In Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan) pilaf is consumed daily. Not a single significant event is complete without this dish. For a wedding, wake, birth of children, it is customary to submit pilaf. On weekdays, women cook it, and on holidays - men. In our article we will present photos and recipes of Uzbek pilaf in a slow cooker. Be sure to dwell on how to cook zirvak step by step, how to prepare the cereal part of the dish, how to serve it to the table.
Real Uzbek pilaf in a slow cooker
Each mistress has her own recipe for this traditional oriental dish. Someone prepares it, as expected, from lamb, and someone prefers to use beef, pork or poultry. Equally important is the choice of rice. In a real pilaf, cereal should be crumbly. That is why you should not use Krasnodar rice with round grain in the preparation, which contains a lot of starch. Otherwise, you get rice porridge.
Uzbek pilaf has an unusual aroma, which is given by spices. The main spice for this dish is zira. In addition, in the preparation of pilaf, dried barberry and garlic are used. Other spices (hot pepper in pods, coriander, turmeric, saffron) can be added to the taste to your taste.
In Uzbekistan, pilaf is cooked in a thick-walled roasting pan having the shape of a hemisphere. At home, it can be cooked in a cast-iron cauldron or in a pan with thick walls and a bottom. The Uzbek pilaf in a slow cooker is equally tasty. According to the recipe, such a dish is even easier to prepare than in other dishes. You can not worry about the pilaf burning or rice will remain damp. In a slow cooker, the dish turns out to be ideal: both tasty and fragrant.
Useful Tips
The Uzbek pilaf will turn out even tastier if you follow the following tips from experienced chefs when cooking it:
- Vegetables for a dish are better to fry in fat tail fat, and not in vegetable oil. Pilaf will have a richer flavor.
- The perfect rice for this dish is devzira. In the process of preparation, a dense grain of light brown color increases by 7 times. Such rice absorbs fat and water well, but it remains friable. Instead of a fairly expensive devzira, you can use other varieties, such as basmati or jasmine.
- Rice before adding to zirvak should be washed well, changing the water up to 10 times until it becomes transparent, and then soak in warm water for 1.5 hours.
- Most multicooker models have a special “Pilaf” program for preparing this dish. You can also select the "Porridge" mode. Cooking time is usually 60 minutes.
List of ingredients
To prepare this national Uzbek dish you will need the following set of products:
- Lamb - 500 g
- Rice - 500 g.
- Carrots - 400 g
- Onion - 600 g.
- Garlic - 1 pc.
- Zira - ½ tsp
- Barberry - 1 tsp.
- Vegetable oil - 150 ml.
- Salt to taste.
Despite the fact that in Central Asia the dish is cooked in fat tail fat or lamb fat, at home in a multicooker Uzbek pilaf can be cooked in vegetable oil. To taste, it will turn out no worse than traditional.
How to cook zirvak for pilaf
Based on the cooking sequence, we can say that this dish consists of two parts: meat and cereal. First, zirvak is prepared - a sauce of vegetables, pieces of lamb and spices. Only when the meat portion of the Uzbek pilaf in the slow cooker is ready, is the previously prepared rice added.
Zirvak is brewed as follows:
- Chop the onions in half rings, cut the carrots into strips, and the meat into small pieces.
- Select the cooking mode “Frying” or “Baking”.
- Pour vegetable oil at the bottom of the bowl, heat well and put the onion in it. Fry for 7-10 minutes until transparent.
- Put chopped meat in a bowl to the onion. Fry it until golden brown.
- Add carrots to the onion and meat. Fry for 2 minutes until soft.
- Pour the contents of the bowl with such an amount of water that it completely covers the meat.
- Add salt to taste, cumin, barberry, red chili pepper, bay leaf and turmeric (optional). The last spice will give pilaf a beautiful yellow color.
- Set the multicooker to the "Extinguishing" mode. Cook zirvak for 40-50 minutes until the meat is soft.
Step by step cooking
When the zirvak is ready, then the Uzbek pilaf in a slow cooker should be cooked in the following sequence:
- Rinse the rice well. At first, the water will be cloudy, and then it will gradually become transparent.
- Transfer clean rice to zirvak. You don’t need to mix anything. It is enough just to level it with a spatula and fill it with water so that its level is 2 fingers higher than the cereal.
- Select the program "Pilaf". Cooking time is 1 hour.
- 5 minutes before the sound signal about the end of the device, add garlic to the dish. To do this, the whole head in the husk should be washed and stuck directly in rice.
- Leave the pilaf in the bowl for 20 minutes, then mix it well. After another 15 minutes, the dish can be laid out on plates.
How to cook Uzbek chicken pilaf in a slow cooker
A poultry dish is prepared much faster than lamb or beef. The choice of the multicooker program depends on its model. It is advisable to use the "Pilaf" or "Rice" mode.
The cooking process consists of the following actions:
- Pour 1 cup of vegetable oil into the bowl and heat it well.
- Rinse the chicken (1 kg), dry it with a paper towel and put in oil. Fry until golden brown.
- Add diced onions (you need to take 3 heads) and carrots, chopped into strips. Cook for 5 minutes to make the vegetables softer.
- Add salt and spices. It is recommended that you use zira and dried barberry. If you do not add such spices, then it will no longer be Uzbek pilaf.
- In a slow cooker, meat and vegetables are fried in the “Baking” mode. After the vegetables are fried, you should choose another program that is most suitable for pilaf.
- On top of the frying of meat, carrots and onions put the washed rice (3 cups). Smooth it and pour hot boiled water (6 cups). Close the multicooker lid and continue the cooking process until a beep sounds.
- You can also add a head of garlic to the chicken pilaf to make the dish more flavorful. When serving, sprinkle pilaf with cilantro.