Pilaf in a cauldron is a traditional oriental dish, but it is loved and appreciated all over the world. Hearty and healthy, fragrant pilaf will win the hearts and stomachs of the most fastidious gourmets. Especially if you know some little tricks to help you prepare a real delicacy.
Dishes and entourage
A kazan is a metal (usually cast-iron) container with a wide neck and thick walls. The bottom has a semicircular shape: this design allows the cauldron to hang in the hearth so that both the bottom and the walls are evenly heated. It is removed from the fire until the dish is fully cooked, which "ripens" by itself, due to the high heat transfer of the spherical walls and bottom. The cauldron is placed on a tripod, and the hearth is most often made up of stones or simply dug into the ground. In an urban setting, an ordinary gas or electric stove will do.
Required Ingredients
To prepare pilaf in a cauldron, you will need:
- 1.5 kg of lamb (back with ribs + pulp), it can be replaced with veal;
- 350 grams of fat tail fat or vegetable oil;
- 1 kg of rice, medium-grain or dev-zera;
- 3-4 heads of onions (medium);
- 2-3 heads of garlic;
- 2-3 pieces of capsicum;
- 1 kg of carrots;
- salt and cumin.
How to cook
Cut the lamb into 1.5 cm pieces, beat the ribs slightly, salt and set aside for a while. Chop the carrots into thin strips. Only by hand! Sort the rice, rinse it thoroughly, soak it in warm water.
Now it's time to start a fire. Heat the cauldron to the maximum. Cut the bacon into small pieces, melt the fat, then remove the greaves. You can replace fat tail fat with good quality vegetable oil.
Dip the ribs in hot fat, fry, turning over several times, until golden brown. Then take out the seeds, and put the onion cut into half rings in the fat mass. Then you need to mix it with meat pulp, fry.
Add carrots, let them steam for a couple of minutes, stir. Fry for another 15 minutes, then reduce heat. Add part of the cumin to the mass, wait until the carrots soften, then add hot water so that it covers 1.5 cm of the semi-finished product.
Lay the garlic along with whole pepper pods, add the already fried ribs to the same place. The dish is cooked for 40 minutes with the lid open, then salt it.
Drain the water from the rice, pour into the meat without mixing. Top up with boiling water, 1 liter, bring the heat to maximum again. When half of the water has boiled away, reduce the heat to a minimum, cover the pilaf with a lid, cook. Everything, the fire can be turned off.
Sprinkle the remaining cumin on the finished dish, let it brew for 20 minutes. Remove the garlic and pepper from the container, stir the mixture, put on a dish, and place the garlic on top.
