How to make pilaf, basic Uzbek recipe
Published: 26-Jun-2012 (16:43); Viewed: 5079; Difficulty: 4 out of 10
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Pilaf (also known as plov) is a traditional food for all regions, producing rice. Main components for the meat pilaf are, cooked meat and steamed grains, usually rice. This recipe, will give a basic idea, how to cook pilaf in accordance with Uzbek traditions. The biggest advantage of this dish – its scalability, the only limit is a casting iron casserole with circular bottom, or cooking pot, called kazan, size. In many Uzbek villages, the size of these kazans can be more than 200 litres. This recipe will give about 10 good portions of pilaf.
step-by-step instructions
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Ingredients for 10 portions of basic pilaf.
- Lean lamb without bones, preferably shoulder. 600 gm
- Carrot, 600 gm
- Onion, 600 gm
- Basmati rice. 500 gm. It is very important to select rice for long cooking. In the instructions on the pack, the cooking time for the rice should be at least 20 minutes.
- Garlic - whole bulb.
- Vegetable oil. 100 ml. Originally, this recipe was made with lamb fat, but to make it more dietary, the lamb fat should be substituted by oil.
- Spices
- Cumin, 1.5 tsp.
- Curry powder, 1tsp
- Sumac, 1 tsp
- Saffron, 1 tsp
- It is possible to add 1 tsp of dried tomatoes and 1 tsp of barberries
- Salt, 3 tsp
- Boiling hot water
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Wash rice in the running cold water and them, soak rice in the cold water.
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Cut meat into a bite size cubes. Many chefs complaint about this idea, and they prefer to cut meat into a chunky big bits, but this is a different technique. Cut onion into medium sized half rings. Slice carrot into a long thin stripes, about 2 mm thick. It is possible to cut carrot, when the cooking is started.
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Preheat 100 gm of vegetable oil in the kazan.
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Fry onion, until it turns soft and starts to change colour to brown. Do not overcook them.
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Add all spices and salt.
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Add meat. Fry about 15 minutes constantly stirring. After this hide the skimmer and do not use it to the end of cooking.
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Add sliced carrots on the top of the partially cooked meat. Reduce heating to the minimum, close the lid and simmer for 20 minutes.
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Place unpeeled garlic bulb into a centre of the carrot, basically, the garlic should touch the meat.
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Add rice on the top of the carrot as a one flat layer. Do not mix it with carrot. Add boiling hot water, about 0.6 litres, or to make about 1.5 cm layer of water above the rice. Increase the heat and bring to boiling.
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Boil until all water evaporates. It is possible to understand it by listening of the sound of boiling.
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Make a hill from the rice (do not touch the carrot and meat). Make a deep holes in the rice till the bottom of the dish. It is very easy to do with a long spun handle.
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Switch off the heat. Close the lid and seal all holes with wet towel or wet paper towel. Leave for 20 minutes.
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Mix everything well, but not destroy the garlic by mixing, and serve in a large plater. Traditionally, everybody take pilaf from the central plate as much as they like.
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tips and tricks
- Sprinkle with freshly chopped green onion.
- Serve pilaf with pickled onion salad.
by: Librarian
tags:
kazan;
lamb;
pilaf;
rice;
uzbekistan cousine
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