As you know, pilaf is an ancient dish.Uzbek cuisine. Its classic recipe includes seven ingredients: meat, rice, water, onions, carrots, salt and fat. But simply mixing them does not mean preparing a truly tasty aromatic dish. Most likely, you will get just a good rice porridge, which will have nothing to do with pilaf. In order for a large dish of food to appear on your table that you can admire, you need to know some secrets. Firstly, the quality of pilaf largely depends on the type of rice that forms its basis. It is not even a matter of its shape - long or more round. According to experienced housewives, the most crumbly pilaf can be prepared from steamed rice. Secondly, the classic recipe calls for the use of lamb or veal. Thirdly, pilaf is cooked over an open fire in a special dish called a cauldron. Wait to be upset and upset if a trip to nature with gatherings around a burning fire is not included in your plans in the near future. Indeed, it is often very difficult to get out into the fresh air and cook something unusual over an open fire. But this is not a reason to deny yourself the pleasure of enjoying delicious food. Real Uzbek pilaf can be made in a regular oven. And what secrets you need to know for this will be discussed further. There are no special tricks here, so, if desired, any housewife in her own kitchen is able to pamper her loved ones with a delicious Uzbek national dish.
A classic recipe for pilaf in the oven
Nowadays you can find a hugenumber of recipes on how to cook excellent pilaf in the oven, using different types of meat. It can be chicken, turkey, pork and even duck. And each dish will turn out delicious in its own way. Chicken and turkey meat will certainly appeal to diet food lovers, but pork will be appreciated by those of us who do not count calories and are used to relying more on our own food preferences than on the scale. The recipe described below calls for the use of lamb or veal, but, depending on personal preferences, they can be replaced with another type.
- rice oblong steamed - 500 grams
- meat (lamb, veal) - 1 kilogram
- vegetable oil - 1 glass
- onion - 2 pieces
- carrots - 500 grams
- water
- Salt, pepper ground red and black - to taste
Method of preparation:Take a saucepan or cauldron with thick walls, in which you will put all the components of the future pilaf and bring them to the desired condition in the oven. Soak the rice in hot water. Cut the meat into medium-sized pieces and quickly fry in a hot frying pan in a large amount of sunflower oil. If you want to give the dish a unique Italian accent, you can use olive oil. Before putting the meat in a saucepan or cauldron, salt it and sprinkle with pepper. Finely chop the onion and fry it in oil until it turns golden. Add the carrots, pre-cut into small strips. Do not speed up the process and use a grater. The carrots will boil over, and the pilaf will lose all its beauty. Therefore, do not save time and work with a knife. If you want to avoid a sweetish taste in the dish, then choose yellow carrots, not orange ones, or mix both varieties. Keep the onion and carrot in the pan for a few minutes, carefully watching so that they do not burn, and transfer the vegetables to the meat. Add salt and two types of ground pepper. If you want to give the dish a more piquant or rich taste, use other spices, although the classic recipe does not provide for them. But in any case, take into account your own preferences. Rinse the soaked rice under running cold water, repeating the procedure several times. This method allows you to remove excess starch from the cereal, providing the pilaf with its notorious crumbliness. When the water draining from the rice becomes clear, you can stop rinsing. Drain off excess moisture and distribute the cereal over the vegetables as evenly as possible. Pour water into the pan with the future pilaf in a thin stream at the level of the rice. If there is too much liquid, the cereal will stick together, overcooking. Salt the dish, and for flavor, chefs recommend placing a medium-sized, pre-peeled head of garlic in the center. Cover the saucepan or cauldron with pilaf with foil and put it in the oven for about an hour. The temperature should be low, about 160° C, since the dish needs to simmer, not boil over the fire. After the specified time or a little more, take out the pilaf, remove the improvised lid and enjoy the fullness of its aroma. Well, has your appetite awakened yet? Then get to work quickly, because cooking pilaf in the oven is not at all difficult.
Pilaf in the oven with brown rice and turkey
And this recipe will please those who are concernedproblem of excess weight and strives to lose weight, denying themselves the usual delicacies. If you sometimes treat yourself to such a dish, then you will not have to worry about your waist. However, you should not overindulge in it, because the process of frying meat and vegetables is present, which means that pilaf cannot be called truly dietary. Although the recipe itself provides for lean meat and a small amount of vegetable oil, which cannot but please supporters of a healthy diet. Ingredients:
- Turkey meat (hip) - 800 grams
- brown rice - 2 cups
- carrots - 2 pieces
- onion - 2 pieces
- garlic - 2 heads
- Sunflower oil - 2 tablespoons
- Salt, ground pepper - to taste
Method of preparation:Rinse the rice thoroughly under running water, pour it over and leave for a while. Cut the turkey meat into small pieces, salt and fry in a frying pan until half-cooked, then transfer to the dish in which you plan to make pilaf. Do not forget that the saucepan or cauldron should have thick walls and a bottom. Cut the carrots into strips and finely chop the onion. Send the vegetables to the frying pan and fry. Drain the water from the rice and put it on top of the turkey pieces, put an even layer of onions and carrots on top. Salt and season with spices. Pour 3 cups of boiling water over the future pilaf, and place 2 heads of garlic in the center. Make a lid from foil and send the saucepan or cauldron to the oven, preheated to 160-180 ° C for about 1 hour or a little more (depending on the rice). After the specified time, take out the finished dish, put it on a beautiful large plate and invite your family to taste it. If you did everything correctly and did not violate the recipe, then the pilaf in the oven will turn out very crumbly, and the turkey meat will remain soft and juicy.
Pilaf in the oven with zira and barberry for a large company
Everyone knows that oriental chefs know how tosimply with the magical art of using all sorts of spices. They know exactly what will best emphasize the taste of meat dishes, shade the delicacy of vegetables and add piquancy to even the simplest side dish. With the same masterfulness, spices can improve the classic recipe for cooking pilaf in the oven. The number of components indicates that this dish is quite realistic to feed a large group of guests. Ingredients:
- rice (long transparent steamed) - 1 kilogram
- lamb - 500 grams
- onion - 4 pieces
- carrots - 6 pieces
- 1 tea spoon
- barberry - 3 tablespoons
- garlic - 1 piece
- Sunflower oil - 0, 5 cups
- salt, ground black pepper - to taste
- soy sauce - 2 tablespoons
Method of preparation:First, rinse the rice thoroughly and cover it with water. Now cut the meat into medium-sized pieces and place it in a hot frying pan with sunflower oil. Fry for 10 minutes and place the lamb in the cauldron. Chop the onion into half rings, the carrots into strips. Saute them a little in the frying pan and then add them to the cauldron after the meat. Make sure the vegetables do not burn, otherwise the taste of the dish will suffer. Drain the water from the rice, add a pinch of ground black pepper, salt to taste and soy sauce. Transfer everything to the frying pan and fry for 5 minutes. Then season the rice with barberry and cumin and place it on top of the vegetables. But here is a very important nuance: do not even think of mixing all the ingredients in the cauldron - this way you will ruin everything and cook not pilaf in the oven, but porridge with meat. Stick a head of garlic on top and carefully add boiling water so that it covers the rice by about 2 centimeters. Cover the cauldron with a lid or foil and put it in the oven for about 40 minutes at 180° C. When this time is up, take out the pilaf, stir and put it on a large flat dish. You won’t have to call anyone to the table, because the aroma of this delicious food will gather everyone who wants to eat deliciously. Enjoy your meal!
Pilaf in oven with beef ribs and chicken breast
The recipe for this dish is different from those described above.in that, in addition to the usual set of vegetables from onions and carrots, it includes tomatoes and bell peppers. By the way, the pilaf itself is not cooked in a cauldron or a saucepan with thick walls, but is laid out in a deep baking tray. It should be noted that the meat in this case does not become dry at all, it remains soft and juicy. And the rice turns out truly crumbly and very aromatic thanks to several seasonings at once. Ingredients:
- beef ribs - 300 grams
- chicken breast - 1 piece
- rice (long steamed) - 1 glass
- carrots (large) - 1 piece
- onion - 2 pieces
- garlic - 1 head and 5 denticles
- tomatoes (ripe large) - 1 piece
- pepper bulgarian - 1 piece
- olive oil - 1,5 cups
- salt - to taste
- Spices (black ground pepper, saffron, zira, barberry, bay leaf) - to taste
Method of preparation:Wash the rice thoroughly, soak it in cold water and leave it for 2 hours. Wash the beef ribs and chicken breast, dry them and cut them into small pieces. Pour some olive oil into a frying pan, heat it up well and quickly fry the meat until golden brown. Then put it on a baking sheet. Chop the onion into half rings, the carrots into long strips and finely chop the garlic cloves. Put all these vegetables in the frying pan where the meat was before, add some olive oil, fry and also put them on a baking sheet. Dip the tomato in boiling water for half a minute and peel it. Remove the seeds from the pepper. Cut these two vegetables into small cubes and spread them over the onion and carrot. Now add salt and season all these ingredients. Drain the rice and spread it evenly on top of the meat and vegetables, add a little salt. Place a washed head of garlic in the middle of the future pilaf, and insert bay leaves around the perimeter of the baking sheet. Now, pay attention! Pour no more than half a glass of water, otherwise the rice will turn into a sticky porridge. Cover everything with foil and put it in the oven at a temperature of up to 160° C for about an hour. When the pilaf is ready, take it out, mix the layers together and serve.
Vegetarian version of pilaf in the oven
The recipe for vegetarian pilaf is very simple,even the most inexperienced housewife can make it. Mushrooms replace meat here, and sweet raisins add a special piquancy to the taste. The dish turns out very tasty and, like any pilaf, quite filling. This recipe is very helpful for people who do not eat meat, are on a diet or fasting. But you can cook it just like that, because it is very tasty! Ingredients:
- rice (long steamed) - 600 grams
- champignons - 500 grams
- raisins - 200 grams
- carrots (large) - 1 piece
- onion - 2 pieces
- Sunflower oil - 50-100 grams
- tomato sauce - 2 tablespoons
- pepper black ground, salt - to taste
Method of preparation:As always, rinse the rice thoroughly and leave it in water for at least an hour. Pour sunflower oil into a deep cauldron and heat it. Meanwhile, chop the mushrooms and onions (as you like). When the oil is hot, add them to fry, then reduce the heat and simmer. After 7-10 minutes, add the carrots, cut into thin strips, to the mushrooms and continue simmering. Rinse the raisins and pour boiling water over them so that they swell. When the carrots are ready, add tomato paste to the cauldron, put in the raisins, salt and season. Drain the water from the rice and spread it evenly over the mushrooms and vegetables. Pour lightly salted water over everything so that it covers the future pilaf by 2-3 centimeters. Let the dish boil and place it in the oven at 180 ° C for 40 minutes. As a rule, when the water has completely evaporated, the rice will become soft and a delicious golden crust will appear on top. Before serving, mix the layers together and enjoy! As you can see, pilaf with meat or its vegetarian version is quite easy to prepare, especially if you do it in the oven. The main secret is not to pour too much water and not to turn such a delicious national dish of the peoples of Central Asia into a banal rice porridge. To do this, you must strictly adhere to the proportions that a particular recipe provides. And if you want to experiment a little, try using different combinations of spices. In addition, you can add prunes or dried apricots to pilaf, quince will bring Asian notes. Many housewives put cashew nuts in the dish. And if you want something unusual, you can replace the meat with sea or ocean fish without bones, as they do in Turkmenistan. The dish will be no less tasty and more useful. By the way, if you put various seafood in the pilaf, then you will get a real Spanish paella. And all this can be cooked in the oven, which, although it will not replace an open fire, will give it a worthy competition. Try to master the recipe for pilaf in the oven, and this dish will certainly become one of the most favorite in your family.
