Lamb is a rather rare type of meat among Europeans. Most of them know: lamb can be cooked kebab and pilaf. Well, if many lovers of picnics can cope with lamb skewers, the hostess will not give up the step-by-step recipe of pilau, with all the nuances of its preparation.
Immediately put the accents: reasoning on the correct or incorrect recipe of pilaf is untenable. The cooking options for one of the most famous dishes on the planet are thousands or even tens of thousands. The principle of cooking is important, and each housewife can think out the details on her own, to her own taste.
Step-by-step recipe for preparing lamb pilaf - basic technological principles
Pilaf is a popular dish in Asian and Mediterranean countries in the Middle East. It is a stew made from various types of meat and fish, with rice, beans and vegetables.
The basic principles of cooking lamb pilaf correspond to the national characteristics of Asian and Arabic cuisine. The dish is characterized by two main components - the cereal and meat parts, which are called zirvac. Variants of the composition may be different, but the cooking technology, developed over thousands of years in the homeland of pilau, distinguishes it from cereal with sauce and meat.
Rule one: rice in the pilaf should always be crumbly. Various culinary techniques are used for this:
• For pilaf, select special varieties of solid rice, thoroughly washed or soaked.
• So that the rice does not turn out viscous, the ratio of water to oil (fat of tail) is strictly observed. 1 kg of rice requires 200 g of fat and 1.5 liters of water.
• Observed technological and temperature mode of cooking. Pilau is cooked in a cauldron or in a cast-iron pot, in the mode of extinguishing, rice is laid in a semi-prepared zirvak. Do not allow it to boil over. Rule two: for making zirvaka, meat is carefully selected, cleaned and first fried, and then vegetables, spices and water are added. Salt is added to the almost finished zirvak, then rice. Zirvak should be slightly salty, given the addition of rice, which will increase the total weight of the dish.
Lamb is the most common type of meat in the East, and Europeans do not always know how to choose the right part. The meat of old carcass is hard and fat, has a peculiar smell. Therefore, it is preferable for stewing and frying to use meat from animals of two or three years of age. The best meat for a lamb pilaf is scapula, neck, brisket. When deboning lamb carcass, it is necessary to carefully cut off the tendons, clean the flesh from the fat and film.
Mutton is stewed or boiled for 1.5-2 hours. To cook meat, meat is first fried in boiling oil, but it cannot be overcooked.
Traditional spice set for lamb pilaf - zira, marjoram, thyme, saffron, barberry, coriander, paprika, chili, turmeric. Very refined and original versions of pilaf are obtained by adding dried apricots (dried apricots), dates and other fresh and dried fruits.
Step-by-step recipe of Uzbek lamb pilaf
Ingredients:
Round rice 350 g
Lamb shoulder 1 kg
Carrots medium size 3 pcs.
Onions, medium 3 pcs.
Garlic 1 head
Vegetable oil 80 g
Water
Barberry 2 tsp
Zira 2 tsp.
Salt
Red pepper, ground
Cooking:
1. Rinse the lamb under running water and remove film and excess fat from it, then cut into medium-sized cubes.
2. Pour oil into the cauldron and warm it well on the fire. Alternately put the pieces of meat in it and fry for 15-20 minutes over medium heat. To meat roasted evenly, do not forget to stir occasionally.
3. Peel and chop the onion into half rings and mix it with the lamb. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Take the peeled carrots, cut into oblong bars and also add to the cauldron. 5. Salt and add a little less than half a teaspoon of red pepper. Simmer the meat with vegetables for another 25 minutes.
6. Add cumin and barberry, and place the peeled and washed garlic in the center.
7. Wash the rice and distribute evenly over the pot. It is desirable that the rice previously stood in the water for some time. Add boiling water. The water level in the cauldron should be approximately one finger above the entire dish. Leave pilau stew about 15-20 over low heat.
8. Make sure that the rice does not boil soft. The pilaf will be ready when the water is completely evaporated. Turn off the heat and let the dish stand for a bit - it will soak up the aroma and become very juicy.
Step-by-step recipe for fergansk lamb pilaf
Fergana plov is a variation of the most ancient dish. Its feature is the use of Devzira’s pink rice and fragrant spices.
Ingredients:
Lamb bone 2.2 kg
Rice "Devzira" 1 kg
Carrot yellow 1 kg
Chilli pepper 2 pcs.
Onions 3 pcs.
Salad white onion 1 pc.
Cherry tomatoes 500g
Fat of fat 400 g
Garlic 2 pcs.
Salt 2 tbsp. l
Chilli pepper, ground
Kumin 1 tsp.
Barberry 1 tbsp. l
Paprika 1 tsp.
Cooking:
1. Carefully sort pic. Devzira is a rice variety, in which, due to the nature of the production, small chips and stones are often found, so you should be extremely careful with it. Pour it into a bowl, add salt and pour 2 liters of cold water there. Rice should soak well. Leave it for 40 minutes. This variety in water acquires an almost transparent color. When it becomes dull, it means it's time to rinse it.
2. While the rice is being soaked, proceed to the preparation of the remaining ingredients. Wash the meat and clean the excess fat, film and vein. Remember that the lamb must be processed with special care to avoid the unpleasant smell in the dish. Separate the flesh from the bones and cut it into cubes of medium size approximately 3 cm. Chop the bones so that it is convenient to work with them. 3. Peel the onions and carrots. Cut the onion into small half rings, and carrots along the entire length of the fruit into large straws.
4. Dice the fat tail into cubes and place it in a well-heated cauldron. Wait until it stops bubbling and turn it over. Heat it on low heat - so it will have a transparent color. Remove the remains from the cauldron when all the fat comes out.
5. Put the bones in the cauldron, and fry them on high heat until brownish. To boiling fat has not lost its temperature, spread the lamb first along the walls, and after 5 minutes, when it warms up, mix with the rest of the cauldron. Meat should be roasted, not stewed or cooked. Pour cumin, barberry and paprika into it, mix and fry until golden. When it is ready, put it in a bowl using skimmer - this is necessary so that the lamb is not overcooked, otherwise it will become tough.
6. Pour the onion into the cauldron and, stirring occasionally, wait until it turns golden, then add the carrots and fry well. After the carrots and onions are ready, return the meat and fill the entire contents with cold water to cover it completely. Bring zirvak to boil and reduce the fire.
7. Peel the garlic and add to the cauldron. Cover and simmer for half an hour.
8. Gently wash the rice. This variety is very fragile, so do not rub it so that it does not crumble. Place it under running water and let the water flow.
9. Before pouring rice into the cauldron, remove the bones from it, as they will not allow it to boil well. Bring the contents to a boil, distribute the rice evenly and pour boiling water over everything. Water should be much more - approximately 1 cm above the level of rice. As the water evaporates, stir the rice from the center to the edge and vice versa, then give it a dome shape and continue to simmer. All this is necessary so that the rice is soaked with zirvac. 10. When there is almost no water in the cauldron, add chili peppers, cover with a lid and leave to simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. Simmer the pilaf until the rice is almost ready. At the end of cooking, add fire and let the contents boil, then remove the cauldron.
11. While cooked pilaf, proceed to the preparation of a side dish. Cut the tomatoes into slices, and the onion into small half rings. If the bulb is large, cut them in half.
12. Salt, pepper and mix thoroughly.
13. Spread pilaf on plates, decorating in a circle with a tomato salad, as well as garlic and pepper from a cauldron.
Step-by-step recipe for lamb pilaf: useful tips and tricks
To give the dish an even richer taste, you need to follow some cooking rules:
• Pay special attention to the choice of meat. It is desirable to take the lamb young, as it will be softer and juicy. Carefully remove all streaks and film from it and stick to cutting meat technology, making cuts across the fibers.
• Rice for pilaf need to choose solid. There are many varieties that can diversify the dish, but most importantly, that in the process of cooking it is not boiled soft. It is better to cook the rice not to full readiness so that it reaches until the pilaf is infused.
• If it is not possible to cook pilaf in a special cauldron in the open air, use a special roaster, which has thick walls and tapers to the bottom. This form of capacity will not allow rice to burn, distributing the heat around the perimeter.
• The use of vegetable fat is acceptable, but it slightly changes the flavor of zirvaka, so it is better to take animal fat, for example, fat tail.
