Uzbekistan has always been famous for its hospitality and delicious cuisine. The visiting card of the country is Uzbek pilaf. This hearty, and at the same time light dish can be fed a large number of people, so it is prepared for weddings, anniversaries and other holidays.
Uzbek pilaf (step by step recipe) - basic principles of cooking
The secret of real Uzbek pilaf is to choose quality ingredients, especially rice and the correct sequence of their bookmarks.
So, for cooking pilaf, you will need: devzira rice, carrots, onions, meat, preferably lamb, garlic, zira, barberry, vegetable oil and salt.
Peel the carrots and cut into large strips. The more this vegetable in pilaf, the tastier it will turn out. In no case do not grind carrots on a grater for Korean salads. Thinly sliced vegetable will simply dissolve in the pilaf during the cooking process, and this should not be allowed.
Onions are peeled, washed and chopped with large rings or half rings. Thinly chopped onion fries faster, and it means easier to burn it. Burnt onion in pilaf is not only not beautiful, but also not tasty.
Now go in for meat. Ideally, you should use lamb or beef, but if you prefer pork, you can cook it. The meat is washed, dried with paper towels and cut into large enough pieces. If it is cut finely, it will decompose into fibers, which is unacceptable for pilaf. Lamb fat is cut and chopped into small pieces.
Pilaf can be cooked on a gas stove or bonfire. Induction and electric stoves are not very suitable for this. Pilaf should be cooked over an open fire and only in a cast-iron cauldron. Pans are not suitable for this. We cook pilaf, not rice porridge.
An empty cauldron is well calcined over high heat. Put mutton fat sliced into pieces. As soon as the fat is melted, the greaves are taken out with a slotted spoon. Add refined vegetable oil and calcine. To determine that the oil is sufficiently hot, they throw a ring of onion into it. If the oil hissed, spread the rest of the onions. Fry it, stirring regularly, until a pleasant golden color.
Put the meat in the fried onion and fry it until tender, constantly stirring. As soon as the meat is covered with a delicious crust, add carrots. Continue to fry over moderate heat. The carrots should be soft. If you take a straw, it should bend, but not break.
Water is boiled in a kettle. The contents of the cauldron are poured with boiling water. This will be the basis of pilaf - zirvak. It is prepared only in the sequence described above. The cauldron is covered and cooked for about forty minutes.
Rice is thoroughly washed, removing debris. The top leaves are removed from the heads of garlic, trying to keep the head whole.
After forty minutes of boiling, put garlic, zira and barberry in a cauldron. At this stage, salt. The broth should be slightly salted, as part of the salt absorbs rice. Mix and cook for another 20 minutes.
Handfuls spread rice in zirvak. Level with a slotted spoon. The water level should be two centimeters above the surface of the rice.
As soon as the rice is in the cauldron, I increase the intensity of the fire. This is done so that the water begins to boil intensively and evaporate. Do not cover with a lid. Slightly push the rice with a slotted spoon to the middle so that the water evaporates faster. When the water in the holes stops gurgling, the rice is leveled, covered and the fire is reduced to a minimum. Cook for another 20 minutes. Take out the garlic and mix the pilaf from the bottom up.
Garlic is sorted into cloves. Uzbek pilaf (step by step recipe) spread on a wide dish. Put the cloves of garlic on top.
Recipe 1. Uzbek pilaf: a step by step recipe with beef
Ingredients
half a kilogram of beef;
garlic;
400 g long grain steamed rice;
salt;
350 g carrots;
freshly ground pepper;
250 g of onions;
vegetable oil;
a teaspoon of barberry;
half a teaspoon of turmeric;
teaspoon of zira.
Cooking method
1. Peel the bulbs. Cut thin peel from carrot. Wash vegetables thoroughly. Chop the onion with not too thin half rings. Put the carrots on a board, cut along the layers and chop into strips. Never use a grater for this. It should be bars of medium thickness.
2. Strip beef from veins and films. Rinse under the tap and dab with kitchen paper towels. Cut the meat into large enough pieces. Finely chopped meat during the cooking process will break down into fibers.
3. Place a cast-iron cauldron on a stove, pour vegetable oil into it and turn on an intense fire. Heat until a light white haze appears. Put the onion in a cauldron and fry it, stirring it from time to time so that it does not burn.
4. Once the onion is golden, add the pieces of beef to it. Continue cooking, stirring, for about 20 minutes. The meat should be covered with a delicious crust.
5. Now add the julienne carrots. Pepper and salt. Stir and fry for another ten minutes. Do not forget to mix so that the contents do not burn. Add turmeric, barberry and zira.
6. Boil water in the kettle. Pour boiling water over the contents of the cauldron. Water should completely cover the meat with vegetables. Twist the fire to moderate, cover the cauldron with a lid and simmer for forty minutes. The meat will become tender, and the zirvak will be saturated with the aroma and taste of spices.
7. Rinse thoroughly. Change the water until it becomes clear. Fold the rice on a sieve so that the glass is excess liquid. Pour the washed rice into small cauldrons in a cauldron. Line up with a slotted spoon. The broth level should be two centimeters above the rice. If it is not enough, you can add boiling water. Do not mix at this stage. Cook over high heat until the liquid evaporates from the surface. Make a deepening in the rice and put in it a head of garlic peeled from the top leaves. Then simmer another 20 minutes at minimum heat under the lid.
8. Open the lid, remove the garlic, mix the pilaf from the bottom up. Put on a round flat dish and serve with fresh vegetables.
Recipe 2. Uzbek pilaf: a step by step recipe with pork
Ingredients
700 g of pork pulp;
a pinch of dried tomatoes;
600 g of rice;
salt;
150 ml of sunflower oil;
a pinch of barberry;
two large onions;
a pinch of paprika;
two large carrots;
a pinch of zira;
a pinch of turmeric.
Cooking method
1. Rinse thoroughly and remove debris. Then fill it with water and set aside. Wash the pork pulp, dry it with kitchen paper towels and cut into large enough pieces.
2. Put a cast-iron cauldron on an intense fire. Pour in sunflower oil. The amount of oil depends on the fat content of pork. The fatter the meat, the less oil is needed. Heat the oil well.
3. Put the pork in a cauldron and fry until it is covered with a delicious crust.
4. Peel onions and carrots. Wash. Chop the onions in half rings of medium thickness. Chop the carrots with a sufficiently large straw. Add the onions to the meat and fry, stirring, until it is browned. Then lay the carrots and cook for some more time. Do not forget to mix constantly.
5. Boil water in the kettle. Pour boiled meat with vegetables so that it completely covers the contents of the cauldron. Add all the spices and salt. Stir and cook for another 20 minutes. This time is enough for the meat to become soft, and the ingredients are saturated with the aromas and tastes of each other.
6. Fold rice into a sieve. When all the liquid has drained, put the groats in a cauldron and smooth. If the broth is not enough, you can add boiling water. Do not mix. Cook over high heat until the broth evaporates from the surface of the rice. Make a small deepening and put a head of garlic in it, after removing the upper leaves from it. Twist the fire to a minimum, cover and simmer for another half hour.
7. Remove the garlic from the pilaf and disassemble it into the cloves. Mix the pilaf with a slotted spoon from bottom to top. Put it on a beautiful wide dish. Spread garlic cloves on top.
Uzbek pilaf (step by step recipe) - tips and tricks
Do not use frozen meat for cooking pilaf. It must be exceptionally fresh.
Never chop the carrots on a grater. The bars should be of medium thickness.
To make pilaf crumbly, rice must be washed until the water becomes clear.
Do not mix rice with vegetables and meat during cooking.
