Cooking pilaf in a cauldron: a detailed step by step recipe

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Cooking pilaf in a cauldron is a special ritual. It only at first glance seems that there is nothing complicated in frying meat and stewing rice. Real connoisseurs know many secrets, without which real Uzbek pilaf will not work. If you want to master the intricacies of cooking this popular Central Asian dish, this article is for you.

Cooking Uzbek pilaf in a cauldron

Everyone knows that in the East, lamb is traditionally used in all culinary dishes. Plov is no exception. Here is the list of required ingredients:

• lamb - flesh and back with ribs. With a total weight of about 1.5 kg (if there is still no lamb, take veal);
• tail fat (in extreme cases - vegetable oil) - 350 grams;
• medium-grain rice (if you find it, use the special "dev-zera" rice) - 1 kg;
• red ripe carrots - about 1 kg;
• onions - a few medium heads;
• a fewheads (2-3) of garlic;
• capsicum (red or green) pepper - 2-3 pieces;
• zira and s alt.

Cooking technology

How does the preparation of pilaf in a cauldron begin? Of course, with cutting meat. So, step by step instructions.

1. Cut the lamb into pieces 1.5 cm in size. Set the bones aside, beat the ribs a little, add s alt and set aside to marinate. Lamb for pilaf should be young, with a little fat.

2. Carrots are one of the main components of this pilaf. You need to cut it properly. It is to cut, do not use graters and shredders. Carrots should be chopped by hand into thin strips. For pilaf, choose ripe and not early root crops.

3. Sort and rinse the rice well. The water should be clear and clean. After that, soak it in warm water. Now heat up the pot. Set the fire to maximum. In a hot container, place the lard, cut into pieces. Drain the fat from it. Remove the rinds. Lard can be replaced with good butter. It must be ignited until a faint bluish haze appears.

4. Now dip the ribs into the oil. Fry quickly. Flip over a few times. As soon as the meat has become golden in color, we take it out of the cauldron. We heat the oil again and lower the onion chopped into half rings into it. Fry it until golden brown. The water contained in the onion will quickly evaporate. After that, we lower the meat into the cauldron, periodically stirring it with onions.

5. Pour in the carrotseven layer. Mix everything after a couple of minutes. Fry for 15 minutes and by the end of frying, reduce the heat to medium. Pour in some of the zira. As soon as the carrots become soft and an appetizing aroma appears, pour in hot water. It should cover all the ingredients by 1.5 cm.

6. We continue cooking pilaf in a cauldron. Lay the garlic, previously peeled. Put the hot peppers whole, without cuts. Put these two components in anyway, you can throw them away at the end.

7. We place in the cauldron the ribs fried at the beginning. Once everything boils, reduce the heat to a minimum. Leave the cauldron open for 40 minutes. The water will gradually boil away, and the broth will become clear. Now we increase the fire to the maximum, put the s alt. Try it - the broth should be a bit s alty.

8. Cooking pilaf in a cauldron comes to the most important moment - laying rice. It must be drained and poured into the meat. Smooth out. Pour in 1 liter of boiling water. Fire is the maximum. Everything should boil quickly, the oil will float to the top. We do not interfere with rice. Wait for the water to boil away by half, turn off the heat. Hold a little more, then set the minimum heat level, close the cauldron with a lid and cook the pilaf until cooked.

9. Turn off the heat, sprinkle the dish with the remaining cumin and let it brew for another 20 minutes. Open the lid, loosen the rice, remove the capsicum and garlic. Mix everything. Put the pilaf in a slide on a large round dish, put the garlic on top. Delicious pilaf in a cauldron is ready!