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The last outgoing sunny days are a parting gift of summer. And it is best to devote them to a pleasant rest in nature. Why not go on a picnic with a big fun company? At the end of the warm season, you can arrange an exquisite feast and instead of shish kebabs, cook a real oriental pilaf on a campfire. We study the culinary subtleties of this luxurious dish together with TM “National”.
In search of the first violin
Wherever you cook pilaf, it all starts with the choice of products. And the main role in this culinary action, of course, is assigned to rice. The National brand line includes rice for pilaf for every taste.
Rice “For pilaf” is perfect. This medium-grained variety with large translucent grains that perfectly retain their shape and remain crumbly even after prolonged heat treatment. And they also give the finished pilaf a signature deep aroma.
“Devzira” is a famous Uzbek medium-grained variety, in which a valuable shell is preserved. It is distinguished by a light pink shade of grains and a brown longitudinal stripe. The texture of this rice is very dense, hard and heavy. During the cooking process, the grains absorb the liquid deeply, increasing in size up to 1.5 times.
Long-grain “Golden” rice is a unique variety native to Thailand. Thanks to the special steam treatment, the grains have acquired a beautiful honey-golden hue. In the finished form, they become snow-white, do not stick together at all and retain an elastic texture.
Meat abundance
Following the culinary canons, for pilaf on the fire, you should choose lamb or beef. The optimal choice is the pulp from the back leg of a lamb carcass, that is, where there is both a bone and a rather juicy meat. Beef tenderloin is the most tender, juicy and delicious part. Experts recommend adding a little fat to it to get the right flavor combination.
Pork in Eastern cuisine is not used in principle. But if you still dare to take it, give preference to the neck part. Some cooks add poultry meat to the pilaf, most often chicken or duck. Please note that pilaf with white meat may turn out to be a little dry, so you will need more vegetable oil. But wild birds have large reserves of natural fat, which will do its job.
Orange on white
To prepare pilaf, they are limited to only two vegetables — onions and carrots. Any additional vegetables here will be superfluous. Sweet salad onions are not suitable for pilaf. Try to find varieties with a pronounced burning taste. In Central Asia, yellow carrots are traditionally used. It has a brighter aroma, although it practically does not differ in taste from ordinary varieties. Therefore, they are also quite suitable for pilaf. Remember the main rule. Vegetables are cut into large pieces: onions-rings or half-rings, carrots-long bars with a thickness of at least 4-5 mm. Otherwise, instead of crumbly pilaf, you risk getting rice porridge.
Harmony in proportions
The proportions of the ingredients also play an important role in cooking pilaf over a fire, because here you have to deal with large volumes of products. We will need at least 0.8–1 kg of rice, that is, one package. So you don’t have to bother with additional dimensions. Usually meat and rice are taken in equal proportions, but you can freely change the ratio in the right direction.
Carrots are put in the cauldron a little less than the main ingredients. But the main thing with onions is not to overdo it, because not everyone likes its abundance. At the same time, in a real onion pilaf there should be no less than 2-3 heads. The same is the case with garlic. Usually it is “buried” in rice with whole heads, removing a little husk from above.
The first and last touch
Pilaf likes fat, and therefore it is better not to save on oil. Stick to this proportion: on average, 200-250 ml of odorless vegetable oil is required for 1 kg of rice. In addition to it, a little fat and fat is used-the volume depends on taste preferences.
In the East, a generous bouquet of seasonings is added to pilaf. These are mainly cumin, barberry, hot pepper pods, ground black and red pepper. Do not forget about saffron, suneli hops, coriander and thyme. If you are afraid to experiment with fragrant additives, take a ready-made mixture of spices for pilaf.
Do not forget that pilaf is not only meat. If you have a desire to please your relatives with a sweet variation, take dried apricots, prunes, raisins or assorted dried berries for a picnic. You can add walnuts, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts or peeled pistachios to them.
The phenomenon of pilaf in the cauldron
Now we offer to go to the recipe itself and apply the culinary subtleties in practice. Of course, it is best to cook pilaf in a cauldron on the grill or in a homemade camping stove. A pot on a tripod over an open flame is another win-win option.
We make the strongest possible fire under the cauldron to heat the oil and melt the fat fat. Do not forget to put firewood in the process to keep the flame burning. Pour 250 ml of vegetable oil into the cauldron and put 50-70 g of fat. If you have taken lard, be sure to pull out the pork rinds. To get a more expressive flavor, you can fry a bone with meat in oil and immediately remove it from the cauldron.
Now we will make a zirvak-a mixture of meat fried in oil with vegetables, broth and spices. To do this, we cut 1 kg of lamb into pieces 3-4 cm thick, put it in hot oil and fry it quickly so that the golden crust seals the fragrant juices inside. Next, pour out 600-700 g of onion in half rings and fry with meat until golden brown. Next, we send 1 kg of carrots with a thick straw and, stirring often with a slotted spoon, fry for 7-10 minutes. Now you can add a couple of hot peppers whole, 3-4 heads of garlic, a handful of barberry and 1 tbsp.l. cumin. Fill the zirvak with boiling water so that it completely covers it, and reduce the flame of the fire. This can be done by removing a few logs.
Before laying the rice, add a lot of salt to the zirvak. The extra salt will just take away the rice during the cooking process. We lay 800 g of “Devzira” and immediately pour a new portion of boiling water, so that it covers it for 2-3 cm. As soon as the liquid begins to boil, we remove a few more logs — so we will get a minimum fire. Cover the cauldron with a lid and simmer the rice with meat for about half an hour. The pilaf will be ready when the rice completely absorbs the liquid and swells. Allow it to walk under the lid without fire for 10-15 minutes.
Arrange the ready-made rice with meat on plates, garnish with a head of stewed garlic and fresh herbs. To garnish, you can serve fresh seasonal vegetables or a light salad made from them. A picnic with such a treat will be remembered by family and friends for a long time.
Cooking pilaf, and even in nature, is a whole culinary art. It will be much easier to master all its subtleties with rice “National”. Choose any variety that is more to your liking — a perfect result is guaranteed in any case. These are products of the highest quality, embodying the best culinary traditions, unsurpassed quality and rich taste, which is so appreciated all over the world. With this rice, your pilaf with an oriental flavor will definitely succeed well.