Pilaf is a national dish of Uzbekistan, which is prepared from rice according to a special recipe. Any housewife can master the methods of its preparation. Indeed, pilaf is also a popular dish that can be treated to you in the countries of Central Asia, Europe, America, Turkey and Iran, in Persia and India. There are a great many recipes for its preparation. However, Samarkand pilaf remains the most original.
How did such a pilaf
There is a legend that in his campaigns, Alexander the Great tried and appreciated the classic pilaf, the components of which were not mixed during serving. Such food was served on a large dish. Pieces of tender meat, as well as fried carrots in combination with onions, were placed on crumbly rice. However, according to experts, Samarkand pilaf has a more ancient history. For the first time this dish is mentioned in the annals of Persia.
Wedding traditions
Pilaf is a dish that unites. After all, one is cauldron, but many guests. Samarkand pilaf is a wedding dish. By tradition, they began to cook it the day before the celebration. The process consisted of several stages. To begin with, the number of guests and how much pilaf should be prepared was determined. For one person, as a rule, 100 grams of dry rice was taken. Uzbek weddings are a magnificent celebration for which all relatives gather. Therefore, to cook pilaf, it was required from 70 kilograms of rice. For this, several cauldrons of impressive size were used.
For such an amount of pilaf, a large number of onions and carrots were required. Therefore, before the wedding, a special event was organized, called the spazbi-tugrar. For this, guests were invited to the house where the celebration was to take place. Men peeled and chopped carrots, and women sifted rice in a separate room. In the process, guests were treated to various dishes. These were manti, samsa, cakes and so on. Of the drinks, there was only green tea.
By tradition, the Samarkand pilaf was supposed to be ready early in the morning. Therefore, they began to cook it at 4 a.m.
Is the dish healthy?
Pilaf is a healthy dish. After all, one of its main components is rice. The composition of this product includes calcium and silicon. The benefits of pilaf do not end there. Together with carrots, a person receives fat-soluble vitamins. Meat can saturate the body with protein. Samarkand pilaf is considered the most useful because of the presence of riboflavin. Its properties allow the human body to easily and easily absorb amino acids.
It is worth noting that, thanks to a unique cooking method, everyone can adjust the fat content of the dish to their taste. After all, the products do not mix. Someone can make their portion lean, and someone can flavor rice with a large portion of tender and flavorful meat in combination with carrots.
According to nutritionists, the benefit of Samarkand pilaf is that it is almost completely absorbed. To be more precise, this figure is 98%. And this suggests that the dish is not heavy food for the stomach.
Dish features
To cook pilaf Samarkand, it is recommended to use lamb. If this product is not available, then rabbit, pork or beef is suitable. Do not add poultry. The main feature of this dish is an extraordinary combination of products and its dietary properties.
As a result of cooking the meat becomes more tender, soft and juicy, carrots - soft and sweet, rice - crumbly and slightly dry.
What is required for cooking
What is Samarkand pilaf made of? Ingredients can be found in almost any store. Particular attention should be paid to spices. They give the finished dish an extraordinary aroma and taste. To prepare pilaf, you need:
- 1 kg of meat.
- 1 kg of rice.
- 1 kg of carrots.
- 5 onion heads.
- 200 grams of fat tail fat. This component can be replaced with vegetable oil, including cottonseed.
- 1 cup chickpea. It is recommended to soak the product in plain water for a whole day.
- 4 heads of garlic.
- 2 pods of hot pepper.
- Salt and spices. For the preparation of pilaf, it is worth using seasoning with zira, black pepper and barberry.
To prepare a dish from so many components, you will need a cauldron, the volume of which is 8 liters. If necessary, the proportions can be reduced.
Product Preparation
To make the Samarkand pilaf tasty, you should prepare some of its components in advance. This primarily relates to chickpeas. This product should be soaked for a day in clean cold water. Periodically, the liquid must be drained and replaced with a new one. Chickpeas should remain in the water until cooking pilaf.
Carrots should be peeled, washed and chopped. It is better to cut it into strips, the thickness of which is no more than 3 millimeters. Onions also need to be peeled and washed. It should be cut into rings or half rings.
It is recommended to wash the meat and then put it on paper towels to dry it. After that, cut it into nice looking pieces. The meat will be fried longer than other products, but its taste will remain.
Heat treatment
So, how to cook Samarkand pilaf? Most of the products must be heat treated before laying in the cauldron. If tail fat is used for cooking pilaf, it is necessary to melt it in a cauldron. If this product was replaced with vegetable oil, then you need to pour it into the container and heat until a bluish haze appears. Now, prepared pieces of meat should be put in the cauldron. The product must be fried until it acquires a uniform golden hue. After that, pepper and salt the meat. In this case, you must ensure that the product is not overcooked. Otherwise, the meat will turn out tough and not aromatic.
When the product reaches the desired condition, you need to add a little chopped carrots and onions to the cauldron. Fire should be reduced so that vegetables do not start to burn. Fry foods until the onion is golden brown.
We spread products
When the onions and carrots are fried, you can proceed to the next step. At this stage, you need to act quickly. The remaining carrots should be put in a cauldron, and then leveled. Do not mix all components in containers. This is precisely the peculiarity of pilaf. In the center of the bowl on top of the carrots, put the garlic and pepper. Water should be drained from chickpeas. Peas should be laid on top of pepper and garlic. If desired, chickpeas can be leveled.
Now you should add all the seasonings. Samarkand pilaf turns out to be very tasty if zira, coriander seeds and barberry are added to it. Spices should be added quickly so that the carrots located on the bottom of the cauldron do not start to fry. After all the components are added, you need to pour boiled water into the container.
Samarkand pilaf, the photo of which is presented above, should be cooked on low heat. It is necessary to cook the contents of the cauldron under the lid until the chickpeas become soft.
Rice preparation
How to cook Samarkand pilaf at home? This is the power of every housewife. The main thing is to follow the rules and sequence. While the products are cooking in a cauldron, it is necessary to prepare rice. For him, boil water in advance. For such an amount of rice, 1.5 or 2 liters of liquid is required. Boiled water should definitely be salt. But not very much. It is worth considering that salt is added to the cauldron during the preparation of meat. Otherwise, the taste of the finished dish will be spoiled.
The specified number of components requires two tablespoons of salt. For meat you need to spend only ¼ part. The rest of the salt should be added to boiled water. Rice must be washed three times in running water.
Add the last component
Samarkand pilaf, the recipe of which is quite simple and accessible to everyone, should be prepared in a certain sequence. When the chickpeas in the cauldron became soft, you can add the last component to the pilaf - rice. The surface of the products in the container must be carefully leveled. In this case, the contents of the cauldron should in no case be mixed. On top of the chickpeas, lay a layer of rice and then evenly distribute.
At the end of the cauldron, pour boiled salted water so that its level is several centimeters above the cereal. After that, increase the fire under the container with pilaf. The water in the cauldron should boil. When this happens, the rice layer needs to be turned over. At the same time, you need to act quickly and carefully so as not to touch the layer of chickpeas and vegetables.
When the pilaf is ready
How much is Samarkand pilaf prepared? The recipe with a photo of this dish allows you to imagine how it should look after cooking. The most important rule is not to mix foods. After the water in the cauldron has evaporated, it is necessary to collect the rice with a slide. Make holes to the bottom of the container. You need to do this throughout the entire area of the cauldron. When the water has completely evaporated, the fire should be reduced to a minimum. After that, close the cauldron tightly with a lid.
Now the pilaf should cook for another 40 minutes on the smallest fire. Otherwise, the products will burn. After the indicated time, the fire must be removed and the pilaf left under the lid for another 10 minutes so that it “rests”. Even after cooking, pilaf should not be mixed.
In conclusion
Now you know how to cook Samarqand pilaf . Serve it with various salads. In Uzbekistan, a container with a dish such as shakarob was placed on the table. This salad is made from tomato and onion. It is seasoned with salt and black pepper. Vegetable oil is not added. Tomatoes cut into slices, and onions - in half rings. All components are folded into a deep container and simply mixed by hand. This salad is perfect for pilaf.