Central Asian pilaf - a detailed recipe with step by step photos

Kitchen appliances and utensils:

• cauldron with a lid;
• cutting board;
• knife;
• plate;
• skimmer;
• spoon;
• serving dish.

Ingredients

Step cooking

Preparatory stage

• Rinse and soak in water 100 g of chickpeas in advance. He needs to stand in the water for a couple of hours, after which we drain the water, fill it with a new one and boil for 30 minutes. Decant excess fluid, and rinse the chickpeas again.
• We wash several times with 700 g of rice and soak it in salted water for 1 hour.
• Boil 3 quail eggs in water and peel them.
• Peel and cut 2-3 rings of medium-sized onions in half rings.
• Wash and peel 700 g of carrots, cut into strips.
• Lamb is cut into pieces of medium size. We will also need meat around 700 g.
• Cut 70 g fat tail in 4-5 parts.
• We wash 150 g of raisins.

Cooking

1. Pour 110 g of oil into the cauldron and let it heat well. We send a handful of onion sliced ​​in half rings into it. We give it a good fry until light brown (but do not burn!) And take it out of the cauldron, we will no longer need this onion.
   
2. We send meat to the cauldron and let it fry well from all sides to a light crust. Important! A crust will turn out only if the oil is hot. Do not rush to immediately stir the meat so that it does not let out the juice, because of which the oil temperature drops sharply.
   
3. When the meat is fried, we send to it the remaining onion, sliced ​​in half rings, mix and fry for a while.
   
4. When the onion becomes transparent, add about half a liter of boiling water to the cauldron, salt (about a tablespoon of salt) and put 3 pods of chili pepper. Keep on medium heat for 30 minutes.
   
5. After the specified time, we remove the pepper from the cauldron and put half of the chopped carrots in it.
   
6. Next, sprinkle boiled chickpeas, raisins, a tablespoon of zira on the surface, spread the pieces of fat tail and put the remaining carrot in the last layer.
   
7. Cover with a plate and, without stirring, keep on high heat for 30 minutes - until the carrots become soft.
   
8. After 30 minutes, remove the plate and gently spread the soaked rice on the surface. Pour it with boiling water so that the water almost reaches the very top of the rice layer. We leave to cook, periodically gently mixing the rice, but so that it remains on the surface, not sinking to the bottom. Thus, we bring the rice to a half-preparedness.
   
9. When the water evaporates, we shift the rice from the sides of the cauldron to the center in the likeness of a slide, make several holes in it, cover with a plate. We close the cauldron with a lid and reduce the fire to a minimum. Bring the dish to readiness over low heat for 25 minutes.
   

Ready pilaf can be mixed right away, and you can also add layers to the dish - first rice, then carrots with chickpeas and raisins, last but not least - meat. Before serving, decorate with boiled quail eggs, pepper pods and lemon slices cut into half rings.

Video recipe

In the proposed video, the whole described process of cooking Uzbek pilaf in Samarkand is shown briefly, but in sufficient detail.

Pilaf has many cooking options: there are quick recipes, there are those that take half a day to prepare. But all these recipes always combine little tricks. Knowing them, you will always succeed in preparing a delicious aromatic dish, which can be both an everyday instant dish and decorate a festive table. Try different options and look for your favorite recipe.

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