Many dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine are firmly included in the menu of almost all restaurants and cafes in the former republics of the USSR. Pilaf, along with kebab and shawarma, is very popular among the people. The main difference from the Uzbek pilaf is that the Azerbaijani pilaf is prepared separately. That is, rice is prepared separately from the filler, which can be from meat, poultry, fruits, eggs. The very concept of "Azerbaijani pilaf" is much broader than a certain dish. It is prepared not only from rice, but also from any other cereal using its own special technology.
Azerbaijani pilaf is a way of preparing dishes from any cereal, it is not tied to a certain cereal or filler, unlike Uzbek, which implies only a rice dish.
First, the rice is thoroughly washed in running water, then soaked for an hour. It is boiled until half ready in a large amount of salted water. The next step is interesting for its uniqueness. The inner surface of the dishes in which rice is cooked is covered with a thin layer of dough. Previously, 3-4 tbsp. Are poured into the bottom of the cauldron (they do not cook pilaf in other dishes). tablespoons of ghee.
In practice, this is done this way: they roll out a large cake and put it in a cauldron so that it completely covers its inner surface. The tortilla dough is made from flour, salt, water, eggs and ghee. The dough is thoroughly kneaded and rolled into a thin cake 3-4 mm thick.
Then 150 grams of butter is heated. Undercooked rice is washed again, only this time with boiling water.
Half the volume of the whole rice is put on a cake, pour it with melted butter. Then they report the rice completely, placing it on a slide, and pour over the remaining oil.
We put the cauldron on a very small fire, cover with a lid, and put a towel on top of the lid, after 15 minutes we open the lid and pour the saffron solution. It is done this way: a pinch of saffron is brewed with boiling water, and then a spoonful of warmed ghee is added to the tincture. Azerbaijani pilaf continues to be cooked for another 15 minutes, a total of 30 is obtained. After half an hour, the cauldrons are wrapped with something warm so that the rice does not cool. First, white rice is laid out on a plate, and then yellow, with saffron. The flat cake on which pilaf was cooked is cut with diamonds and served on a plate with a portion.
If you want to cook pilaf with meat, the recipe is as follows: lamb is cut in small pieces with bones. It is fried in its own fat (you can add a couple of tablespoons of butter) in a separate frying pan over high heat. After 10 minutes, transfer it to a cauldron with thick walls, add onions, pomegranate juice, raisins and cherry plum, half a glass of boiling water, reduce heat to low and simmer for half an hour. Ready mutton is laid out on rice. Pilaf served with herbs, garlic, watercress and mint.
Iranian pilaf is prepared using the same technology as Azerbaijani pilaf: rice on a tortilla is prepared separately, and the filler separately. Differences are observed in the details.
On top of the rice is a mixture of raisins, almonds, carrots, pistachios, dried apricots and orange zest fried in ghee. Carrots are cut into strips, and the zest of orange is removed with a special scraper. Moreover, each component is fried separately, and then everything is mixed.
Turmeric, coriander and zira are added to lamb. Peaches are cut in half, squeezed lemon on them and put on top of the meat.
Iranian pilaf, just like Azerbaijani pilaf, is prepared not only from rice, but also from peas, barley, wheat, and corn. The cooking technology is almost the same for all cereals.
In addition to lamb, the filler for Iranian pilaf can be chicken, fruit and even fish. Feel free to experiment.