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Plov came to us from the Middle East, to be more precise, from Uzbekistan. The dish has become so tightly embedded in our lives that it has become quite common in the diet of people throughout the former post-Soviet space.
Pilaf is not only a tasty and beautiful dish, but also an optimally balanced dish in terms of the composition of nutrients. The ingredients for making pilaf are: rice, meat, onions, carrots, spices and fruits. Each of the components separately carries a supply of vitamins and essential microelements, and all together, and even seasoned with aromatic spices, they create a real feast for the taste buds.
So, let’s take a closer look at what the benefits of pilaf are. Rice, which is one of the main components of pilaf, is rich in fiber, which the body needs for good digestion.
- Meat is a source of protein.
- Onions – contains vitamin C and also helps the body to digest food.
- Carrots are a source of vitamins A, C, B, etc.
Despite the fact that pilaf contains a fairly large amount of calories, pilaf does not leave a feeling of heaviness and overeating, its uniqueness lies in the fact that all nutrients and useful substances in it are absorbed by 98%.
To reduce the calorie content, you can use chicken meat and cook pilaf not in a cauldron or a saucepan with thick walls with a lot of fat, but in a slow cooker, thereby turning this delicious dish into a real dietary product.
Chicken pilaf with mushrooms cooked in a slow cooker
Lean chicken meat and a minimum of oil and pilaf can be considered a real dietary dish.
Ingredients:
- Chicken fillet – 500 gr.
- Champignons – 6-7 pcs.
- Rice – 1,5 cups
- Carrots – 1 pieces.
- Luk – 1 No.
- Garlic – 2-3 teeth.
- Vegetable oil – 2 Art. l
- Salt – to taste
- Seasoning for pilaf – to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Water to taste
Cut the chicken into cubes. Rinse, peel and cut the mushrooms into halves or quarters, depending on the size. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Cut the onion into thin half rings. Rinse the rice. Crush the garlic a little.
Grease a bowl of a multicooker with vegetable oil, place chicken fillet, onions, carrots there. Set the “Fry” mode for 25 minutes.
After this time, add the washed rice, fill it with water, add salt and spices, set the “Rice / buckwheat” mode. Add garlic to pilaf 10-15 minutes before readiness.
Fragrant, tasty and most importantly low-fat pilaf is ready. You can serve it garnished with fresh herbs.
Chicken pilaf with dried fruits in a slow cooker
Another recipe for making delicious pilaf using a multicooker.
Ingredients:
- Chicken legs – 2-3 pcs.
- Rice – 3 cups;
- Carrots – 1 pieces.
- Onions – 1-2 pcs.
- Prunes or dates – 100 gr.
- Raisins – 2-3 tbsp. l.
- Garlic – 2 teeth
- Salt – to taste
- Spices – to taste
- Vegetable oil for frying – to taste
- Water – 4 multicooker measuring cups
Rinse the rice thoroughly and soak. Wash chicken legs, cut into small pieces. Rinse and soak prunes and raisins. Peel and chop the onions and carrots, dice the carrots, chop the onion.
Pour some vegetable oil into the multicooker bowl, turn on the “Fry” mode, and when the oil is hot, load the chicken legs into it and fry them for 7 minutes, then add the onions to them and fry so much more together, stirring constantly. At this point, you can salt the chicken and then put a layer of carrots on it. No need to stir.
Add four glasses of water to meat and vegetables (measure the water with a measuring glass of a multicooker), change the cooking mode to “Stew” and leave for 20 minutes.
After this time, we spread a layer of rice on a layer of carrots, after draining the water from it. Put whole heads of prunes and peeled garlic on rice, season with spices. Add another 2,5 cups of water to the rice, set the “Rice” mode and leave until fully cooked.
After the multicooker notifies you about the end of cooking pilaf with a sound signal, do not rush to remove the lid, let the pilaf infuse for another 15 minutes and a rich taste and aroma are acquired.
You can serve pilaf with herbs.
Chicken pilaf with dried apricots
Ingredients:
- Chicken legs – 4 pcs.
- Carrots – 2 pieces.
- Luk – 1 No.
- Rice – 2 cups
- Dry – 8 pcs.
- Barberry or a set of spices for pilaf – to taste
- Salt – to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Vegetable oil – 50 gr.
- Water to taste
Rinse the rice thoroughly and soak. Soak dried apricots.
Rinse the chicken legs and chop into medium-sized pieces. If you do not like the presence of bones in the finished dish, then separate the pulp from the bones in advance.
Pour vegetable oil into a saucepan with a thick bottom and walls, heat it and fry the chicken on all sides until golden brown.
Add the onion, cut into half rings to the chicken, fry everything together. When the onions turn golden, add a third of a glass of water, cover the pan, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
Cut the carrots into cubes or cubes, add them to the onions and chicken, increase the heat and fry the carrots.
Add salt and spices. Put the rice in an even layer and put dried apricots on top. If the dried apricots are large, you can cut them into pieces.
Add boiling water, it should completely cover the rice and be one phalanx of fingers above its level.
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until water evaporates. The optimal cooking time is 40 minutes. After the pilaf is ready, mix its contents thoroughly and serve.
Whip up chicken pilaf
The difficulty in preparing pilaf is to achieve the consistency of rice, which is called “rice to rice”. This skill comes with experience, so in order to fill your hand, you must first cook a simple chicken pilaf. And only having achieved some success in its preparation, proceed to more complex recipes.
Ingredients:
- Chicken legs – 5 pcs.
- Rice – 1 glass
- Carrots – 2 pieces.
- Luk – 1 No.
- Garlic – 2 cloves
- Salt – to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Spices for pilaf – to taste
Chop the chicken legs into medium pieces.
In a saucepan with a thick bottom, in which we will cook pilaf, pour vegetable oil, heat it and fry the chicken until golden brown.
Finely chop the onion and garlic, grate the carrots. In a separate frying pan, fry the onion and garlic until transparent, add the carrots and fry for another 5 minutes.
Rinse the rice. Add the fried onions, carrots and garlic to the chicken and put a layer of rice on top. Add salt and spices.
Pour 1,5 cups of boiling water over the rice. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes. If there is not enough water, add small portions while cooking.
Lazy pilaf
If you don’t want to bother with the preparation of numerous pilaf ingredients at all, we offer this version of it.
Ingredients:
- Chicken breast – 2 pc.
- Luk – 2 No.
- Carrots – 2 pieces.
- Garlic – 3 cloves
- Rice – 1,5 cups
- Vegetable oil for frying – to taste
- Salt – to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Spices for pilaf – to taste
Cut the chicken breast into medium slices. Fry in a pan. Add onion to it in half rings and carrots grated on a coarse grater. Fry everything together, stirring constantly. Add salt and spices, cover and simmer until tender.
Boil rice in salted water.
Mix the finished rice with chicken and vegetables, let it brew a little and serve, garnish with herbs.
Bon appetit!
There are a lot of recipes for chicken pilaf using a variety of ingredients, you can find their description on the pages of our website.