Pilaf is a favorite dish of many people, but not every housewife decides to cook a classic pilaf of lamb at home, because the process is not easy. How to cook loose Uzbek pilaf from mutton? Learn about this in the article.
The number of ways to cook pilaf is hundreds, which combine the choice of dishes, meat, rice groats, vegetables and spices. Before considering recipes, let's talk about choosing kitchen utensils and ingredients.
Useful tips before cooking
- For cooking pilaf, thick-bottomed cast iron cookware with straight walls is suitable. Do not use thin-walled and enameled dishes.
- It is recommended to prepare a treat from transparent, strong rice varieties with medium-long grains. Rice groats are ideal, which contain a little starch and absorb water and fat. Indian or Thai rice variety is a great option.
- First thing rice it gets over, washed repeatedly, soaked for several hours with the addition of salt. This is the success of a delicious pilaf.
- Lamb is considered the leader in the preparation of pilaf. Culinary experts advise using the brisket, back or shoulder blade. Alternatively, pork or beef is used. 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 the preparation is the choice of spices. Hot pepper, barberry berries and cumin grains are ideal. It is recommended to use other spices, but not mixtures, since pilaf does not get the necessary aroma.
Now let's talk about cooking pilaf. I dedicate the story to recipes for various options of the dish, which are based on vegetables, dried fruits and lamb, in addition to rice.
How to cook lamb pilaf
A true classic pilaf is prepared only on the basis of lamb. Some daredevils decide to cook a dish, but instead of pilaf, rice porridge with meat is obtained. And I didn’t succeed at once, until I learned the technique of cooking pilaf from lamb. Having achieved the result, I realized that there are not enough good products, you will need courage and mood.
- mutton 1 kg
- onion 800 g
- carrot 500 g
- rice 800 g
- spicy pepper 1 PC
- garlic 3 PC
- vegetable oil 300 ml
- saffron, barberry, salt, turmeric taste
- Wash the lamb and cut into medium slices, onions in half rings, and carrots in strips. Carrots can be passed through a coarse grater. Build on preferences.
- Place a cauldron or a thick-bottomed pan on the fire, pour in oil and heat it. Put the meat in the dishes, after frying the lamb, put it in a bowl.
- In the oil remaining in the cauldron, fry the onions, add the carrots, and after another three minutes pour the meat and fill it with heated water so that it covers the contents of the dishes.
- Put spices, add salt and pepper. After boiling, tighten the fire, cover the dishes with a lid and simmer for an hour.
- Add rice to the lamb stew with vegetables, smooth and pour in the water so that it is three centimeters higher than the cereal. At this stage, increase the heat to maximum, and five minutes after boiling, reduce to an average level.
- In the rice, make several deep holes, lower the whole heads of garlic, cover the dishes with a lid and turn off the heat.After twenty minutes, serve the pilaf to the table, laying out on a large plate and decorating with greens.
I don’t know if you had to use this recipe. The pilaf that comes out in the end is perfect. Try it out at your earliest convenience.
Cooking Vegetarian Vegetable Pilaf
Even a novice chef 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 refreshments. To do this, instead of meat, put vegetables in pilaf. The result is a dish characterized by health benefits.
- Rice - 2 cups.
- Carrot - 5 pcs.
- Onion - 3 heads.
- Tomato - 2 pcs.
- Sweet pepper - 2 pcs.
- Garlic - 2 cloves.
- Vegetable oil, turmeric, pepper, coriander and salt.
- First prepare the rice. Sort out the groats and clean them of debris. After several rinses in ice-cold water, fill the rice with boiling water and leave to soak.
- Wash, peel and chop the vegetables provided for in the recipe. Dip the tomatoes for a moment in boiling water, remove the skin, remove the seeds and chop.
- Pour vegetable oil into a cauldron, heat and fry a clove of garlic. Throw the garlic, and send seasonings to the cauldron and sauté.
- Following the spices, put the onions in the cauldron. When it becomes clear, cover the remaining vegetables, add salt and pepper and simmer a little.
- On top of the stewed vegetables, put the rice thrown into a colander, smooth and pour boiling water so that the liquid covers the groats for three centimeters. After boiling the cauldron, cover, reduce heat and cook pilaf for a third of an hour.
- After time, stick a few cloves of garlic into the groats. They will provide pilaf with an amazing aroma. It remains to bring to readiness under the lid. It takes a quarter of an hour.
Remove the finished dish from the heat, mix. If you want, add a little salt and sprinkle with herbs. I serve to the table together with garlic croutons.
How to make sweet lean pilaf
Many people consider sweet pilaf an unusual dish. A sweet recipe is popular in the Asian region, where it is cooked with prunes, dried apricots or raisins. I propose an option that combines these ingredients.
Lean pilaf with dried fruits will appeal to fans of vegetarian and healthy diets, as well as to other gourmets.
- Rice - 2 cups.
- Prunes, dried apricots, raisins - 0.5 cup each.
- Butter - 100 g.
- Sugar, cinnamon and cloves.
- Rinse the cereal and soak in warm water for two hours, adding a pinch of salt. Drain the water and rinse the groats again.
- Place a pot on the stove, pour three liters of water and bring to a boil, after adding a teaspoon of salt. Dip rice in boiling water and cook for ten minutes. After the cereal, throw it in a colander and rinse.
- Pour dried fruit over boiling water and fry in oil with sugar and spices. A few minutes are enough. It remains to combine rice with fried dried fruits and mix.
Serve on the table I recommend on a large dish, sprinkled with cinnamon. If you want sweet, take honey. I think the kids will be delighted with such a treat.
How to cook pilaf in a slow cooker
The multicooker model does not play a role, nor does the presence of a special “pilaf” mode. The main thing is to buy fresh meat. You learned the technology of cooking Uzbek pilaf from lamb. Now make a chicken-based dish.
- Chicken thighs - 0.25 kg.
- Rice - 2 cups.
- Onion - 1 head.
- Carrot - 1 piece.
- Water - 5 glasses.
- Salt, seasoning for pilaf, pepper.
- 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.
- Dice the peeled onions and the carrots into strips. I don’t advise passing carrots through a grater, otherwise porridge will turn out.
- Send the chopped vegetables along with the meat to a slow cooker, add some vegetable oil and activate the frying mode for fifteen minutes. During this time, the ingredients are browned.
- Turn off the frying mode, and add spices and pepper and salt to the appliance bowl.After thoroughly mixing, put rice on top and pour in water.
- It remains to close the lid and activate the pilaf mode. At the end of the program, open and mix the lid.
I don't know if you had to cook pilaf in a slow cooker. If you try, you will no longer want to bother with cauldrons and other utensils. By the way, we will find technology for the preparation of cabbage rolls in a slow cooker.
The final part of the story is dedicated to the history of pilaf, which is quite rich. Rice pilaf appeared after Middle Eastern residents mastered the principle of cultivating cereals.
In some countries, the dish is prepared from other cereals. There is an opinion that the homeland of pilaf is India, whose inhabitants prepare similar treats, only without meat. This idea occurred to the Persians.
Pilaf came to Europe through the efforts of the French. Without a recipe, they did not preserve their originality, converting the dish into porridge. Only at the beginning of the 19th century did Europeans gain access to original recipes.
Culinary specialists cook pilaf in the open air based on lamb and fat tail fat. Vegetable oil is not used. Cooking is a kind of show in which there is no place for women.
I hope you use the recipes, and you will enjoy the dishes you cook. Good luck in the kitchen and see you soon!