Making real pilaf at home is not so difficult. Of course, pilaf with vegetables is traditionally cooked in Uzbekistan on an open fire. Real pilaf should be crumbly and fragrant.
It is necessary
-
- 400 g lamb pulp
- 400 g of rice (Devzira or ordinary light long-grain rice)
- 150 g vegetable oil (any
- but not olive)
- 600 g carrots
- 2 medium onions
- 2 heads of garlic
- spices: black barberry
- zira
- salt.
Instructions
Step 1
On the eve of cooking pilaf with vegetables, soak a handful of chickpeas (also called nakhat or chechi) overnight. Cut the lamb pulp into cubes of approximately 1.5 cm. Rice must be carefully sorted out, covered with salt and covered with boiling water. Peel the head of the garlic from the top husk, leaving the inner one (the one that covers each clove). Peel the onion and cut into half rings. Peel the carrots and cut into cubes approximately 0.5 x 3 cm. Put the cauldron on the fire, pour vegetable oil into it and heat it well for 5 minutes.
Step 2
After the oil has warmed up, put the onion in the cauldron and fry it until golden brown. Then add the meat and fry until golden brown. Season with salt, carrots and pre-soaked chickpeas. When the carrots are almost cooked (i.e. soft), add the barberry, whole garlic, and half of the cumin. Add cold water to the cauldron so that it covers the meat and vegetables by 2 cm, reduce the heat and wait until the resulting zirvak slowly boils. Cook it for 25 minutes.
Step 3
Rinse the rice until clean. Put it on the zirvak and wait for the broth and butter to rise above it. The liquid should be 1, 5 cm higher than the rice level. Add the remaining cumin, add heat and evaporate the liquid. When the rice has absorbed all the broth, collect it in a cauldron with a slide using a slotted spoon, make a hole in the middle and cover the cauldron with a lid. Reduce heat to low and wait 20 minutes.
Step 4
After that, open the lid and remove the garlic from the cauldron. Then gently stir the pilaf with a slotted spoon, in the direction from the edges of the cauldron to the center. If you do not eat pilaf immediately after cooking, then stir it again before serving, since the oil will gradually drain down and the upper layers of the dish will be dry. Serve pilaf with vegetables on a large platter, garnish with cauldron garlic wedges and chopped herbs.
