Azerbaijani pilaf is a popular national dish. True, local housewives cook it most often on holidays. This dish is even outwardly different from the pilaf that many imagine it to be.
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Azerbaijani pilaf with lamb
The main difference between the Azerbaijani pilaf from other options is the original technology of its preparation. According to the rules, rice and filling must be done separately. Both parts are joined together only at the time of serving.
About 40 recipes for this dish are currently known. The most popular option is the use of lamb meat.
To prepare it, you need the following components:
• 2 glasses of rice cereal;
• 35 grams of butter;
• 0.5 kilograms of fresh mutton;
• salt;
• 1 onion;
• pepper;
• a little saffron (about 0.25 grams);
• ¼ teaspoon of zira.
Pilaf is being prepared in stages:
1. The day before you should soak rice. After this, rinse the cereals well, transfer to a saucepan, add water, salt a little and cook until half cooked for about 6-7 minutes. Next, the rice should be thrown into a colander and allowed to drain all the water.
2.Cook a whole piece of meat until tender, be sure to add in a pan, salt, a little pepper and onion. Cut the slightly cooled mutton into pieces arbitrarily.
3. Pour saffron in a glass with boiling water (about 20 milliliters) and let it brew well.
4. To prevent the dish from sticking to the cauldron, local housewives use the "kazmag". It is usually laid at the bottom of the container. As a kazmag, you can use ordinary dense dough or a piece of pita bread. This recipe takes fresh potatoes. It must be cleaned and cut into circles no more than 5 millimeters thick.
5. Put the cauldron on the fire.
6. Put oil on the bottom. It should warm up well.
7. Cover the bottom with slices of potatoes and salt. Pieces can be moved a little so that they do not stick immediately.
8. Pour part of the rice on top with a layer of 1 centimeter.
9. Spread pieces of meat on it.
10. Cover the products with the remnants of rice and pour it with saffron infusion.
11. Stew under the lid over low heat for 40 minutes. To prevent condensation from getting inside, it is better to wrap the lid with a cloth.
12. Pour the dish with melted butter and simmer another 10 minutes.
First rice is laid out on the dish, and juicy, flavorful meat is already poured on top of it.
How to cook with chicken
Using the same technology, you can also cook Azerbaijani pilaf with poultry meat.
The ingredients for this will need a little:
• part of the chicken carcass (approximately 800 grams);
• 3 cups long grain rice;
• 2 tablespoons of butter and olive oil;
• 0.5 teaspoon dried saffron.
The whole process consists of several stages:
1. Soak rice for 40 minutes in cold salt water.
2. Pour saffron with boiling water.
3. Cut the carcass into portions.
4. Fry them on all sides over medium heat with the addition of olive oil.
5. Rinse the rice and again fill it with water in the ratio of 1 liter per 1 cup.
6. Cook it to the state of "al dente", and then strain it, throwing it in a colander.
7. Put the rice on top of the fried chicken and pour it with saffron.
8. Simmer for 25 minutes over low heat by placing a towel under the lid.
9. Add butter. Continue stewing for about another half hour.
By tradition, it is customary to spread such pilaf on a large oval plate. On the table he looks very beautiful.
Tasty recipe:pilaf in the oven
With dried fruits and meat
Classical pilaf in Azerbaijan is a dish in which besides rice and meat they put a lot of onions and fruits. To taste, it differs significantly from the rest of the options. The meat becomes more tender and acquires an unusual fruity aroma, and rice, in turn, acquires a delicate creamy taste.
The list of products will require a fairly large:
• 1 kilogram of lamb;
• 150 grams of butter;
• 7 onions;
• 4 potatoes;
• 100 grams of raisins and dried apricots;
• 1 bunch of cilantro and parsley;
• 2 cups long grain rice;
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme and turmeric;
• salt;
• pepper;
• 1 tablespoon of "sum".
To cook a real Azerbaijani pilaf with dried fruits and meat, you must:
1. Rinse thoroughly, then pour water and boil al dente. This will take 10 minutes.
2. Fold cooked rice on a sieve and wash with cold water.
3. Peel and cut the potatoes into circles.
4. Put a little oil on the bottom of a deep pan and melt it.
5. Cover the bottom with slices of potatoes.
6. Cover them with rice on top, pour over the remaining oil and sprinkle with turmeric.
7. Put the pan for one hour in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees.
8. Cut the meat into pieces. First, fry them in a pan, and then put in a cauldron.
9. Add the onion, chopped half rings, chopped herbs and spices.
10. Pour it all with water and simmer for 40 minutes.
11. Pour dried fruits with boiling water and let stand for 10 minutes. Transfer processed foods to the cauldron and simmer everything over low heat for another half hour.
12. Add salt, a little pepper and turn off the heat. Allow the meat to stand in this position for about 15 minutes.
When serving, first rice is laid out on a plate, and on top of it is a complex filling. Nearby you can put a couple of pieces of potatoes.
Shah-pilaf in Azerbaijani
For the most dear guests, local housewives are preparing a special dish.
Read also: recipe pilaf in a slow cooker with pork
“Azerbaijani Shah-pilaf” is a dish made in the form of a dome with a crispy crust and a classic puff filling made from meat, rice and dried fruits.
To make such a work of culinary art, you will need:
• 0.4 kilograms of long-grain rice;
• 0.6 kilograms of lamb;
• 1 pack of pita bread (2 sheets);
• 2 onions;
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• 70 grams of butter and the same amount of raisins;
• 100 grams of dried apricots;
• spices (salt, zira, paprika, pepper, barberry and turmeric).
Pilaf is being prepared step by step:
1. Fold the washed rice in a cauldron mixed with thin slices of oil. Sprinkle it with turmeric, salt, add water (1: 2) and cook until tender.
2. Cut the meat into small pieces and lightly fry them in vegetable oil in a pan.
3. Add diced onions. Fry for another 6-7 minutes.
4. Pour raisins with dried apricots for 5 minutes with boiling water. After that, they need to be squeezed, chopped and added to the meat.
5. Add all prepared spices to this, mix and fry for a couple of minutes.
6. Introduce the chopped garlic into small pieces and immediately remove the pan from the heat.
7. Pita bread cut into strips 5 centimeters wide.
8. They line the cauldron with a fan from the inside so that pieces of strips hang outward.
9. Put a piece of rice at the bottom.
10. Cover it with a small amount of meat.
11. Continue to lay out the layers further. Until all the products run out.
12. Cover the filling with the hanging ends of pita bread.
13. Place the cauldron in the oven and bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees.
After this, the finished pilaf will only be put on the dish, cut into pieces, like a cake.
Beef Recipe
You can also cook Azerbaijani pilaf with beef.
To do this, you can use the following set of ingredients:
• 600 grams of beef tenderloin;
• 1 thin pita bread;
• 2.5 cups of rice;
• 2 onions;
• 120 grams of butter;
• a pinch of ground cloves;
• a little cinnamon.
Pilaf cooking technology:
1. Peel the onion into cubes. Fry them in oil with cinnamon and cloves.
2. Cut the meat arbitrarily into pieces. Fry them also in oil in another pan.
3. Transfer the processed meat to a pan.
4. Cover it with aromatic fried onions.
5. Pour the food with water (750 milliliters), salt and simmer until the meat is soft enough.
6. Rice a little boil in salt water. Then it should be washed well and filtered.
7. From the inside, line the cauldron with pita bread.
8. Pour rice on top, pour oil on it and bring to readiness.
When serving on a dish, rice is first poured in a slide, and then meat is laid on it. The finished dish can be poured with juice, which remains after stewing.
Cooking with milk
Sometimes Azerbaijani pilaf is prepared with the addition of milk. This option will definitely appeal to those who do not eat meat at all.
For work you will need:
• 0.5 cups of rice (round grain);
• 250 milliliters of milk;
• 70 grams of butter;
• 400 milliliters of boiled water;
• 1 pita;
• 60 grams of raisins;
• ½ teaspoon of saffron tincture.
In this case, the cooking method will be different:
1. Pour milk and water into a saucepan and heat (but do not boil).
2. Pour rice and salt there. Cook until the cereals are ready.
3. Then the rice should be washed with hot water, strain and pour it on a towel to dry for 15 minutes.
4. Soak raisins in boiling water.
5. Inside the cauldron, treat with oil and cover with lavash.
6. Pour dried rice with raisins into it. Stew foods under the lid on minimum heat for at least 30 minutes.
Pour the prepared pilaf in a plate with hot oil mixed with saffron tincture.
Azerbaijani han-pilaf
In Azerbaijani cuisine, there is also a “han-pilau”. This is one of the options for a popular dish. It very much resembles a “shah-pilaf”. True, instead of thin pita bread, dough (“kazmag”) is used, which forms a crust and prevents the filling from sticking.
For this recipe you will need:
• 400 grams of long-grain rice;
For kazmag:
• 0.5 kilograms of wheat flour;
• 150 milliliters of water;
• 220 grams of ghee;
• 10 grams of edible salt.
For filling:
• 0.5 kilograms of ground beef;
• 15 dates and as many dried apricots;
• 20 chestnuts;
• 250 grams of onions;
• 1 handful of raisins (preferably “raisins”).
To prepare a Khan-pilaf in Azerbaijani, you must perform the following steps:
1. First make a kazmag. To do this, collect all products in one container and mix thoroughly. Roll out the finished dough into a layer 3 mm thick.
2. Grease a deep pan with oil from the inside. For flavor, you can add some sesame seeds.
3. Line the pan with dough so that there are no gaps.
4. Stuff the minced meat with chopped onions, add a little pepper, salt and mix.
5. Put the mass in a pan and simmer for 45 minutes over medium heat, adding half a glass of water.
6. Once all the moisture has evaporated, put the oil on and start frying.
7. Introduce washed dried fruits and keep on low heat for no more than 10 minutes.
8. Now you can start assembling pilaf. First, pour rice into the bottom of the pan. The thickness of this standing should be no more than 3 centimeters.
9. Put a little fry on top of it.
10. Repeat layers several times. In the end, rice should appear in the end. It must be sprinkled with oil and saffron tincture.
11. Add a little water (70-80 milliliters) and wrap the edges of the dough. The result was a kind of cake.
12. Bake it for 2 hours in the oven at 160 degrees.
On the table, such a dish looks very festive. Cut it very carefully, as inside the pilaf still remains crumbly.
