This hearty dish is many years old: pilaf has been popular in the East since ancient times, as mentioned in many historical documents – chronicles of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries. Then rice with meat and spices was served at big celebrations and memorable events – weddings, funerals. It was customary to greet guests with pilaf and feed the pilgrims. Chronicles dating from the XNUMXth century reveal the recipe and technology for cooking pilaf with minced meat.
There is a legend according to which Avicenna himself, a famous scientist and healer, used pilaf to treat the nobility. Plov was credited with healing properties and believed that he could cure many diseases. When recovering from heavy operations, heavy physical labor, starvation, they fed pilaf, as a dish that could restore strength, raise immunity and prevent depletion of the body.
In ancient times, pilaf was cooked on the skin of a ram – a thick skin was placed in a large pit on hot coals, and pilaf was wrapped in it. The temperature was evenly distributed and the pilaf came out well cooked and delicious.
Why pilaf?
The name of the dish in the Uzbek language sounds like “palov osh”. And each letter of the name is the initial letter of the ingredients that are included in the recipe: P – piez – onion, A – aez – carrots, L – lahm – meat, O – olio – fat, B – wet – salt, O – about – water , Ш – shawls – fig. Each ingredient was not chosen by chance – the whole dish has a healing value and is designed to nourish and bring back to life.
Pilaf in different countries
Today pilaf is a national dish of Tajiks, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, they love it in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Tatarstan, Afghanistan. Pilaf takes pride of place in other countries – Italian risotto, Spanish paella.
Of course, in every kitchen pilaf has its own recipes and secrets.
For example, Tajiks have dozens of variations of the recipe for this dish, the most famous of which are gelak palav (pilaf with meatballs), shavlya (rice porridge with meat), Dushanbe pilaf, chicken pilaf, Ugro pilaf, traditional Tajik pilaf.
Each type of Tajik pilaf has a different technological basis and procedure – it all depends on the ingredients, the temperature regimes necessary for them, and the design features. They are united by this feature: pilaf oil is calcined, onions and carrots, spices and spices are fried in it. The Tajiks cook pilaf in cast iron cauldrons on melted lamb, fat tail or vegetable fat. The meat base – lamb, beef or poultry – is either finely chopped or left in one piece. Rice for Tajik pilaf is soaked for at least 3 hours, and among the spices are red and black ground pepper, barberry, anise, cumin, raisins, saffron, and garlic. Quince, dried fruits and grape leaves are often added to pilaf.
Tajik pilaf is served, laid in a slide on a large round dish, meat is laid out on top, sprinkled with herbs and pomegranate seeds.
Uzbek pilaf is prepared with minced meat, onions and carrots. Like Tajiks, Uzbek chefs cook pilaf in different ways – depending on the type of meat. Any Uzbek pilaf is based on a large amount of vegetable or animal fat. Rice and vegetables are cooked at the same time and together, which allows the garnish to absorb all the juices of the ingredients.
The Uzbeks prepare pilaf in several stages. First, the fat is calcined in a cast iron boiler until the smoke from the burning oil turns white. Then the onion is thrown into the fat so that it neutralizes the bitterness. Lamb fat is cut into cubes, melted and skinned so that there is no specific smell. The next step is to prepare the seasoning and stew the meat. Zirvak (seasonings) are boiled over low heat, and then rice is placed on top in a thick layer, without mixing with vegetables and spices. When the rice is cooked, it is salted and pilaf is stirred.
Turkmen pilaf is prepared on the basis of lamb, partridges, waterfowl meat. As well as hares, fallow deer and gazelles. Afghan pilaf has the following peculiarity: rice for it is prepared separately from seasoning with meat. Azerbaijani cuisine in the preparation of pilaf is based on lamb, fish, vegetables, fruits and berries.
In Turkey, chickpeas or other legumes are added to pilaf. In India, pilaf is vegetarian, but meat and fish options are not excluded. In Italy, risotto is impregnated with white wine and cheese, while in Spain paella is prepared using peppers, garlic, spices and herbs that are good for digestion. Spanish pilaf is prepared with seafood or white meat.
A few facts about pilaf
– Pilaf, like shish kebab, does not tolerate female hands – it is cooked exclusively by men.
– In Iran, pilaf is included in the menus of McDonald’s fast food restaurants.
– The largest pilaf, weighing 1 ton, was cooked in one cauldron in 2007 in China.
We will remind, earlier we told how to cook the most summer pilaf, and also shared the recipe for sweet pilaf.