-3 cm in size, no more.

We also need fat tail fat. With it, any pilaf becomes much tastier, more aromatic and healthier. It needs to be cut into cubes measuring 2 by 2 cm. But if you don’t have it, then use only vegetable oil. But in this case you will need to take 200 ml.

2. Now we need to cut the onion into half rings. Carrots in thin strips. Rinse the rice until the water is clear. And you can start cooking.

3. Place the cauldron on the fire and warm it thoroughly. Then reduce the heat to medium and add the chopped fat tail fat, evaporate it until it becomes crackling.

Then add vegetable oil.

4. Or immediately pour in the oil, heat it thoroughly until there is a bluish haze and carefully place the meat bones into the cauldron so as not to get burned. Fry them until golden brown over high heat. It is necessary that the juice is “sealed” in the meat so that it does not become dry. For this you need a big fire.

5. Add chopped onion and fry until slightly golden or soft.

6. Add chopped pulp. It must be placed evenly on top of the seeds and onions, but do not mix, otherwise the temperature of the oil will drop sharply. You can stir when the meat is warm, that is, after about 4 - 5 minutes.

7. Fry this meat too. Our oil is hot and it will fry quickly enough. It should also brown slightly.

8. And as soon as this happens, add carrots. We also give it a couple of minutes to warm up and only after that mix all the contents with a slotted spoon.

Fry the carrots over medium heat for 5 minutes, during which time they will soften slightly and brown.

In Uzbekistan, yellow carrots are specially grown; using them, the dish has a less sweet taste. Such carrots are very common there for making pilaf. Unfortunately, we don’t have such carrots, and we use our usual varieties.

9. Pour half the cumin into the contents and fill everything with cold water. It should completely cover the carrots, but no more. Cook over low heat for 30 minutes. During this time, the carrots will release juice, and the broth will acquire a pleasant sunny color. In the future, this will give a pleasant color to the entire dish as a whole.

What we have now achieved is called “zirvak” in Uzbekistan, that is, it is a kind of basis for pilaf. It gives color, aroma and taste to the whole dish. Therefore, “zirvak” must be tasty.

10. If you use garlic, then insert it between the seeds. By the way, there is one point here. It happens that at this stage the bones can already be easily removed from the meat. They take them out, putting the pulp back.

But you can leave it to remove later. That's what I do. Let them put more fat into the broth.

Also at this stage you need to add salt, pepper and spices. The only spices you can add are cumin (we have already added it) and ground coriander. Barberry is also good. If you have it, then feel free to add a whole tablespoon. It will be very tasty. The rice will have a slight pleasant sourness.

11. Place washed rice in an even layer over the entire surface of the zirvak. If the rice is not parboiled, then pre-soak it in lukewarm water for 20 minutes.

12. Add water through the holes in the slotted spoon so that it covers the rice to the height of the phalanx of the index finger, or about 1.5 - 2 cm. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat until the water does not boil, but only gurgles slightly. Taste the salt

13. After about 15 minutes, almost all the water should evaporate, and by that time the rice should be 90% ready. If for some reason it is still damp, you can add a little more hot water.

14. If the rice is almost ready, form a slide and make holes in it to the very bottom. Add the remaining cumin, rubbing it in your palms for flavor.

15. Set the heat to very low and simmer, covering the lid with a towel so that steam does not escape into the holes. It will steam well the rice that has not yet reached the desired state. Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.

16. Then turn off the gas, do not open the lid. Let stand for another 10 - 15 minutes to allow the dish to rest.

17. After that, open the lid and carefully mix the contents directly in the cauldron. Use a slotted spoon for this. Take out the meat on the bones, remove the bones, and cut the meat.

18. Place the pilaf in a large flat dish. Place pieces of meat and whole garlic on top. Sprinkle with herbs.

19. Eat with pleasure!

Otherwise it won’t work. We had a very tasty dish today. You can’t anymore, but you eat anyway, your hand involuntarily reaches for the spoon.

Eat, don't be afraid. This is such a healthy and completely balanced dish that there will be no harm from it. Only one benefit.

If you are not tired yet, then I move on to the next recipe.

Video on how to cook pilaf from beef and devzira rice

Devzira rice grows only in one place on our planet - the Fergana Valley in the upper reaches of the Syr Darya in sunny, hospitable Uzbekistan. It has a brownish-pink color. This is powder from the shell of threshed grain. When you wash the rice, the powder is washed off, but the brown grooves remain on the grain.

Thanks to this, you can distinguish whether it is real or not.

This variety perfectly absorbs water, all juices from vegetables and fats. And that’s why it turns out very tasty.

You can buy it on the market from knowledgeable people, or in expensive supermarkets. The last time I bought it to order at the market for 350 rubles per kilogram.

If you don’t have such rice, then it’s okay. You can also prepare it from regular long-grain, preferably steamed. It will not boil over and the pilaf will turn out 100% crumbly.

How to cook pork pilaf so that the rice is crumbly

Pork pilaf? Excuse me, dear Uzbeks. I know that you do not cook pork dishes. But here in Russia they are prepared everywhere. Therefore, I will give the recipe so that if anyone wants to cook with pork, then let them do it correctly.

This summer I cooked for myself for the first time. It turned out very tasty! I prepared it at the request of a friend, one might say, in the field. It was a wonderful experience for me.

Today, in order not to repeat myself, I want to offer a completely different recipe, and cook it with mushrooms. Of course, it can be prepared not only from pork, but also traditionally for Uzbekistan - from lamb or beef. How it is prepared, by the way. After all, I want to give you the Uzbek recipe. It is prepared there in early spring, when the very first mushrooms begin to appear - morels.

When we lived in Samarkand, we went specifically to the mountains to get them. Once, in the local mountains called Amankutan, I found two huge morels, weighing a kilogram, or even more, each. Pilaf was cooked from one, right in the mountains during an overnight stay. Cooked without any meat. It was incredibly delicious!

We also grow morels, and whoever collects them in May can cook pilaf from them, it’s very tasty!

Although you can cook with absolutely all mushrooms, both fresh and frozen, and even champignons. And as you already understood, you can cook with or without meat. I'm cooking with meat today. If you decide to cook without meat, then simply remove it from the recipe, as if it were not there, and leave everything else unchanged.

For vegetarians and during Lent, this will be the most wonderful hearty dish!

We will need:

• pork meat (or other) - 400 gr
• mushrooms - 400 gr
• carrots - 600 gr
• onion - 250 gr
• rice - 600 gr
• melted butter - 100 g
• vegetable oil - 100 g
• garlic - 1 head
• cumin, coriander - 1 tbsp. spoon
• salt, pepper - to taste

Preparation:

1. Wash the meat, dry it and cut it into pieces with a side of 3 - 4 cm. You can use both pulp and meat with bones, for example, ribs.

2. Rinse fresh mushrooms thoroughly and place in a colander to drain all the water. If the mushrooms are frozen, defrost them and dry them with a paper towel.

3. Cut the onion into thin half rings. Carrots - into strips. How to do this, see 1 recipe. Wash the garlic, remove the top husk and thoroughly clean the area where the roots were. We leave the head entirely and in the “shirt”.

4. Rinse the rice until the water is clear. If it is not steamed, but quite hard, then soak it in warm water for 20 minutes.

5. Heat the cauldron and pour vegetable oil into it, warm it until lightly smoking. Carefully place the meat in the oil so as not to burn yourself. To do this, you can use a slotted spoon.

6. Quickly fry the meat until golden brown. It should fry fairly quickly as the oil is hot. Quick frying gives a crust, thanks to which the juice is retained inside, and the meat does not turn out too dry.

7. Immediately add ghee and onions. Fry it until golden brown and soft.

8. Then add mushrooms. They should be cut into pieces large enough so that after cooking you don’t have to look for them. In addition, it should be noted that when frying, the mushrooms will decrease in volume by at least half. Fry everything together for 5 - 7 minutes.

9. Then add carrots, spices, salt and pepper. Stir and fry for 10 minutes until lightly browned and soft. We got a beautiful and fragrant zirvak. We add garlic to it, which we try to drown deeper into the thickness of the meat, mushrooms and carrots.

If necessary, reduce the heat; nothing should burn.

10. Add rice, spreading it out in a thin, even layer. We try to cover all the carrots with it so that they do not float when we add water.

11. Pour hot water through the holes in the slotted spoon so that it covers the rice by 1.5-2 cm, or on the phalanx of the index finger. Let it boil over high heat, then reduce the heat. After 5 minutes, try the broth; if you think there is not enough salt, then salt the broth evenly.

12. Evaporate all the water; the rice should be almost ready by then. If it turns out to be damp, you can add a little water.

If its readiness is 90%, then we make a mound, collecting rice from the edges to the center, making holes with a wooden stick to the very bottom. Then you need to reduce the heat to minimum, cover with a lid and put a towel on it so that steam does not escape from the cauldron. He must do his job and get the rice ready.

13. After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and leave the pilaf to simmer for another 15 minutes under the lid.

14. Mix the finished pilaf directly in the cauldron, do this carefully so as not to break the rice or damage the mushrooms. Then place it on a large flat dish. Sprinkle with herbs and enjoy eating!

Delicious and aromatic pilaf is ready! I hope you like it. I also hope that you understand how to cook it without meat? If you don’t understand, then ask in the comments, I will be happy to answer you!

Uzbek beef pilaf with quince

To avoid repetition with recipes, I want to cook this version of pilaf with quince, or it can be replaced with pumpkin.

This is a purely autumn cooking option. It is prepared when the quince or pumpkin absorbs all the sunlight and becomes tasty and aromatic.

I'm cooking today with quince - a beauty. But you can safely change the word quince for the word pumpkin, since the dish is prepared in the same way with both.

I have to tell you that it turns out incredibly tasty. To be honest, in our family we are so spoiled with different versions of this dish that for us it has long become just an everyday dish. But when I cook it with quince, it's always an event! Therefore, when the husband brought a large and delicious-smelling fruit from the market, he immediately said, “This is for pilaf.” And this was not discussed.

We will need:

• lamb (beef) – 600 gr
• fat tail fat - 100 g
• quince - 350 -400 gr
• vegetable oil - 0.5 cups
• onion - 300 gr
• carrots - 600 gr
• rice - 600 gr
• cumin - 1 teaspoon
• ground coriander - 1 teaspoon
• barberry - 1 tbsp. spoon
• salt, ground black pepper - to taste

Preparation:

For preparation of ingredients and cutting, read the first recipe in detail. But here we will focus on the recipe itself.

1. We use either lamb or beef. You can also cook it with pork. In Central Asia they don’t cook this meat, but we can do it. Therefore, take the meat you want to cook with.

Again, you need pulp and you need meat bones. I'm using lamb again, and I also have fat tail fat in stock. If you don't have it, then cook in oil. But in this case you will need a little more than half a glass, specifically 200 ml.

2. Cut the meat into large pieces the size of meat bones. Cut the fat into small pieces.

3. We will cook in a cauldron. We heat it up, then add the fat and lightly fry it. You can fry until the cracklings are formed and then remove them. I want to preserve them for taste, and therefore I fry them only lightly, and then take them out into a separate plate.

Pour oil into a cauldron, heat it well and lay out the meat bones. Fry them until golden brown over high heat. Well-fried meat retains all the juices inside and cooks faster.

4. As soon as the bones are fried, add the pieces of meat and fat that you took out. Wait 3 minutes for them to warm up with steam, then stir and fry everything together, also until golden brown. It is important not to overcook the meat, otherwise the broth will later turn out dark, and this will cause the pilaf to be brown. And not only the color, the taste will also suffer.

5. Place onions in a cauldron. Wait 3 minutes again until it warms up and then stir it into the meat. Fry until it turns golden. Then pour hot boiled water and cook the contents until the meat begins to pull away from the bone.

It may take from 30 minutes to an hour. If the meat is young, it will cook faster. The time also depends on what bony parts of the meat you use. Some cook faster, others may take a little longer.

During cooking, the onion will also lose its shape and become like a puree. This is good, it will add its own flavor to the broth in which the rice will cook. The fat of the tail will also evaporate and become completely invisible.

6. While the meat is cooking, let's take care of the quince. It is good to have tasty ripe quince, preferably one that does not have an astringent taste.

It must be washed thoroughly, then cut into 4 parts and the core removed. Then cut it into small half-moon-shaped slices, 0.5 cm thick. If the fruit is large, as mine was, then cut each slice into two more halves.

7. Fry the slices in a minimum amount of vegetable oil until golden brown. Then place on a paper napkin.

It should be remembered that quince darkens very quickly when cut, so before frying it can be kept in cold water for a while. Then place on paper towels and dry. This way the slices will not darken and will remain a beautiful sunny color.

8. When the meat is ready, take out the meat on the bones and remove the bones. Send the meat back.

This must be done if you are preparing a dish for guests. If you are cooking for yourself, you can leave the bones. For example, we really like it when meat is laid out on the bones. And my husband always asks not to remove them ahead of time. I don't mind. After all, the pilaf will take another 40 minutes to cook, so the fat from them will increase even more during this time.

9. No matter what you do, it's time for carrots. Place it on top of the meat and let it sit for 2-3 minutes without disturbing it until it warms up. Then mix and simmer everything together for about 10 minutes. Make sure that the carrots do not burn. If your own juice and broth are not enough for this, you can add a little hot water.

10. Add cumin, ground coriander, salt and pepper to taste. We also add barberry. Thus, our zirvak is ready.

Barberry is used in all cooking options; it gives an excellent light sourness to the entire dish. It can be added either large black or smaller red, there is no difference.

11. By the time the carrots have softened slightly, the rice should be ready. The first recipe describes in detail how to prepare it, so I won't repeat myself.

Spread it in an even layer over the entire surface of the meat and carrots. And fill it with boiled water, pour the water through the holes in the slotted spoon so that the rice does not rise from the stream of water and expose the carrots, they should remain covered.

The water should be 1.5 - 2 cm higher than the carrots.

12. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce it, let it simmer for 5 minutes and taste the broth for saltiness. We add it if necessary. As long as there is water, it will spread it evenly over the entire surface of the cooking dish.

13. Bring the rice to 85-90% readiness; by that time there should be no water left on the surface. We lay out the quince slices and assemble a mound so that the quince remains inside.

If water is not visible along the edges of the walls, then carefully use a stick to make holes in the slide all the way to the bottom. We try not to pierce the quince. When you hit a piece with your stick, go around it. In this case, you need to rotate the stick; it will push the entire quince aside.

Close the lid and cover it with a towel to prevent steam from escaping into the cracks.

14. Reduce the gas to a minimum and simmer for 10 -15 minutes. Then turn off the gas, there is no need to open the lid, and let it sit for another 10 - 15 minutes.

15. Then carefully mix the contents and place on a large dish. Place the pieces of meat on top of the finished dish.

16. Now you need to sprinkle the pilaf with fresh herbs and serve to the admiration of all those present. Enjoy eating!

And there will definitely be pleasure and admiration! Crispy rice, stewed carrots and quince, with the aroma of cumin, the additional sour taste of barberry, the light taste of fat tail fat, which carefully envelops literally every grain of rice! It's just such magic! Complete enjoyment of taste and aroma. I don't even know what could be tastier!

Here, there are only 3 recipes, and the article is no longer small. This is pilaf! Either not write about him at all, or write from the heart, and that means a lot! There is no other way! A special dish that requires special treatment!

If you are ready to get more recipes, then I am ready to share them further!

Delicious Samarkand pilaf

I can’t leave today’s selection without this delicious recipe. This is my favorite. Maybe because I lived in Samarkand for a long time, or maybe because I learned to cook the dish according to this recipe, or maybe because it is simply the most amazing and beautiful pilaf I have ever known.

I have already described in great detail in one of the articles how it is prepared. And therefore, you will find it and be able to cook it.

A distinctive feature of this option is that after cooking, the rice is not mixed with all other ingredients. It is laid out on the dish in layers, just as it was prepared. Rice is laid out first, then carrots and meat and garlic are laid out last.

The carrots are not fried, but steamed. Thanks to this, the color of the dish remains light, the carrots have a rich, bright color and the same rich stewed taste.

The meat is cut into large pieces; meat with bones is always used. Before placing in a dish, the bones are removed and the meat is cut into small pieces.

Served with coarsely chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, fresh herbs and green onions.

If you like to cook pilaf and have never cooked it this way, then be sure to cook it! Believe me, it's worth it! You will like it, I'm sure!

Wedding Uzbek pilaf with peas and raisins

Well, what would a wedding be without pilaf? The entire wedding in Uzbekistan is judged by what kind of pilaf it was. Therefore, in order to prepare it correctly and tasty, they invite special masters who have extensive cooking experience. And this despite the fact that all the men and women present at the wedding know how to cook it.

To make the life of young people happy and rich, pomegranate seeds, Uzbek peas, and raisins are added to pilaf. Each ingredient is symbolic and means, for example, that there are many children in the family, that wealth and abundance live in the house, that love is a constant and faithful companion. Barberry is also placed, which means good health and longevity.

Dried apricots and chopped boiled eggs can also be added.

Due to the large number of components, it is important that everything in the pilaf is balanced, so that none of the ingredients stands out from the overall taste.

Today I propose to prepare pilaf with all the ingredients, but you can prepare it according to this recipe using only chickpeas, or only raisins, or pomegranate.

We will need:

• lamb or beef meat - 700 gr
• tail fat or vegetable oil - 200 g
• hard grain rice, devzira variety – 600 g
• onion - 250 gr
• garlic - 2 heads
• carrots - 600 gr
• raisins – 100 gr
• chickpeas - 100 gr
• barberry - 50 gr
• pomegranate – 1 piece (200 g)
• zira - 1 tbsp. spoon
• salt - to taste

Preparation:

1. Chickpeas should be soaked in advance, preferably even a day before cooking. During this time, you can change the water a couple of times. During this time, the peas should double in size. When you bite into it, it will no longer be hard and should be chewable.

2. Cook the meat. It should be washed, dried and cut into large pieces of 150 - 200 grams. Cut the tail fat into small cubes, measuring 2 by 2 cm. If there is no fat, then prepare vegetable oil. You can also use 100 grams of butter and 100 grams of fat.

3. For wedding pilaf, a special variety of rice is used, which is called devzira. This variety is specially grown for its preparation. It is quite rare and expensive. It grows in only one place in the Fergana Valley of sunny Uzbekistan. This is large, elongated rice, which is covered with a layer of pink powder. That is why it is called the pink pearl of the East.

This rice is not polished, thanks to this it retains all its nutritional properties and has a lot of vitamins and microelements. And it is also quite hard, and therefore it will not stick together during the cooking process and will remain crumbly.

If you have such rice, then this is already luck. Delicious pilaf is guaranteed to you. Unfortunately, even in markets in Central Asia you can easily run into fakes. Therefore, you need to have special knowledge and the ability to choose it.

Since it is very hard, it must first be soaked for several hours in lightly salted water.

If there is no such rice, then you can use steamed rice, which is sold in every store; in this case, you just need to rinse it thoroughly until the water is clear. It is not necessary to soak it.

4. Cut the onion into thin half rings, the carrots into thin strips, 3 cm thick and 5 - 6 cm long.

5. Sort through the raisins and barberries, removing their sticks. And we start cooking.

6. Place the cauldron on the fire and warm it up thoroughly. Add the tail fat and evaporate it until there are cracklings, then remove them with a slotted spoon.

If you use oil, pour it in and heat thoroughly.

7. Fry the meat in oil; after frying, you should get a golden brown crust. Add half the cumin and 1/3 of the onion and continue to fry, stirring occasionally with a slotted spoon. Fry both meat and onion over high heat until the onion is also browned.

8. Place carrots on top of the onions, level them over the entire surface, but do not mix. Then the peas, from which all the water had previously been drained and rinsed in clean water. Don't mix it either.

9. Then turn a layer of raisins, which, in turn, are evenly sprinkled with barberries. Add garlic.

10. Fill the contents with cold water, pouring it through the holes in the slotted spoon so that the layers do not mix. You need so much water that it only half covers the layer with peas. Add salt to taste.

Let the water boil. Then reduce the heat to low. Leave to simmer for 40 - 50 minutes. During this time, the meat and peas will be almost ready, and all the components will steam well and release all their flavor into the zirvak.

11. Add a little hot water, let it simmer for 5 minutes and carefully remove the meat. We try not to greatly disturb the layers.

12. Increase heat to maximum and spread rice in an even layer. Add salt.

Sprinkle some cumin. Add water as needed; it should cover the rice by 1 cm. Remember that it must be added through the holes in the slotted spoon.

13. Bring to a boil. Make sure that it is uniform over the entire surface. If the boiling is uneven, the rice will cook as well. Cook until all the water has evaporated. By this time, the rice should be 85 - 90% ready.

If this is the case, then put the meat back into the cauldron, while lightly pressing it into the rice.

14. Mix the remaining onion with the remaining cumin and place on top. Then cover tightly with a lid, you can cover the top with a towel to be sure so that no steam escapes, and leave to simmer over very low heat for 20-25 minutes.

15. Open the lid. Carefully remove the top layer of onion into a separate bowl. Place the meat on a cutting board and cut it into pieces or slices, as you prefer.

16. Place pilaf in the form of a mound on a large dish. First, you can carefully mix it in a cauldron, or you can put rice first, and only then peas with raisins and carrots on top.

Carefully place pieces of meat on top. Sprinkle generously with pomegranate seeds.

17. Serve the onions in a separate bowl as an appetizer. Also serve fresh vegetables, herbs and green onions.

18. Eat with pleasure!

This is such an interesting and delicious recipe!

And here is another recipe for holiday pilaf, which is prepared in a completely different way.

In addition to the recipes offered today, there are many more recipes that are simply impossible to offer all in one article! For example, pilaf can be prepared with cabbage rolls made from grape leaves.

To do this, they are first prepared, then placed on a thick culinary thread in the form of a necklace.

Pilaf is prepared according to the same scheme as, for example, Fergana, classic. Only after preparing the zirvak, first lay out a necklace of grape leaves and cook them until ready for about 40 minutes. Then take out and add rice. When it is 80% ready, add the cabbage rolls again and simmer with the lid closed for another 10-15 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let it simmer for another 10 - 15 minutes.

Using the same scheme, you can prepare a dish with small bell peppers. It also turns out quite tasty.

There are also options and variations depending on the area where it is prepared. For example, Bukhara pilaf, which is prepared with raisins, or Kokand, or Khorezm, which takes a whole day to prepare. Well, or the above-mentioned Samarkand and Fergana options.

In general, if you understand what is being done during the cooking process, you can prepare any pilaf. And now I will try to give the basic provisions for all types and varieties.

• You should always approach the preparation of this dish only with a good and positive attitude
• cooking does not tolerate fuss and haste
• All ingredients should be prepared in advance - cut vegetables, wash and prepare rice, put spices on hand, boil water. It is not advisable to be distracted by these things while cooking. Requires maximum concentration on the cooking process itself
• For cooking, it is advisable to have a cauldron, or a thick-walled dish with high walls. Only in such a container will the heat be distributed evenly and the dish will turn out as it should. In ordinary dishes, for example, rice will cook faster near the walls and remain raw inside. It will be difficult to move and cook it; by then the rice at the sides will be boiled.
• The meat used is mainly lamb or beef. Also prepared from chicken. Well, we also cook with pork.
• If you have the opportunity to stock up on fat tail fat, then do it, you won’t regret it. It makes any pilaf twice as tasty. Plus it's also healthier.

• In order for the meat to be tasty, it must be fried over high heat so that it quickly “seals” and becomes covered with a golden brown crust. For this reason, the meat is not pre-salted; this will not allow you to get a quick crust, the juice will leak out and the meat will not be tasty.
• The onion must be cut into half rings very thinly. The onion gives juice and taste; during cooking it becomes pureed and is completely invisible in the pilaf. Do not cut onions into cubes for cooking.
• Carrots cannot be grated, cut into cubes or thick slices. Although the word “cannot” is probably not entirely correct, it is possible, but this is not how they cut it for pilaf. Carrots should be cut into strips 5–7 cm long and no more than 0.5 cm thick.
• To prepare a delicious and authentic Uzbek dish, you must have cumin, or it is also called cumin. Without it, pilaf cannot be prepared.
• Coriander can also be used as a spice; these are ground cilantro seeds. The dish is also very tasty with the addition of barberry.

• rice for pilaf should be long-grain, it’s good if it says steamed on the package. This rice does not stick together and turns out crumbly. The grains should not be chipped; when bitten, they should not break easily.

• It is better not to use round-grain varieties. They contain a lot of gluten and are good for boiled porridges, but not for pilaf.
• When cooking rice, do not stir it, otherwise it will turn out to be porridge.
• the best type of rice for cooking pilaf is devzira. It is not sold in stores; it can only be bought in markets in Uzbekistan. And then, you can easily be deceived. Before buying it, read on the Internet how to choose it correctly.
• Each type of rice requires a certain amount of water when cooked. This can only be determined experimentally.

What to do if all the water has boiled away and the rice is not ready yet?

- add a little hot water, and if holes have already been made in the pot, then you can add water directly into them so that the rice steams evenly.

What to do if the rice is already cooked, but there is still a lot of water left?

- open the lid and turn up the heat. Using a slotted spoon, you can slightly move the rice away from the wall so that the hot walls help the water evaporate faster.

In this case, you need to be careful so that nothing burns at the bottom.

• boiling while cooking rice should be uniform over the entire surface of the cauldron, otherwise it will cook unevenly
• After the pilaf is completely ready, open the lid so that the condensation that has accumulated on it does not fall back into the cauldron. There is no need for excess water in rice.
• Do not serve the dish with mayonnaise and ketchup. Also, do not serve it with salads with mayonnaise.

Cooking pilaf is akin to art. Therefore, in order to create a real culinary masterpiece, you need to study. And you can only learn by preparing it, gradually honing your skills each time. Then you will begin to notice all the nuances and comprehend all the subtleties.

That seems to be all. The article turned out to be great and I hope it is useful for you. Write in the comments if you found it useful? Have you learned anything new in preparing this delicious Uzbek dish? And also write if everything worked out if you prepared it according to one of the recipes. If something didn’t work out, don’t despair, write, describe what didn’t work out and I will help you. Next time it will definitely work!

And also share with your friends. I will be grateful for the likes you give.

Well, I'll leave it at that. All the best to you, and bon appetit to those who cooked pilaf today!

The most common recipe for making pilaf at home. Beef or lamb meat, onions and carrots. Proper long grain rice. And of course oriental spices. We lived in Tashkent for several years. In ordinary families, pilaf was prepared this way from available products.

Ingredients

• beef – 600 g;
• carrots – 300 g;
• onion – 200 g;
• long grain rice – 400 g;
• garlic – 1 head;
• vegetable oil – 100 g;
• cumin – 1 teaspoon;
• dry barberry – 2 teaspoons;
• coriander seeds, ground black pepper - 0.5 teaspoon each.

Peel and wash the carrots and onions. Cut the carrots into fairly large strips. Cut the onion into quarters and chop. Wash the garlic thoroughly, remove the husks and roots, but do not separate it into cloves; we will cook it whole. Wash the meat, dry it and cut it into pieces of 60-70 g.

Pour vegetable oil into a saucepan or frying pan with high sides and heat until smoking appears. Here it is recommended to take a small peeled onion, dip it in oil, fry it, remove it and throw it away. This procedure should infuse the oil with aroma. Don't be greedy and do this operation. Next, put the meat in the oil, fry it until a light brown crust forms, stirring from time to time with a slotted spoon.

Add chopped onions to the meat in a saucepan and fry them. Then add the carrots cut into strips and fry over high heat for about 8-10 minutes. Add cumin, coriander seeds, pepper to the pan and reduce heat. It wouldn’t hurt to add a handful of pre-soaked chickpeas and washed raisins. Add a whole head of garlic.

Pour boiling water into the saucepan so that it completely covers the meat. Add salt to the broth and simmer over low heat under a closed lid for 1 hour. We are preparing zirvak. This is the name for the base for pilaf, consisting of onions, carrots and meat with spices fried and stewed over low heat.

Rinse the rice in several waters until completely transparent. Lay the rice in an even layer over the entire surface of the saucepan, without mixing with the zirvak. Add boiling water to the saucepan so that it covers the rice by 1 centimeter. Cover with a lid, increase heat and let it boil. Then reduce the heat to low and cook without a lid until the liquid is completely absorbed. Then close the saucepan with a lid and cook until done for 20-30 minutes.

The pilaf is ready. All that remains is to serve it beautifully to the table. To do this, place the head of garlic and pieces of meat on a separate plate. Cut the meat into 2 cm pieces.

Many housewives limit themselves to preparing literally a few dozen familiar dishes. Often they do not have enough time, energy, or desire to experiment. But in fact, many famous dishes can be prepared independently, you just need to follow the instructions. This also applies to pilaf, which came to us from Asia. Let's talk about how to cook delicious pilaf at home.

Real pilaf

To prepare delicious pilaf in Uzbek style, you need to stock up on half a kilogram of meat (lamb, pork or chicken), half a kilogram of carrots and a third of a glass of vegetable oil. Also use one glass of rice, six cloves of garlic, salt and spices (khmeli-suneli, barberry, etc.) and water.

Cut the carrots into long strips. Chop the onion into half rings. Cut the meat into medium pieces, it is best if it is fatty.
Prepare Zirvak - the basis for pilaf. Pour a third of a glass of vegetable oil into a frying pan, heat it well, add meat, carrots and onions. Cook Zirvak for half an hour on the highest heat. Keep the meat uncovered half the time, and stir occasionally.

It is best to cook pilaf in a thick cast-iron frying pan or in a thick cast-iron cauldron. The lid should fit more tightly.
Halfway through cooking Zirvak, salt it and sprinkle with spices. Reduce the mixture under the lid. You should end up with a slightly salty, rich carrot and onion mixture.

After the Zirvak has evaporated, add rice to it. Sprinkle it directly on top and do not stir. Fill the contents of the frying pan (or pilaf) with cold water so that it slightly covers the rice. Cover the container with a lid and place on low heat. Cook for about an hour without stirring or uncovering.
About five to ten minutes before readiness, stick the garlic cloves (peeled or directly in the peel) on top. Wrap the finished pilaf in a blanket, so it will be maximally saturated with aroma and taste.

Pilaf Urban

To prepare such a dish, you need to stock up on four hundred grams of meat, a couple of medium carrots, three medium onions and, of course, spices. So on the market you can buy a special mixture for pilaf prepared by an Uzbek. Also use one hundred and fifty grams of sunflower oil, six cloves of garlic and three hundred grams of rice.

Rinse the rice. Fill two scoops of rice with three scoops of water. Cook with a tightly covered lid until the water boils.

Cut the meat into pieces and fry until golden in well-heated water with vegetable oil. Add carrots and onions, spices, and five to six cloves of unpeeled garlic to the pan. Add salt, stir and simmer covered for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Heat a large, heavy-walled saucepan on a separate burner. Combine vegetables, meat and rice in it, mix carefully and simmer for five minutes.

How to cook pilaf in a cauldron at home?

To prepare such a dish, you need to prepare fifty to one hundred grams of chickpeas (Asian peas), one kilogram of carrots, one kilogram of rice, one kilogram of meat and one head of garlic. Also use a couple of onions and some vegetable oil.

Boil the chickpeas until tender. Cut the carrots into strips and the onion into half rings. Grind the meat into large pieces.

Heat a cauldron with vegetable oil. Fry the onion in it until nicely golden. Add meat to the container, add salt, fry and simmer. Place boiled chickpeas in a container, add carrots and unpeeled garlic (remove only the top dirty shell from the garlic). Add spices (the best choice would be a pilaf mixture).

Fill the mixture in a cauldron with water so that it is two centimeters above the rice. Cook over fairly high heat, but do not cover with a lid. When the water level is equal to the level of the rice, reduce the heat to low and cover the cauldron with a lid. Cook until cooked, do not stir the rice and do not open the lid.

Delicious, quick and simple pilaf at home

To prepare such a dish, you need to prepare four hundred grams of rice, four hundred grams of pork, one medium onion, one large carrot, half a glass of vegetable oil. Also use spices (for pilaf) and boiling water.

Rinse the rice thoroughly and dry. Cut the meat into small pieces and marinate if desired.
Heat the sunflower oil in a cast iron frying pan with high sides or in a cauldron. Fry the meat in it. Cut the onion into cubes and the carrot into strips. Add onions and carrots to the meat and fry until soft.
Add dry rice to the pan and fry over high heat, stirring occasionally. The rice should become transparent.
Fill the contents of the pan with boiling water from the kettle until it is about a centimeter above the rice. Add spices, salt, and add garlic cloves if desired. Cover the container with a lid and reduce the heat to low.
After all the water in the container has boiled away, the pilaf can be considered ready.

Homemade pilaf is an excellent dish that will delight everyone at home. And it’s not at all difficult to prepare it at home, you just need to follow the above recommendations.