Uzbek lamb pilaf in a cauldron - the correct step-by-step recipe for making pilaf. Lamb pilaf - Uzbek recipes

Description

Pilaf Uzbek (Andijan)- one of the most popular and delicious cooking options for this dish. There are many pilaf recipes. Many countries, regions and even cities always have their own individual and unique way of preparing this wonderful and versatile dish.

In fact, pilaf is a combination of rice, meat (or, in some cases, fish) and vegetables, but often the taste of pilaf is enriched by adding garlic, raisins, dried apricots, barberries, quince, peas and a variety of spices.

The uniqueness of the dish also lies in the cooking technology - the grain part is not boiled, but stewed in a cauldron or in a deep frying pan, followed by the addition of the remaining ingredients. Due to this, the rice is thoroughly saturated with an incredible combination of a large number of appetizing and rich smells and tastes.

Ingredients

• 
  (600 g)
• 
  (600 g)
• 
  (200 g)
• 
  (600 g)
• 
  (2 heads)
• 
  (200 ml)
• 
  (1 tsp)
• 
  (2 tsp)

Cooking steps

First you need to wash and peel the carrots and onions. Then cut the carrots into small strips, and the onion into medium rings.



Now let's get to the rice. It is better to use special rice for pilaf, as it will not boil and stick together. It must be washed well and left soaked in cold water for half an hour.



Then you need to heat the pan well with the addition of vegetable oil and add the pre-chopped onion to it.



The onion needs to be fried over high heat in order for it to acquire golden brown and well gave his juice, in which we will soon fry the meat.





The meat needs to be fried on one side, and then turned over and fried on the other.



Now we will add carrots to the pan with onions and meat, mix and continue to fry for another 5-7 minutes.



Now we need to pour about 500 ml of water into the pan, insert a whole head of garlic in the middle, which must first be peeled only from the top layer of the husk. Then, bringing to a boil, remove the garlic. Now you can add salt and pepper to taste.





After that, you can put the head of garlic back into the pilaf, sprinkle it with crushed cumin and cover it all with a lid.



Now we simmer the pilaf on a small fire for about 20 minutes.



Our Uzbek (Andijan) lamb pilaf is ready! It remains only to put it on a large dish and, garnished with garlic and fresh herbs, serve.



Bon appetit!

When we lived in Uzbekistan, I was presented with a book containing more than 100 recipes for this dish. Then we moved several times from place to place, and the book got lost. It's unfortunate, but what can you do...

One of the most important skills that I brought with me from this sunny and hospitable land is the ability to cook pilaf. I must say that it did not come immediately. Many dishes similar to it were cooked with sticky rice. Such a dish is called there with a grin "shavlya", that is, "porridge". This is also rice with meat, with onions and carrots, but you definitely cannot call this dish pilaf!

In a real Uzbek dish, rice lags behind rice, they are not stuck together, and each of them is saturated with the taste of fragrant “zirvak”, or figuratively speaking, sauce obtained as a result of roasting and stewing meat, onions and carrots. The taste of "zirvak" must be achieved with skillful actions.

Rice is also cooked in a special way, which allows it to be saturated with fat and juices of vegetables and meat. Therefore, it turns out incredibly tasty, and most importantly crumbly.

Now, already looking back, I can say with confidence why it was not possible to cook such a dish as the Uzbeks cook it. There was no understanding of the process itself, everything was done mechanistically. There was a recipe - and there was cooking, which, alas, did not please every time.

But when the understanding suddenly came, and it became clear - what, why, and why, then the skill immediately came. And the pilaf began to turn out every time the way it should be. And then there was no pity for the lost book with recipes, because you could already cook your favorite dish according to any of them.

I already have several recipes for this dish on my blog. And I tried to explain in them the most detailed explanation of what and how to cook.

Authentic Uzbek lamb pilaf in a cauldron

In Uzbekistan, lamb pilaf has always been prepared for the most significant life events - for a wedding, for other important events and holidays, for the arrival and meeting of a dear guest, etc.

It was not easy to buy good lamb during the Soviet era, so we went through the whole city to the market in the Old City (this is in Samarkand). And only there, bypassing all the shops, it was possible to find the right piece of meat.

On weekdays, they cooked and. And it has always been delicious too!

And no matter what kind of meat this dish is prepared from, the process itself has always been very significant and responsible. I needed a mood and certainly a good mood. And also it took time, which was necessary to fully devote to the cooking process. When preparing this dish, you should not rush and rush, just as you should not be distracted by other things.

Pilaf must be felt, and therefore the time intervals for laying products can only be approximate.

If you have stocked up with all these properties, then you can start cooking. The whole process can be divided into three parts:

• preparation of ingredients
• cooking
• innings

We will need:

• lamb on the bones - 1 kg
• fat tail fat - 100 gr
• onion - 1 kg
• carrots - 1 kg
• garlic - 2 - 3 heads
• rice - 1 kg
• vegetable oil - 250 ml
• spices zira - 2 teaspoons
• ground coriander - 0.5 tsp
• salt - to taste (about 0.5 tablespoons)
• ground black pepper - to taste (about 0.5 tsp)

Preparation of ingredients

Usually, preparation always begins with a trip to the store or market, and with the purchase of the necessary products.

Lamb is better to buy on the bones. It is with them that the most delicious dish is obtained. The meat will first be fried, then stewed, and it is the bones that will give the very necessary fat, which will make the “zirvak” filled, nutritious and incredibly tasty.

When you buy meat, ask if fat tail fat is on sale. If there is, then ask you to weigh the required amount. A piece of fat tail fat is simply irreplaceable when cooking this oriental dish.

But if you don’t find it, then you can get by with only vegetable oil.

Get larger carrots, it will be more convenient to cut. In Uzbekistan, they are made from yellow carrots. If you can get one, that would be great. Pilaf with such carrots is not as sweet as with orange. But, unfortunately, you won’t find such carrots in the Urals during the day with fire, so we take ours - the usual one.

Buying rice should be given special attention. At the end of the article I will talk about the main recommendations when choosing it. As a rule, I use parboiled rice. It can be bought at any store, it is currently presented in a wide range, and even from different manufacturers.

An excellent variety for cooking is Devzira, where rice grains are covered with pinkish-brown powder, which makes the dish incredibly tasty. This variety is grown only in one place in the world, in the Ferghana Valley of Uzbekistan. It is almost impossible to buy it in a store, but in the market from fruit and vegetable merchants, immigrants from Central Asia, you can just buy it. But you have to order it from them. By the way, today they brought me two kilograms of such rice by order. So my next holiday plov will be from it.

If you cook from this variety, then you should know that it is very dense, and requires preliminary long soaking and longer cooking. But when cooking, it increases in size up to 5 - 7 times, and never boils at the same time. And thanks to this feature, it perfectly absorbs all the juices from meat and vegetables, fat from butter, as well as the aroma and taste of spices.

Be sure to purchase the spices that are indicated. Zira, or cumin, is the main spice for rice. It is she who gives the very specific taste to pilaf, which allows you to determine by smell that it is the same, real, Uzbek. And if you can still do without ground coriander, then you can’t do without zira!

For a slightly sour taste, barberry is also added. If you have it, then you can include it in the recipe. And I'll tell you at what stage it needs to be added.

Well, now that everything has been bought from us, I’ll tell you how to cook and cut the ingredients.

1. Cut the meat into fairly large pieces. When it is cut in this way, then during frying, the upper crust is baked, and all the juice remains inside. And in this case, the meat is not overdried, but very juicy and tasty.

Today I am waiting for guests, and therefore I take not a kilo of lamb, but a little more. I do this because my lamb is quite bony. After the meat is completely cooked, I will remove the bones and leave only the pulp. And in this case, I will get enough meat.

If your lamb will be used not fresh, but frozen, then you need to take care in advance and defrost it in the right way.

The best way to do this is to defrost in the refrigerator. That is, you just need to move the meat from the freezer to the refrigerator, and leave it like that, you can overnight if you cook in the morning. Or in the morning, if you cook in the evening.

With this method of defrosting, the meat fibers will best retain their texture. And lamb does not lose its useful qualities.

Or you can defrost lamb at room temperature. But in no case do not defrost it in the microwave or in hot water. From the taste, in such meat, it is unlikely that anything will remain.

2. Peel and cut the onion into two halves. In this case, the tails can not be cut off. It will be convenient to hold on to them when we cut the onion into half rings.

Onions can be put in a bowl filled with water. This will save your eyes when cutting it. But do not leave it there for a long time so that all the juice does not flow into the water.

3. Now the onion should be cut. To do this, you need a sharp knife, the sharper, the thinner you can cut the onion. My grandfather, who lived in Uzbekistan all his life, cooked this dish perfectly. And each time he began his preparation with sharpening a knife.

We cut the onion into half rings, we try to cut it thinner. I get half rings 2 mm thick, that's right. The thinner the onion is cut, the juicier the dish will turn out.

By the way, there are recipes where only 500-600 grams of onion per kilogram of meat are used. But I take only a kilogram, that's how my grandfather taught me how to cook.

4. Carrots also need to be cut. Cut it into long thin strips. Not cubes, not cubes, namely straws. And carrots are not grated, even if there is a special grater for Korean carrots. All of it must be cut approximately the same in size and it is by hand. Many people ignore this point, and cut carrots as they please, but not as they should. And this is important for getting a properly prepared dish.

Therefore, arm yourself with a sharp knife and we will cut carrots. If you have never cut it like this before, then at first it will be difficult, but then get used to it, and you will cut it even faster than grating it.

And you have to cut it. Take a large peeled carrot and first start cutting it diagonally into long thin plates, each of which should be about 5 mm thick.

Why put several plates one on one, and cut them into strips of the same thickness.

If at some point, from the side of the end by which you hold the carrot, it becomes inconvenient to cut carrots with plates, and most importantly, unsafe for your fingers, then simply put it cut on the board.

And cut in a more convenient way, but with straws of the same size.

5. Rinse the rice under running water to wash off the starch. If the rice variety is not steamed, then it will need to be washed in several waters until it is transparent. Starch must be washed off due to the fact that during cooking it will stick the grains together, and you will get porridge. And we remember that in a real Uzbek pilaf, the rice should easily move away from the rice.

Parboiled rice needs much less time to be washed. And it doesn't need to be pre-soaked.

Varieties of ordinary oblong rice must not only be thoroughly washed, but also soaked in water for 20 minutes. Water for this will need to be at room temperature.

6. Peel the heads of garlic from the top shirt. Carefully cut off the place where the root system was located. And wash your heads well. At the same time, they should remain in their entirety, they do not need to be disassembled into cloves. Just like peeling garlic from clothes.

7. We almost forgot about fat tail fat. Cut it into pieces about three centimeters.

In Uzbekistan, it happens that they cook it purely on tail fat. It is evaporated to cracklings, which are subsequently removed, and the whole dish is already prepared on the resulting melted fat. In this case, cut it into smaller cubes.

We will add lard for taste and therefore this size will be just right. When it is ready, there will not even be a trace of this fat, it will melt all over and nourish every piece and every grain with its taste!

Sometimes they ask, and if there is no tail fat, is it possible to add pork. I categorically answer - it is impossible! And not even because real Uzbek pilaf is not made from pork. But simply because pork fat has a completely different taste, and it is not suitable for the dish.

8. Of course, we will prepare spices, salt and black pepper. Let everything be at hand so that you don’t forget anything in the process.

Cooking

For cooking, we will use a cauldron, since it is this dish that makes it possible to cook real Uzbek pilaf. The secret of the cauldron is that it is a dish with thick walls that does not have pronounced bottom boundaries. The bottom smoothly flows into the walls. In such dishes, heat is distributed evenly, which allows all the ingredients to warm up well at the same time. Also, despite the fact that most of the time the ingredients are fried over high heat, they are much less likely to burn.

Also, such dishes allow you to cook rice perfectly without stirring it. What is very important in the sense that such rice does not stick together and does not break.

Now other thick-walled dishes have appeared, so if you don’t have a cauldron, then try cooking in it.

Pilaf is prepared in different ways, and we have already talked about this. Today I will show you a way when rice is not mixed in a cauldron with other ingredients. This is how they prepare it in Samarkand.

Maybe I lived in Samarkand for too long, or maybe because I spent all my childhood and youth in this city, or I love this city too much, but I think it is the most delicious.

And although you can cook any options with lamb - and (it is considered a classic in cooking), and Bukhara, and all the other numerous options, today I choose my favorite recipe.

1. Put the cauldron on the fire and warm it up well. A cauldron is used in the preparation of various dishes quite often, and often it is literally saturated with oil - this is the so-called oil soot. This soot works better than any other non-stick coating and accumulates on it over many years of cooking various dishes in it.

Therefore, often a cauldron is bought only once in a lifetime. The older and more mature it is, the better. And since the oil soot is not washed off, the surface must be calcined so that no microbes remain on it.

My cauldron has also served me for many years. And therefore, he also already gained a significant part of the soot. Although it does not look very beautiful, but you can cook everything in it with a bang!

2. Pour in the oil. The recipe indicates 250 grams of oil and there will be another 100 grams of fat tail fat. But if you like fatter dishes, then for such a quantity of ingredients you can use 300 gr.

Heat the oil well until a blue haze appears.

3. Gently lower the lamb pieces one by one along the edge of the cauldron wall. In order not to burn yourself, lower it on a slotted spoon. Or if you have experience, then you can lower the meat with your hands.

Pieces fall along the edge of the wall due to the fact that the oil does not cool quickly. Our task at this stage is to fry the meat as quickly as possible until a beautiful golden brown appears. And if the oil cools quickly, then quick frying will not work. And the meat will begin to give its juice into the oil. As a result, it will turn out dry.

4. Add pieces of tail fat. Mix and fry everything together.

Roasting time will depend on the size of the lamb pieces and their condition. The flesh will fry faster, the meat on the bones will require a longer time. But approximately, the meat will be fried for 10 - 20 minutes.

At this time, the meat must be periodically mixed with a slotted spoon. But not so often. Let the sides brown well.

During all this time, the fire should be large. It is important!

5. We have already cooked and cut the onion.

And as soon as the meat is fried to the desired state, put it in a cauldron. The contents should be mixed and now you need to fry the onion as well. Do not reduce the fire, periodically mixing the contents.

The onion should not be fried, it will rather be stewed, gradually changing its color from white to transparent yellow, with shades of brown. The whole process will also take 15 - 20 minutes of time.

6. In the meantime, the onion is fried, put the kettle on the fire, we will need about 1.5 liters of water. As soon as the onion changes its consistency and becomes soft and translucent, pour boiling water into the cauldron. It should practically cover the meat with onions.

When the contents boil again, you can see that we have a yellowish-brown broth. It is the bones that give the very fat, which will subsequently give us the main taste.

7. Close the contents with a lid and leave the meat to cook until fully cooked. This condition can be determined by the fact that the meat can be easily removed from the bone.

If you use ribs, then this will happen quite quickly. And if the bones are quite complex, then the cooking process will take a little longer. The total cooking time can be from an hour to an hour and a half.

If you do not plan to remove the bones, and this is allowed (when serving, the meat is laid out directly with the bones), then you can not stew it until it is fully cooked. As soon as it starts to chew, you can immediately proceed to the next step.

My bones are just difficult, and I want to remove them before I start laying carrots.

8. The meat is cooked, now you need to get it and remove the bones. At the same time, try to leave it in large pieces, without cutting into smaller pieces.

9. Place all the pieces back into the cauldron.

And we already have chopped carrots.

Add it to the cauldron. Mix.

10. Immediately add spices, while cumin can be rubbed lightly in the palms. Pepper to taste, for starters, you can add half a teaspoon of ground black pepper. And also salt, also putting about half a tablespoon of salt to begin with, you can even a little less, so as not to oversalt inadvertently. Subsequently, the amount of salt can be adjusted.

If you add barberry, then this is also the right time for it. You can add two to three teaspoons of it. It is usually sold dried. And it will expand a little when cooked.

11. Mix again and simmer over medium heat for 5 - 7 minutes. This is exactly the mixture that we got at this stage, and is called the beautiful word "zirvak".

12. Prepare the heads of garlic and insert them into the carrot thickness. Insert deeper so that when you add water, they do not float.

13. If rice was soaked, then drain the water from it and put it on top of the carrots in an even layer. Smooth with a slotted spoon so that there are no bumps and depressions.

14. At the ready, we should again have boiling water. Pour it into the cauldron through the holes in the slotted spoon so as not to disturb the rice. If poured directly from the kettle, the rice will rise to the top and the carrots will float. And we need her to stay downstairs.

Pour water in such a way that it covers the rice by about 2 cm. In Uzbekistan, this distance is measured along the first phalanx of the index finger.

On high heat, wait until the water boils. Fat and broth will rise to the top and the broth will turn golden yellow in a beautiful color. When the boil becomes more active, taste the broth to determine if it has enough salt.

If you feel like you want to add more salt, then salt the broth directly on top, as much as you see fit. then you can add the missing pepper.

15. Cook rice with the lid open over high heat until all the water has boiled away. This will take approximately 15 minutes.

16. Then collect a hillock of rice, collecting it from the edge of the cauldron to the center. It turns out that we, as it were, cover the middle of the not yet fully cooked rice with the one from the edges, which is almost ready. You can still see some liquid left on the edges. We will now evaporate its remains.

17. With a Chinese stick, or some other suitable device, make several holes in the middle of the hill, sticking the stick to the very bottom and gently rotating it from side to side. The holes will fill with liquid.

This manipulation will allow the rice, which is in the middle and may still be raw, to also reach the state of readiness. Steam will go through the holes made directly to where it is needed.

18. Reduce the heat to a minimum and close the cauldron with a lid. If the cauldron is small, but there is a lot of rice and meat, and it is difficult to cover it with a lid, especially when a hill has already been formed, then you can use an ordinary bowl as a lid, putting it upside down.

At this stage, it is important to evaporate the remaining liquid and prevent the contents from burning. Therefore, a very small fire is needed.

19. Simmer rice in this position for 10 minutes, then open the lid. But it should be opened in such a way that the condensate accumulated on its reverse side does not fall back into the cauldron.

Try rice, it should be almost ready. There should be no liquid left in the holes made with a stick and along the edges. It can be checked in this way. Slightly move the rice away from the wall with a slotted spoon, and again turn the stick in the holes.

Rice comes in different varieties and absorbs water differently. Therefore, it is advisable to use proven varieties, then you can roughly know how much water is needed for a particular species.

If it happened that there was no water left in the cauldron, and the rice is still raw, then this situation can be corrected. You can pour a little boiling water into the holes made, but only very little. And again close the cauldron with a lid. Boil again until the liquid has evaporated.

20. When there is no water left in the cauldron, and the rice is ready, you need to cover the cauldron with a lid again and turn off the gas. Put a thick towel over the lid. This is necessary so that the rice is infused and absorbs all the remnants of the liquid remaining in the cauldron.

Innings

Pilaf cooked in Samarkand style also has its own form of serving. Laying it in the dish is done in exactly the same sequence in which the bookmark was made. I will write how to do it.

1. In a large dish, in Uzbekistan it is called "lyagan", lay out the first layer of rice. It's okay if a piece of carrot gets along with it. Rice is better to choose from one of the edges of the cauldron.

2. Put a layer of carrots on top of the rice. Try to pick it up with a slotted spoon carefully so that it does not break and retains its shape.

3. Lay out the meat with the next layer. If the pieces are quite large, then they can be cut into smaller portions.

If the meat was on the bones, for example, on the ribs, then they can be laid out together with the bone, or you can remove the bone. If the bones were large, then of course it is better to remove them, especially if you are preparing a dish for guests.

If you cook for yourself, then you can serve it with bones. As a rule, there are always lovers to gnaw on them.

4. Put the garlic on top of everything, just like that, whole. It will be a pleasant decoration of our dish.

5. Chop the greens and sprinkle it on top. The green color really adorns the dish. This paint was just what we needed for the mood.

6. Serve the lagan with pilaf to the table and eat with pleasure!

You can take care of the guests and give them a portion with the master's hand, this is a special gesture in relation to the guest.

Be sure to invite guests to try the garlic. To do this, peel it yourself from the skin. Garlic has a very unusual and interesting taste, incomparable with any other. He gave his main taste to the broth and absorbed all other tastes and smells.

However, he has both lovers, and vice versa, those who categorically do not like his taste. Therefore, do not impose garlic, offer to try, and that's all. Whoever likes it will ask for more, or take it himself.

Serve with cucumber and tomato salad. Or just chopped vegetables. By the way, this oriental dish is not eaten with ketchup! I often saw such a picture (not in Uzbekistan, of course!).

In Uzbekistan, pilaf is the last to be served on the table. On the table during the evening there can be a large string of other dishes and endless green tea. And the more honorable the guest, the later the main dish will be brought out for him. You can eat it for a long time and a lot, while talking and smacking your lips with pleasure. But when they ate it, it means that you can slowly get ready to go home. Of course, after it they will serve more tea and offer to play backgammon or chess, but pilaf is always the end point.

In general, there is always a special attitude towards him in the East. Without it, not a single little - even slightly significant life event can do. And it is no coincidence that the UNESCO organization included it in the list of cultural heritage. This once again emphasizes its importance, and most importantly, its incomparable taste.

And now you can join this action, and cook it yourself. I hope that I wrote everything in an accessible and understandable way. If, after reading the article, you have questions, then ask them in the comments. I will gladly answer them

What kind of rice do you need to cook

Very often, people fail to cook real pilaf because they do not choose the right rice for it. Here are some tips to help you make the right choice.

• for cooking, you need long-grain rice, which has an elongated oblong shape. Rice with round grains is softer and more fluffy. It is not suitable for this dish. With its use cook porridge.
• grain must be strong. At the bazaars in Uzbekistan, rice is bitten, that is, they are checked “by the tooth”. And if you manage to crack it, then this variety is left aside, it is not suitable for cooking this dish. Choose only hard varieties.
• grain surface should be ribbed. If the grain is smooth, then it is better to refuse this. Ribbed varieties better absorb the juice from meat and vegetables, and this makes the pilaf more delicious.
• With the advent of steamed varieties of rice, I began to buy them. With them, the result is always excellent. It does not need to be pre-soaked and practically does not need to be washed. This kind of rice does not boil at all. And this is just what we need.
• when buying rice, make sure that all the grains are one to one, and that there are no broken or halves among them. This is the kind of rice we need. By the way, if you choose rice in a package, also pay attention to this.
• sometimes on the label it is written that “rice for pilaf”. Never believe it, anything can be written.
• it is best to use proven varieties that have already been brewed. In this case, you will have already adjusted to how much this or that variety requires water.

If you managed to buy pink rice called "Devzira", then consider yourself incredibly lucky. This variety is grown specifically for cooking pilaf. And you simply cannot find a better variety. It is not cheap, you can buy it in the Urals with a range of prices from 250 to 400 rubles per kilogram.

But, when buying, check it so as not to run into a fake. Be sure to check it "for a tooth." Real varietal rice can not be cracked. The grain of real varietal rice is heavy and dense, much heavier than that of ordinary varieties. On the grain there is a longitudinal groove of red-brown color. If you shake off the brownish powder from the grain, then the groove should be visible. And it is important to know that it cannot be washed off with water. It remains even after cooking.

Uzbeks check the authenticity of rice by picking it up in their hand. If you grind it in your hand, then the real "devzira" will crunch slightly. This is due to the fact that the grain is very dense and strong.

Such rice perfectly absorbs water and all the delicious juices from “zirvak”, does not boil soft and turns out to be very tasty. And as mentioned above, when cooking, it increases by 5-7 times. Therefore, it must be added much less than usual.

Don't be discouraged if you don't have this varietal rice. A delicious Uzbek dish can be cooked from white oblong rice, I repeat “steamed”. Therefore, learn to cook on it. And only then, when you achieve mastery, you can already hone it with expensive rare grain varieties.

Bon appetit!

• Yes, this is not just a recipe, but a tutorial on cooking pilaf, you can probably learn from it in educational institutions, I really like pilaf from lamb, but I probably didn’t cook it correctly, but I’ll try according to your recommendations

• Pilaf, I love it very much and besides, I cook it very well. I was taught by an Uzbek friend and now I can compete with oriental chefs)

• Well done Margarita! All cooking technology from A to Z.
  Now, for sure, you get the real Uzbek pilaf.

• I liked the way you described the rules for purchasing rice. Now I will always buy steamed rice for pilaf. Thanks for the tip. Great article about swimming.

• Thanks Margarita. With such detailed instructions, now I will cook too. Because I really got porridge.

• Margaret, thanks for the recipe! I had to eat pilaf similar in composition and preparation in Turkmenistan. The only embarrassment was that I had to eat with my fingers. But the taste is excellent!!!

• Thanks a lot! I downloaded the recipe in my book - very timely. I have a birthday in September - I will cook and treat my friends at the dacha with pilaf cooked in a cauldron on a fire.
  According to such cooking instructions - I'm sure that pilaf will turn out - super!
  Bravo Margarita - well done!

• Very interesting article. Not only the recipe itself is written in detail, but also the accompanying description. Well, I love pilaf with lamb. I love lamb in general. And pilaf and barbecue especially. Thanks to the author.

• Nice detailed recipe. Imagine how delicious it will be. It's a pity there is no cauldron, but I'll try it in a saucepan. And fat tail fat I have no idea where to get it. But anyway, I think it will work.

• I love lamb pilaf. Such pilaf really turns out to be real, as it should be - fragrant, crumbly and insanely tasty. Thanks for the recipe!

• Margarita, with your recipe, even someone who has never cooked pilaf will be able to cook pilaf. They described every moment in detail, without losing sight of anything. Regarding red rice, I also want to say that it is often faked by dyeing. That is, they mix it with red brick dust and the rice turns red. As you said, you need to "shake off the brownish powder from the grain, then the groove should be visible." If not, then you have a fake.
  You need to be careful when choosing rice - this is almost the main guarantee for the successful preparation of pilaf.

• Thank you so much for your detailed recipe. I myself have been to Uzbekistan, including Samarkand, and have repeatedly eaten excellent Uzbek pilaf, I know how to cook a lot, but I dreamed of finding just such a recipe for making pilaf.
  Health to you, good luck, happiness.
  Vasily 16.09.2017

• I'm a little confused about carrots. It should be put on meat mixed with onions, add all the spices, etc. and mix everything. Further, according to the recipe, everything is clear, but when serving it is not a table, confusion for me. Carefully lay out rice, a layer of carrots (???), a layer of meat, etc. Where did the layer of carrots come from if I already mixed it with meat? I misunderstood something. Do not take it for work - explain. All in all, a wonderful recipe. Best regards, Nina

• The cooking process is described so carefully and vividly that it is immediately clear that you are not only a connoisseur, but also a great admirer of pilaf. I ate my first real plov back in 1983. It was really prepared by a Dagestanian, but he kept repeating that the recipe was Uzbek. The rest is porridge. As now I remember a beautiful chased dish with crumbly pilaf. He stacked more tomato quarters along the edge. By the way, I tried pilaf based on brown rice. A very good tasting option. But rice is obtained without a “golden grain”, which, in my opinion, somewhat spoils its aesthetic appearance.

• Yes, Alexander, it is. I have a special relationship with pilaf. Probably it was brought up by long residence in Central Asia. There, from childhood, such an attitude to food in general, and to pilaf in particular, is brought up. And I also learned this science for a very long time, since I didn’t always get this dish the way it should.
  Pilaf is the greatest asset of Uzbek cuisine. And it is no coincidence that it is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. And I am very glad that I can touch this heritage when once again I cook pilaf for my dear guests!

If you conduct a survey among Russians on the topic of "the most popular rice dish", then the winner is known in advance. By a wide margin from all kinds of rolls, paella and risotto, the usual pilaf will win.

This name brings together hundreds of the most unexpected combinations of various ingredients. Pilaf is considered almost the main dish in dozens of national cuisines of the world. Its main and invariable feature is the obligatory presence of rice. Other important ingredients - meat, vegetables, fruits and spices can be very different.

Another important detail is that in the Central Asian countries it is customary to cook pilaf as a common dish: rice is combined with meat and vegetables in one cauldron and then cooked together. In some other countries (India, Azerbaijan, Iran), rice and other ingredients are prepared separately. First, rice is boiled as the basic element of the whole dish, and then flavored with meat, fruit or vegetable gravy (sauce).

A bit of theory

So, plov in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries of the region is a single and absolutely self-sufficient dish. In addition to rice, meat and vegetables, its composition may include: fresh fruits, nuts, dried fruits and other ingredients. All products are prepared in advance and then cooked together.

For pilaf, first of all, two things are needed: a good cauldron and the right rice

Of the variety of varieties of this common cereal crop, noble pilaf cooks value the following above all:

• devzira - a dense variety with a brown or red scar on an elongated grain;
• chungara - a kind of devzira with a slightly higher starch content;
• lazar (azure) - with a soft, long grain;
• avant-garde - an inexpensive variety, an analogue of Krasnodar rice with round grains;
• dastar-saryk - aged, smoked rice with a pronounced smell and yellow color, well absorbing water and fat;
• Basmati is a classic type of white, firm rice with a thin, long grain.

By the way, it is basmati that is considered the ideal rice for cooking separate pilaf.

After choosing rice, it remains only to decide on the type of meat or cook pilaf without it at all, limiting yourself to vegetables and dried fruits. This kind of dish is called Bukhara pilaf and is valued no less than the traditional meat classics.

Pilaf in Ferghana

Perhaps this particular recipe for pilaf with lamb in a cauldron is the most suitable for a clear understanding of the entire cooking technology. Using his example, it is easier to master all the nuances, after which it will definitely be easier when working with other varieties of Uzbek pilaf.

Required Ingredients:

• 2 kg lamb (pulp);
• half a dozen lamb ribs;
• 600 g fat tail fat;
• 2 kg devzira rice (or other medium grain size);
• 2 kg of large ripe carrots;
• half a dozen onions (medium);
• 4 heads of garlic;
• a few pods of hot pepper (to taste);
• zira, barberry (optional);
• salt.

Cooking technique

The algorithm of actions is as follows: first, using a sharply sharpened knife, you need to cut all the carrots. By the way, in order to cook real Uzbek pilaf, the choice of carrots is extremely important. Ideally, you need to stock up on large, ripe, reddish root crops. They should not be too watery and juicy.

Carrots are not usually grated or processed in a blender or food processor.

Carrots should be exclusively cut, armed with a knife: first into plates about 3 mm thick, and then into straws 3 * 3 mm in size

The meat is prepared as follows: the pulp is cut into cubes with a side of about 1.5–2 cm. The ribs are divided one by one.

Fat tail fat from an authentic recipe can be replaced with an identical amount of vegetable oil. It is better if it is without a strong smell.

Rice should be carefully sorted and thoroughly washed. This must be done until the flowing water is clear. Next, the cooked rice must be soaked in a significant amount of warm water.

The next stage is the preparation of the cauldron. It does not matter how further cooking will take place - on a fire or a gas stove - in any case, the fire should be kept as high as possible.

In a well-heated cauldron, the first step is to send diced tail fat

It is important to melt it properly. The remaining fried cracklings can be either thrown away or eaten. Usually they are eaten salted with pickled onions, flatbread and pomegranate seeds with the usual glass of vodka.

If vegetable oil is used instead of fat tail fat, then it must be thoroughly ignited until smoke appears. Then put the peeled onion into the cauldron and fry until black. In this way, venerable Central Asian chefs get rid of foreign odors.

After the fat tail comes the turn of the ribs. They should be cooked quickly: turn over a couple of times and after five minutes they will acquire a delicious golden hue. Then they need to be removed from the boiler and put aside for a while in a plate.

Heat the fat again, then send the whole onion, cut into rings, into the cauldron. The onion should be fried carefully, not letting it burn completely, stirring occasionally until it turns golden red. It is very important to evaporate the moisture from the onion rings as much as possible. Meat that will be further fried on onions should not be stewed.

Finally, it's time for the meat. The prepared lamb pulp should be put in a cauldron and fried, occasionally stirring with onions. After sealing the meat pieces, the appearance of a crust, you can begin to fall asleep carrots. It is better to do this in an even layer and after five minutes thoroughly mix the carrot shavings with onions and lamb over the entire volume of the cauldron.

Fry, stirring occasionally, for at least 15 minutes. In the end, the fire should be reduced to moderate. By this point, the carrots are usually soft. You can add half the zira and enjoy the characteristic smooth smell.

Then pour boiling water into the cauldron, so that the water covers all the ingredients by one and a half to two centimeters. You should pre-peel the garlic heads from the husk, rinse the hot capsicum, and then send them to the boiler.

Put the fried ribs in there too. Let it boil and then reduce the heat to low. After that, the entire contents of the cauldron will boil for at least 30-40 minutes on an open fire. The liquid will gradually begin to boil away, and the broth will begin to become transparent along with a pronounced reddish-brown color. At this stage, lovers of barberry usually put this fragrant smooth spice into the cauldron.

The correct preparation for pilaf without rice with a characteristic color and the desired consistency is called zirvak. It should be salted and again increase the fire to the maximum possible

Next, you need to drain the water from the prepared rice, evenly distribute it with a slotted spoon over the cauldron. Gently pour boiling water (about a liter), trying not to disturb the integrity of the rice layer. Ideally, it is better to pour a little less water and then add the missing amount than to overfill immediately. Rice should be covered with liquid about a centimeter or one and a half.

Fire at this stage of cooking needs maximum. Everything should boil quickly. The oil will eventually float to the surface and sink again as the rice cooks, coating every grain of rice with a greasy film. This is the effect we want. Only in this way will you cook real pilaf, and not rice porridge with lamb. It is extremely important not to mix the layers of rice, meat, carrots. It is possible only if necessary to level the surface of the rice, shift it to places with a weaker boil.

You can start tasting rice when the liquid from the surface is completely gone. Visually, the grains will clearly expand in volume, while they should not crunch.

To check the readiness, gently move the pilaf with a slotted spoon from one of the edges. If there is still a lot of water left below, you need to make several holes in the rice layer to increase the intensity of boiling. In the opposite case (dryness), add a little boiling water (up to a quarter cup).

If cooking progresses without any problems, reduce the heat to low, wait for the final evaporation of the remaining moisture, and reduce to a minimum.

Only now you can season the dish with the second half of the cumin and finally close the lid. The waiting time is 20 minutes.

Innings

Before serving the finished Ferghana pilaf, carefully remove the garlic heads and pepper pods. Then thoroughly mix all the layers of the dish: meat, rice and carrots. Put pilaf in a slide on a voluminous, round, festive dish. Top with peppercorns, garlic cloves and lamb ribs.

It is customary to eat pilaf with a spoon or with your hands if you have the right dexterity. In company, they eat it from a common dish, breaking the heads of garlic into cloves and squeezing their baked pulp onto rice. Such garlic stimulates the appetite cleaner than any aperitif or spicy snack.

Pilaf is washed down exclusively with hot green tea.

Iranian recipe

This classic recipe is interesting for its technological features in cooking. Such pilaf at the final stage of cooking is brought in the oven or oven.

Required Ingredients:

• 1 kg of lamb pulp (shoulder, hind leg);
• 1 kg of rice (basmati);
• half a kilo of onions;
• a couple of eggs;
• 300-400 ghee;
• a glass of katyk or matsoni;
• infusion of saffron;
• raisins, barberry (50 g each);
• 100 g raw, unsalted pistachios and peeled almonds;
• 3 l. water and 2 liters. milk (for rice);
• turmeric, zira, black pepper.

Cooking technique:

1. Cut the young lamb into portions. Fill them with ceramic pots. Add onion, salt, turmeric, cumin. Place the pots in a hot oven for an hour. Then remove the meat and let the broth drain.
2. Beat eggs together with katyk or yogurt. Salt, season with black pepper, turmeric, pour 2-3 teaspoons of saffron infusion. Put the meat in the marinade and leave to soak.
3. Soak rice ahead of time. Boil in salted water with milk until half done. Throw in a colander, wait until all the liquid flows out. Peel the nuts, blanch briefly in boiled water, remove the skin. Cut lengthwise and dry in a hot pan.
4. Rinse raisins and barberries, remove dry twigs, then pour boiling water over.
5. Fry the nuts and berries in melted butter in turn.
6. Remove lamb from marinade. Put some boiled rice in it. Mix well until porridge. Too liquid katyk or matsoni can be thickened with a couple of tablespoons of flour.
7. Take voluminous cast-iron or ceramic dishes. Brush generously with melted butter and fill with rice porridge with marinade. Put the meat on top, covering it with another layer of rice.
8. Stack nuts and berries in the following layers, alternating with layers of rice. Pour the future dish over all layers with saffron infusion and melted butter.
9. Cover with a massive lid or a piece of foil. Keep in the oven for one to two hours.

Immediately before serving, do not forget to carefully run a wooden spatula or slotted spoon in the space between the crust of the dish and the walls of the container

The baked pilaf itself should be turned over onto a pre-prepared voluminous dish. It can be reheated just before serving.

After mastering these classic pilaf recipes, it is quite possible to start culinary improvisations. In the same Uzbekistan, in each city, there are several original ways of preparing this dish at once. All of them are spectacular and interesting in their own way. So - nothing prevents you from slightly modifying standard recipes by adding your favorite ingredients, spices or seasonings to them.

Pilaf is a favorite dish of many people, but not every housewife decides to cook classic lamb pilaf at home, since the process is not easy. How to cook crumbly Uzbek lamb pilaf? Learn about it in the article.

The number of ways to cook pilaf is in the hundreds, which combine the choice of dishes, meat, rice cereal, vegetables and spices. Before looking at the recipes, let's talk about the choice of kitchen utensils and ingredients.

• For cooking pilaf, thick-bottomed cast iron dishes with straight walls are suitable. Do not use thin-walled and enameled dishes.
• It is recommended to prepare a treat from transparent, strong varieties of rice with grains of medium length. Rice groats are ideal because they contain some starch and absorb water and fat. Indian or Thai rice is a great option.
• First of all, the rice is moved, washed repeatedly, soaked for several hours with the addition of salt. This is the success of a delicious pilaf.
• The leader in the preparation of pilaf is lamb. Cooks advise using a brisket, back or shoulder blade. Alternatives include pork or beef. Veal is not suitable for pilaf.
• Cooking a good pilaf without oil will not work. I use corn or sunflower. If possible, replace the oil with fat tail fat.
• An equally important step in cooking is the choice of spices. Hot peppers, barberry berries and cumin seeds are perfect. It is recommended to use other spices, but not mixtures, as the pilaf will not get the necessary flavor.

Now let's talk about cooking pilaf. I dedicate the story to recipes for various dishes, which, in addition to rice, are based on vegetables, dried fruits and lamb.

How to cook lamb pilaf

A real classic pilaf is prepared only on the basis of lamb. Some daredevils decide to cook a dish, but instead of pilaf, they get rice porridge with meat. And I didn’t succeed right away until I learned the technique of cooking lamb pilaf. Having achieved the result, I realized that good products are not enough, courage and mood are needed.

Ingredients:

• Lamb - 1 kg.
• Onion - 800 g.
• Carrot - 500 g.
• Rice - 800 g.
• Hot red pepper - a small pod.
• Garlic - 3 heads.
• Vegetable oil - 0.5 l.
• Saffron, barberry, salt, turmeric.

Cooking:

1. Rinse the lamb and cut into medium pieces, onion into half rings, and carrots into strips. Carrots can be passed through a coarse grater. Stick to preferences.
2. Put a cauldron or a thick-bottomed pan on the fire, pour in the oil and heat it up. Put the meat in a bowl, after frying, put the lamb in a bowl.
3. Fry the onion in the oil remaining in the cauldron, add the carrots, and after another three minutes pour the meat and pour it with warm water so that it covers the contents of the dish.
4. Put spices, add salt and pepper. After waiting for boiling, screw the fire, cover the dishes with a lid and simmer for an hour.
5. Add rice to the lamb stew with vegetables, level and pour in water so that it is three centimeters higher than the cereal. At this stage, increase the fire to a maximum, and after five minutes after boiling, reduce to a medium level.
6. Make a few deep holes in the rice, dip whole heads of garlic into it, cover the dish with a lid and turn off the heat. After twenty minutes, serve the pilaf to the table, putting it on a large plate and garnishing with greens.

Video recipe

I don't know if you have tried this recipe. The pilaf that ends up is perfect. Try it out as soon as possible.

Cooking vegetarian pilaf from vegetables

Even a novice cook knows that pilaf is an oriental dish made from lamb, rice and spices. This does not mean that vegetarians and fasting people cannot enjoy the taste and aroma of the treat. To do this, instead of meat in pilaf, put vegetables. The end result is a dish with health benefits.

Ingredients:

• Rice - 2 cups.
• Carrot - 5 pcs.
• Onions - 3 heads.
• Tomato - 2 pcs.
• Sweet pepper - 2 pcs.
• Garlic - 2 cloves.
• Vegetable oil, turmeric, pepper, coriander and salt.

Cooking:

1. First, prepare the rice. Sort out the cereal and clean it of debris. After several washes in ice water, pour rice with boiling water and leave to soak.
2. Wash, peel and chop the vegetables specified in the recipe. Dip the tomatoes for a moment in boiling water, remove the skin, remove the seeds and chop.
3. Pour vegetable oil into a cauldron, heat and fry a clove of garlic. Discard the garlic, and send seasonings to the cauldron and fry.
4. After the spices, put the onion in the cauldron. When it becomes transparent, add the rest of the vegetables, add salt and pepper and simmer a little.
5. Put rice folded in a colander over the stewed vegetables, level it and pour boiling water over it so that the liquid covers the cereal by three centimeters. After boiling, cover the cauldron with a lid, reduce the heat and cook pilaf for a third of an hour.
6. After the time has passed, stick a few incised garlic cloves into the grits. They will provide pilaf with an amazing aroma. It remains to bring to readiness under the lid. It will take a quarter of an hour.

Remove the finished dish from the heat, stir. If you like, add some salt and sprinkle with herbs. I serve to the table along with garlic croutons.

How to make sweet lean pilaf

Many consider sweet pilaf to be an unusual dish. The sweet recipe is popular in the Asian region, where it is prepared with the addition of prunes, dried apricots or raisins. I propose a variant that combines these ingredients.

Lenten pilaf with dried fruits will appeal to fans of vegetarian and healthy food, as well as other gourmets.

Ingredients:

• Rice - 2 cups.
• Prunes, dried apricots, raisins - 0.5 cups each.
• Butter - 100 g.
• Sugar, cinnamon and cloves.

Cooking:

1. Rinse the rice groats and soak in warm water for two hours, adding a pinch of salt. Drain the water and rinse the cereal again.
2. Put a saucepan on the stove, pour three liters of water and bring to a boil, after adding a teaspoon of salt. Dip the rice in boiling water and cook for ten minutes. After the grits, throw it in a colander and rinse.
3. Pour boiling water over dried fruits and fry in oil with sugar and spices. A few minutes is enough. It remains to combine rice with fried dried fruits and mix.

Videos cooking

How to cook pilaf in a slow cooker

The multicooker model does not play a role, as does the presence of a special “pilaf” mode. The main thing is to buy fresh meat. You have learned the technology of cooking Uzbek lamb pilaf. Now let's make a chicken dish.

Ingredients:

• Chicken thighs - 0.25 kg.
• Rice - 2 cups.
• Onion - 1 head.
• Carrot - 1 piece.
• Water - 5 glasses.
• Salt, seasoning for pilaf, pepper.

Cooking:

1. Remove the skin from the thighs and remove the bone, and cut the meat into pieces. Fillet is also suitable, but with it the dish will turn out to be rather dry.
2. Cut the peeled onion into cubes, and the carrot into strips. I do not advise passing carrots through a grater, otherwise you will get porridge.
3. Send the chopped vegetables along with the meat to the slow cooker, add a little vegetable oil and activate the frying mode for fifteen minutes. During this time, the ingredients will brown.
4. Turn off the frying mode, and add spices and pepper with salt to the bowl of the appliance. After thorough mixing, put the rice on top and pour in the water.
5. It remains to close the lid and activate the pilaf mode. At the end of the program, open the lid and stir.

I don’t know if you had to cook pilaf in a slow cooker. If you try, you will no longer want to mess with cauldrons and other utensils. By the way, we will find the technology for making cabbage rolls in a slow cooker.

Videos cooking

I will devote the final part of the story to the history of pilaf, which is quite rich. Rice pilaf appeared after the inhabitants of the Middle East mastered the principle of cultivating cereals.

Real Uzbek pilaf not easy to prepare. The best pilaf is cooked on an open fire in a cauldron. At the same time, it is very important to observe the correct temperature regime at all stages of preparation. Therefore, when preparing pilaf according to the proposed recipe, you should be very careful about the instructions "reduce - increase the fire."

Lamb pilaf We start cooking 3 hours before serving.

Ingredients for 10 servings:

• lamb (loin or pulp from the sternum) - 1 kg.
• lamb bones (ribs or vertebrae) - 700 - 800 gr.
• fat tail fat - 100 gr.
• Alanga rice - 1 kg.
• medium bulb - 2 - 3 pcs.
• red carrot - 1 kg.
• garlic - 2 heads
• refined vegetable oil 250 gr.
• zira - 1.5 teaspoons
• paprika - 1 teaspoon
• barberry - 1 teaspoon
• red hot pepper -⅓ teaspoon
• salt.

.

Recipe for Uzbek lamb pilaf:

1. We cut the lamb pulp into 8-10 pieces, fat tail fat into cubes with a side of about 1 cm. Chop the carrots into strips about 2 mm wide, 5-6 cm long. Cut the onion into half rings. At the whole head of garlic, cut off the root part and remove the upper layers of the husk, leaving only the thinnest.
2. To prepare zirvak (“non-rice” part of pilaf) in a cauldron at maximum heat, heat the oil until the first haze appears. We put pieces of tail fat in a cauldron and melt them until they decrease in volume and until a light golden color appears. Transfer the cracklings to a plate with a slotted spoon. We put the bones in the cauldron and fry them until dark brown, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the onion to the pan, fry until light yellow, stirring constantly. Then lay out the meat. Fry, stirring constantly, until the liquid evaporates and the meat becomes golden brown. Add carrots and cook, stirring gently, until lightly browned.
4. Next, the “first water” stage: pour 1.25 liters of hot water into the cauldron. Set aside a little zira, grind the rest and pour into zirvak. Then, after the zira, add the rest of the spices, melt them in the zirvak.
5. We lower whole heads of garlic into zirvak. We reduce the fire to low and simmer for 40 - 50 minutes. In the middle of the process, add about 3 teaspoons of salt and try. Zirvak should be salted, given that rice will be added to it. Remove the heads of garlic and set them aside for a while.
6. Simultaneously with the beginning of the stewing process, we wash the rice in 7 - 8 waters. Pour rice with warm (37 ° C) boiled water and salt generously. We leave for 20 - 25 minutes. The water must completely cover the rice, otherwise it will be brittle.
7. When the zirvak is ready, drain the water from the rice. We level the zirvak and carefully shift the rice in an even layer on the surface of the zirvak. Rice should only lie on the zirvak, and not mix with it.
8. Stage “second water”: carefully pour hot boiled water onto the rice through a slotted spoon so that it does not “hit” the rice layer and leave no ruts on it. Pour in enough water so that it barely reaches the top grains of rice. Level the rice again and lightly salt it.
9. Next is a very crucial moment. Strong streams of steam should so process the rice that it takes the water it needs. We increase the fire to the maximum so that the water and zirvak boiled evenly and began to steam a layer of rice. The water should evaporate to the level of the zirvak layer. If lamb pilaf cooking in a pan with a flat bottom, it may happen that the steam comes out too slowly or is distributed unevenly. In this case, you can very carefully turn the rice over in layers, moving the far layers to the middle, and the central ones to the edges. This procedure must be carried out very carefully, trying not to touch the zirvak layer and not damage the rice.
10. The next stage is the “closing” of the pilaf. This means that the pilaf will be ready in 30 minutes. In order to find out when it is time to close the pilaf, we try one grain of rice. It should be almost ready, dryish, but homogeneous inside. If a crispy, dense part is felt inside the grain, then the rice needs more water. Add more hot water carefully (see point 8). Evaporate again and try again.
11. Put the garlic on the rice. With a slotted spoon, carefully collect rice from the walls to the center in a hemisphere. Immerse garlic in rice. In rice with a stick, we make several punctures (drainage holes) to the bottom of the cauldron. Level the rice layer above the holes. Rub the remaining cumin in your fingers and sprinkle on the pilaf. Close the cauldron tightly with a lid and reduce the heat to a minimum.
12. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and very carefully, starting from the walls, prying with a slotted spoon and shaking, shift the rice layer by layer, getting to the zirvak. Put the garlic on a plate. Then carefully, with movements from the bottom up, carefully lift the meat, carrots and onions, shaking them onto the rice. We set aside the meat and, removing the bones, cut it into smaller pieces. Mix everything evenly Uzbek lamb pilaf put a slide on a wide dish, put the chopped meat on top and raise the heads of garlic.

Enjoy your meal!