Recipe for real Ferghana pilaf. Plov Ferghana style with lamb

In principle, this dinner should have been one of the first, since pilaf is one of those dishes that I am ready to eat almost every day. I love pilaf incredibly and cook it quite often according to one recipe or another.
But only recently I finally got the “right” cauldron for cooking pilaf on a conventional gas stove and could, with a calm soul, start shooting the process of preparing this finger-licking dish.
So, a huge cast-iron Asian cauldron is placed on the burner, the rice is washed, the meat and carrots are chopped, and the spices are waiting for their turn, exuding aroma throughout the kitchen ...

To prepare Ferghana pilaf, we need:
- about 1.5 kilograms of lamb meat on the bone (because I don’t really like lamb, I cook pilaf with pork for myself, using ribs and a shoulder blade)
- 3 cups of rice (it must first be washed well and poured with water for several hours)
- 3-4 carrots and 2 onions
- 2-3 heads of garlic and the same number of hot pepper pods;
- fat (in the original - fat tail, but I use the usual, pork) and good vegetable oil;
- zira, turmeric and paprika (only zira is present in the classic Fergana recipe, but for some time now I have been adding the last two spices to pilaf);
- salt and water.
Ingredients are given based on a 6 liter cauldron. Cooking time is about 3 hours.

A huge plus of the Asian cauldron is its shape - spherical inside, with a small bottom area on the outside and a strong expansion towards the top. Thanks to this form, you can use a strong fire, respectively, and the cooking process is very fast. Naturally, we are talking about some, so to speak, "special" dishes.
Sorry, got distracted. So, put the cauldron on a strong fire, cut the fat into cubes and place it in the cauldron. Within a few minutes, we melt the fat from the fat, stirring the cracklings from time to time, preventing them from burning. Then the cracklings should be removed, and approximately the same amount of vegetable oil should be added to the resulting fat.

After waiting quite a bit until the temperature of the fat mixture becomes high, we pour coarsely chopped onions into the cauldron.

Because the fire is strong, and the oil is very hot, the onion in it should literally boil, frying in a minute. Here it is - the action of a specific form of a cauldron. At the same time, there should be so much fat in the cauldron that the onion literally floats in it.

Do not forget to mix the onion, controlling the degree of roasting and "goldenness".

To fry the onion to the desired state, just a minute and a half is enough. Then the bones are placed in the cauldron, which are lightly fried for several minutes. After that, we take them out and lay the meat cut into pieces for frying.
Due to the fact that everything happens very quickly, I recommend cutting everything BEFORE the cooking process so that nothing burns or you do not have to remove the cauldron from the fire for a while.

Fry the meat until golden brown. Again, it's only a matter of minutes.

After the meat has acquired the desired crust, it is the turn of carrots, cut into strips. Mix it with meat and fry for a few minutes. During this time, carrots manage to release a lot of juice, and the roasting process smoothly transforms into a stewing process over high heat.

And now it's time for spices. Zira. The incredible smell and taste of pilaf largely depends on it. Sprinkle it with carrots with meat and onions.

At the same time, I add some turmeric and pieces of dry paprika..

We mix everything in a cauldron, return the bones to the cauldron, lay whole heads of garlic and hot pepper pods ..

And now we add water to the cauldron. Enough to cover everything previously laid. The resulting mixture is called zirvak. By the way, at the same time, add salt.

We cover the cauldron with a lid and leave the zirvak to stew for an hour. Already at this stage, having tasted it, we can correct the taste of the future pilaf. If everything up to this point is done correctly, the taste of zirvak should amaze you.

The hour has passed. We remove the lid from the cauldron, and the time comes for rice ... As I said at the beginning, it must be washed well in advance and poured with water for a couple of hours. Before laying rice, garlic and hot peppers must be removed from the cauldron, set aside on a separate dish. We still need them.

We fall asleep rice in zirvak.

Our task is to wait until not a drop of water remains in the pilaf. To do this, in the process of extinguishing, you can periodically make holes deep into the bottom, giving the water the opportunity to evaporate. To check whether there is still water in the pilaf, it is enough to pat its surface with a spatula. Champs - there is water, the sound is deaf - no more ..
Until the water has evaporated, do not cover the pilaf with a lid.

At the moment when it became clear that the water was gone, add a little more zira to the pilaf (if the first bookmark was for taste, now for flavor)

We return the garlic and hot peppers back and cover the pilaf with a lid, leaving it to simmer on the lowest heat for 30-40 minutes ...

At the end, before serving, the last little procedure remains - to straighten the pilaf. To do this, lift small portions of pilaf with a spatula and shake them over the cauldron. So our dish will be crumbly and lively ..

Three hours behind, the kitchen is filled with incredible aromas, your stomach growls, and the guests impatiently tap their spoons on the table...
Ferghana pilaf is ready.

It is enough just to put it on a large dish, garnished with garlic and hot pepper ...

Enjoy your meal!

See also: ... (42 photos) and ... (20 photos)

Pilaf - one of the most common dishes in the Middle East - has received the greatest development in Uzbekistan. A classic Central Asian technology for cooking pilaf has been created here, the number of types of which reaches several dozen.
The main types include pilafs, which received the name from those historical and geographical provinces or even states where they arose. They are technologically different. These are Ferghana, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khorezm. In addition, there are pilafs, the composition of which varies depending on the purpose (simple, festive, wedding, summer, winter). A number of pilafs differ, finally, in that they contain different leading meats. After all, mutton is not always used in pilaf, it is often replaced in Uzbekistan with kazy (horse sausage), post-dumba (tail-tailed casing), quails, pheasants, and chicken. Rice is not always included in Uzbek plov. Sometimes it makes up only a part of pilaf, and sometimes it is completely replaced by wheat, peas or mung beans.
But for the vast majority of pilafs, a classic set of products is typical: lamb, rice, carrots, raisins or apricots and a mixture of three spices - red pepper, barberry and ajgon (zira).

The preparation of a real Uzbek pilaf consists of three operations: 1) heating the oil; 2) preparation of zirvak; 3) laying rice and bringing pilaf to readiness.

Oil overheating. The oil should be heated in a metal (preferably cast iron, but in no case enameled) dishes with a thick, oval-rounded bottom - in a cauldron, cauldron or saucepan similar to them. First of all, this dish must be heated, then pour oil into it and heat it over moderate heat or even low heat (the fire should not touch the bottom of the dish) so that it does not boil externally. The degree of readiness of the oil (its overheating) can be determined by the strong crackling or rebounding of large salt thrown into it or the release of a whitish haze. Oil is usually poured onto the bottom of the cauldron with a layer of 1 to 3 cm, depending on the amount of food being laid.
The most commonly used combination of vegetable oils (cotton, linseed, sunflower, sesame, walnut) with animal fats (horse, goat, mutton, beef, bird fat and bone fat). Sometimes only vegetable oils are taken - sunflower, sesame, which give a pleasant taste to pilaf. Butter and ghee cannot be reheated.

Preparation of zirvak. The overheated oil is put in the following sequence, unless otherwise specified in the recipe: meat, cut into small or large pieces, onion, cut into cubes or thick rings, carrots, most often cut into strips (less often - into cubes). Carrots in pilaf are always put half as much rice (by weight) and about the same as meat. Deviations from these norms in certain types of pilaf are extremely insignificant.
Each of the three main components of zirvak is overcooked sequentially so that all products retain their characteristic appearance and color. At the beginning of cooking zirvak, the fire is increased, towards the middle and towards the end of cooking it is reduced. Products should not stick to the walls and bottom of the cauldron. Spices are added to the prepared zirvak, that is, after about 20-30 minutes. This is usually a mixture of three spices (red pepper, azhgon, barberry), taken in equal parts, prepared in advance. A mixture of spices is poured into pilaf at the rate of 1 - 1.5 teaspoons (with top) of the mixture per 500 g of rice.
Then zirvak is salted and poured with a small amount of water at the rate of a quarter or half a glass for every 500 g of rice. In some types of pilaf, water can not be added to zirvak at all, especially in cases where small portions are cooked and there is a lot of oil in zirvak.

Laying rice and bringing pilaf to readiness. The prepared zirvak is leveled, the fire is reduced even more and rice is covered with an even layer, which is lightly crushed with a slotted spoon or spoon, but in no case is mixed with zirvak. Then the packed surface of the rice is carefully poured with water, making sure that it does not destroy the layer of rice. To do this, use the following technique to put a saucer on the rice and pour water on it, which evenly flows onto the rice from the edges of the saucer. Then the saucer is carefully removed from the cauldron with the help of a lace tied to it in advance. Rice should be covered with water with a layer of 1 - 1.5 cm. If the rice is very dry and hard, water is poured a little more than usual. Then the fire is increased, but making sure that the pilaf boils evenly. The water is added on top of the rice and sometimes spices are added to it, primarily turmeric, which in this case gradually and evenly colors the rice in a golden-lemon color. During the boil, the pilaf is not covered with a lid, but when the water has completely evaporated, it is covered very tightly with a plate or saucer. Before this, to make sure that the pilaf is ready, the surface of the rice is hit flat several times with a slotted spoon, which should be followed by a dull sound. In addition, it is noticeable that the rice becomes loose. Then the pilaf is pierced in several places with a wooden stick, then the surface of the rice is leveled with a slotted spoon, without mixing it with zirvak, and covered with a plate for 15-20 minutes so that the pilaf is cooked.
Only after that, carefully remove the plate, trying not to let drops of water fall into the pilaf, mix it evenly and serve it to the table.
Sometimes pilaf is not mixed, but laid out on a dish in layers in the reverse order compared to the bookmark, that is, first rice, then zirvak - onions and carrots, and finally meat. [ one ]

So, let's prepare the simplest version of pilaf

PILAF FERGANA

INGREDIENTS:
500 g rice
250 g lamb
250 g carrots
125 g fat (oil)
3 onions
1 - 1.5 tsp spice mixture

COOKING METHOD:
Transfer the oil.
Meat in zirvak cut into small cubes and fry with onions. Chopped carrots, add later. Cook 20-30 minutes. Add spices.
The prepared zirvak is leveled, the fire is reduced even more and rice is covered with an even layer, which is lightly crushed with a slotted spoon or spoon, but in no case is mixed with zirvak.
After laying rice, you can add another ½ tsp. spicy mixture. Then the packed surface of the rice is carefully poured with water, making sure that it does not destroy the layer of rice.
Rice should be covered with water with a layer of 1 - 1.5 cm. Leave the rice to boil without a lid. When the rice is ready, cover it with a plate for 15-20 minutes so that the pilaf will catch.

____________
[ 1 ] from the Great Encyclopedia of Culinary Arts. All recipes V.V. Pokhlebkin. - M .: CJSC Tsentrpoligraf, 2007. - 975 p. ISBN 5-9524-0274-7

Step 1: prepare the ingredients.

Step 2: add color and flavor to vegetable oil.

Step 3: Combine onions, meat and carrots.

Step 4: stew meat with spices and garlic.

Step 5: Add Rice.

Step 6: Bring the dish to full readiness.

Step 7: Serve Uzbek pilaf (Ferghana style).

- - There should be separate cutting boards and knives for meat and raw vegetables!

- - Rice turns out to be more crumbly if you cook pilaf in a paella bowl or in a pan with high sides, but in the absence of these containers, you can use an ordinary cauldron or duckling.

- - You can give the pilaf a more sour - spicy shade by adding chopped tomatoes, garlic and hot chili peppers in a blender while stewing meat.

- - For baking, always choose the meat of a young lamb, it almost does not have a specific flavor given to this type of meat. Basically, the unpleasant smell of meat remains in males that have been, not properly slaughtered or not castrated. Therefore, be sure to ask the seller to set fire to exactly the piece of meat that you have chosen for cooking pilaf. If after setting fire you smell urine, discard this meat.

Before you cook pilaf according to this recipe, I advise you to read and feel this

The other day I looked at various resources for recipes for cooking pilaf. As a person who has probably cooked this dish more than one hundred times, I can only shrug my shoulders and offer to cook “natural pilaf”. More precisely - Uzbek pilaf. And even more precisely, the Ferghana version of the Uzbek pilaf, which is “more natural” in nature simply does not exist (I will refrain from a lengthy ethnographic and culinary reference).

Of course, as soon as I give a set of products that is really accessible to the average city dweller, there will immediately be “apologists for the classics”: they say, cottonseed oil is not used, red carrots are used instead of yellow ones, pilaf is made not on a fire, but on a stove, and so on. However, for those who really want to cook a real pilaf, I will say: do not listen to the "apologists". Pilaf is a dish that forgives liberties in insignificant trifles. But he does not forgive fundamental miscalculations. One of these fundamental components of pilaf is the fact that pilaf is a living organism, and not male, but female, requiring, therefore, an appropriate attitude towards itself.

Armed with a serious understanding of this circumstance (a little lower I will explain its essence clearly), we can safely get down to business.

To begin with, I propose to cook pilaf based on small proportions of products. With such pilaf, it will be possible to feed 5-6 people to the dump and not make almost a single fundamental mistake when preparing it. Later, if desired, the proportions can be increased and, with the experience that has come, cook pilaf for at least 20 people, at least 100.

So, for a “small” pilaf we need:

1. A kilogram of rice, preferably hard varieties. For example, devzira rice, which is now available on almost any market for 200-250 rubles per kilo (photo will be placed below), or its varieties, like chungara. Or - other varieties of rice that have proven themselves in Central Asian pilafs - laser, alanga, basmati, etc. I want to remind once again what I have said more than once: the choice of rice for pilaf must be approached very carefully, not only considering that this is the main component of the dish, but also the fact that the dish itself is relatively laborious in terms of time and technological costs. You need it - with a lot of effort, to experience disappointment at the finish line just because you bought any rice in any station shop? I think no.

2. Approximately a kilogram of well-fed lamb, of which a third is bones, two-thirds is meat. By the way, I’ll add that the talk that pilaf is prepared exclusively from lamb is nothing more than talk. And leisurely. Especially when you consider the undeniable dominance of rice in this dish. However, the lamb in it is the most preferred meat.

3. 100 grams of lamb fat, better than fat tail fat, although it (for lack of) can be replaced with fat cut from other parts of the carcass. It is strongly necessary to avoid the use of lard - because of its pronounced "foreign" and, to put it mildly, not the best taste.

4. A kilogram of red juicy carrots. There is a yellow one (which I doubt) - very good.

5. Three medium onion heads.

6. Two heads of garlic.

7. 150 grams of vegetable oil (refined).

8. MANDATORY: one and a half to two teaspoons of zira (cumin). Without it, do not even take the pilaf.

9. 1-2 whole chili peppers (optional)

10. Salt to taste.

11. As an option, you can use several grains of dry barberry, but it has absolutely no effect on the taste of the future pilaf.

Since I have a gas stove, I will cook pilaf in a cast-iron cauldron, traditional for cooking this dish, although the use of other utensils is not forbidden. It depends on the conditions that you have - whether it is a fire, gas or electric stove. From the "tool" you need a slotted spoon. A spatula or, especially a spoon, is not only inconvenient, but harmful at certain stages.

So, first of all, we do 100% preparation of products for pilaf - there will be no time to engage in cutting during frying.

1. Separate the meat from the bones and cut into small, as for goulash, pieces. We don't throw away the bones.

2. Cut the lard into small cubes - about a centimeter by a centimeter.

3. Cut the onion into thin rings.

4. Carrots (we do not scrape the skin, but cut it off) cut into thin strips, manually, without resorting to the help of any kitchen devices. Sometimes, to decorate pilaf, one or two whole carrots are added to chopped carrots, which are fried according to a slightly different algorithm than the main one.

Since there are sometimes misunderstandings with "average", that is, mostly carrots sold on our shelves (during heat treatment, it crumbles and ceases to keep its shape), I began to practice such a trick. I sprinkle chopped carrots with lemon juice, add a few pinches of granulated sugar, mix and leave to "lie down" for 15-20 minutes. Thus, it acquires much greater resistance to temperatures and does not fall apart. True, as observations have shown, this applies only to some varieties of imported carrots.

5. Remove the rhizome from the garlic and remove the skin, exposing the teeth.

We strive to put all products (except rice and spices) on one wide plate, without mixing, so that they are at hand.

Cooking rice. This is what devzira rice looks like while it is still in pollen.

And this is how it looks after washing in several waters. Rice should be washed and sorted to remove stones at least two hours before cooking pilaf in order to keep it in lightly salted water. This greatly improves the properties of rice. But it should be warned that after washing, the rice must be left soaked in water, it will crack in the air and during cooking the pilaf will turn into porridge ...

So, everything is prepared, we begin to properly warm the dishes.

Pour 150-200 grams of vegetable oil into the cauldron and heat the oil to such an extent that the circle of onion thrown into it turns red in a few seconds. Once the oil has warmed up, dip the lamb fat into it. But you can do the opposite - first melt the fat and, removing it, pour the butter into the melted fat. The second method is convenient in that fats can be dosed more accurately. Provided, of course, that it was possible to “try on” both the dishes and the rice used well enough, since different varieties of rice have different ability to absorb fats.

There is no need to melt fat into the smoke, keeping in mind its main purpose, which, of course, is not to add its share of fats, but to flavor the vegetable oil.

As soon as the fat becomes golden, we catch it and transfer it to a separate plate - it will no longer be needed for pilaf. We lower the bones into the hot oil, stirring them intensively. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of cumin. ATTENTION! We remember one important thing: the color of the future pilaf largely determines the degree of roasting of the bones. The correct degree of roasting is the persistent brown color of the meat remaining on the bones.

Now it's time for the bow. It should also be fried with vigorous stirring. Its readiness is also determined by color: the onion should turn golden.

As soon as the onion is golden, we send the chopped mutton pulp to the cauldron and mix.

Fry the meat gently. We don't need it to be covered with a crust. It is quite enough to burn him with oil (in time - no more than 7-10 minutes).

As soon as the meat has reached the specified condition, we launch the carrots cut into strips into the cauldron, immediately mixing it thoroughly with the rest of the ingredients.

As a rule, with intensive stirring, carrots reach the state we need in 10 minutes. Well softened, it signals the beginning of a new stage - pouring warm water into a cauldron and becoming an important component of pilaf - sauce, which is scientifically called zirvak.

It is very important not to make a mistake with water - it is better not to add it than to overfill it. Usually I pour water by eye, but this time I used measuring utensils, pouring 1.2 liters into the indicated volume of products. Further showed that I hit exactly the right amount. I recommend that you pour no more than a liter, since the rest can be added when laying rice. The water level from frying along the top edge should be about a centimeter and a half.

Now we wait for the zirvak to boil and, as soon as this happens, put garlic and capsicum in it (ATTENTION! The pepper must be ABSOLUTELY whole so that there are no leaks. Otherwise, you will have to eat pilaf accompanied by a fire brigade). We reduce the fire, achieve a slight even boil, watching how the zirvak is gaining color right before our eyes.

After 30 minutes of low boiling of zirvak, we try it for salt and straighten it so that it tastes a bit salty. Then we take out the bones, garlic, pepper with a slotted spoon on a separate plate so that they do not interfere with us. We increase the temperature under the cauldron and carefully transfer the rice into it with a slotted spoon, from which the water has previously been drained.

First, we level the rice, ensuring a uniform boil of zirvak around the entire circumference of the cauldron, if necessary (if the pilaf is cooked on the stove, turning the cauldron around the circumference.

There comes that crucial moment when pilaf slowly turns into a living organism. It is undesirable to mix rice with other contents of pilaf, at the same time, in order to ensure subsequent friability and run characteristic of pilaf, it should be very gently stroked with a slotted spoon, as if transferring its own electricity through it to rice. It is better to start stroking from the edges.

Gradually, with concentric movements, we get to the middle and also slowly follow back, while the rice intensively absorbs the protruding sauce. Often, for its more uniform welding, it is useful to collect rice from the edges of the cauldron to the middle and back.

You can even build a kind of girlish breasts of the first number out of rice and gently caress each “breast” with a slotted spoon as if the “breast” is real, and the slotted spoon is your hand. It won't hurt the rice.

Attention, this is very important!

As the zirvak decreases (absorbed by rice), it is necessary to consistently reduce the temperature under the cauldron in order to avoid burning vegetables and meat. This should be done carefully so that, on the one hand, the process of absorption of zirvak by rice is not completely “drowned out”, on the other hand, it is not allowed to burn. In a word, it will be necessary to choose a certain golden temperature "midpoint".

Picking up the rice from the edges to the middle, we make a characteristic bulge and continue stroking it with a slotted spoon for at least a minute, without making sudden movements.

Another important moment comes - tasting the readiness of rice. For the sample, we take a few grains of rice, delving a couple of sentiments into the rice layer. Ready rice, if you crack it, should be elastic, but not hard inside. If the slightest hardness is found, pour no more than a glass of hot water onto the surface of the rice, level the hillock and again collect the rice from the edge to the middle, giving the water the opportunity to fall inside. After that, we dig a “hole” in the middle of the rice layer, carefully return the bones, garlic and capsicum cooked in zirvak there, add one and a half to two teaspoons of zira ...

... and just as carefully lay the whole thing with rice, returning the pilaf to its original spherical shape, not forgetting to stroke this shape well.

If pilaf is cooked on an electric stove, leave the minimum temperature under the cauldron. If on gas, turn off the minimum fire 10 minutes after closing the lid. If on a fire, we remove everything, up to smoldering embers, so that the pilaf reaches only on the internal heat of the hearth. And for at least 25 minutes we do not touch anything and let the pilaf ripen completely. In the meantime, finely chop a couple of tomatoes, cut the onion into rings and wash the onion several times in cold water. Then we add it to the tomatoes, lightly salt, pepper (only red pepper) and mix well (the video procedure for preparing this salad that goes well with pilaf can be viewed here).

We open the pilaf that has reached readiness, take out the pepper, garlic and seeds, putting them on a separate plate, and mix the pilaf itself well with a slotted spoon. Then we spread it on a large dish in a slide, put the bones, garlic heads and peppers on top, and decorate the perimeter with a prepared onion and tomato salad, as shown in the picture. Here, in fact, that's all.

1. The dishes in which you are going to cook pilaf must be very well warmed up before pouring oil into it. A good warm-up prevents such an unpleasant thing as burning meat or vegetables after the rice is cooked. Of course, when setting rice for aging, it is necessary to observe the temperature regime indicated in the recipe. To be honest, the relationship between well-heated dishes and the fact that vegetables do not burn in the future is not entirely clear to me. But it exists and, of course, was not invented by me.

2. When pilaf is cooked on an electric or gas stove, it happens that the rice is cooked unevenly. For the finished dish, this is also a very unpleasant thing. To prevent this from happening, rice needs to be stirred from time to time (at the stage when zirvak boils), but mix very carefully, trying not to "raise" meat and vegetables to the surface. The mixing algorithm is approximately the following: first, the surface of the rice needs to be leveled, then, using a slotted spoon like a spatula, scoop the rice from the edges of the dish to the middle (in a circle), level it again and repeat the operation after a while. And so - at least three or four times. If the bones are involved in the preparation of pilaf, it is better to take them out before laying the rice and return them to the pilaf before setting the rice for cooking.

3.Before you put the rice on heat (that is, cover it tightly with a lid or a suitable dish), you need to make sure that the moisture has completely evaporated. This check is best done before the rice is piled up. To do this, keeping a temperature under the dishes that can create a boil, but excludes burning, in a layer of rice, you need to make several holes with a stick or the handle of a wooden spoon to the very bottom of the dish so that liquid collects in the holes. If it is transparent, therefore, it is fat without moisture residues and rice can be collected on a hill and put on a rack. If the liquid is cloudy, then there is still moisture in the fat and it must be evaporated. The excess and even the presence of moisture in the rice, which is almost cooked and become elastic, in the process of curing the rice, let's say, will "digest" it and violate the overall consistency of the future pilaf. To remove excess moisture, I repeat, should be provided that the rice is almost cooked.

4. Often errors in the proportions of oil (fats) in relation to other products in the preparation of pilaf lead to the fact that the pilaf is either "dry" or extremely fatty. It is very difficult to "calculate" the exact amount of fat with insufficient experience, especially when you consider that different rice varieties have different moisture and fat absorption coefficients. Therefore, I advise, especially if hard varieties of rice are used, to add fat a little more than the base values, since excess fat can always be removed during the cooking process, but it is almost impossible to make up for its lack. A more or less clear "picture" in terms of the optimal ratio of fat to other products is given by the final stage of preparing pilaf - the stage of preparing rice for aging. To do this, the surface of the rice must be leveled and make sure that the surface is dry, without fat. Then, in the very middle of the surface, use a tablespoon to make a hole - about a centimeter and a half deep. If the bottom of the hole is slightly filled with fat, the optimal amount of oil is chosen, if there is no fat, the pilaf will turn out to be “dry” and this error will need to be taken into account for the future. If there is a clear overkill with fat and it comes to the surface of the rice layer, you should arm yourself with a scoop and, pushing the rice layer in the middle, try to grab the excess fat with the scoop and remove it.

Well-cooked pilaf is not bad in itself and the next day - after warming up. And yet he is a little "not the same" as the day before. Recently, I managed to peep a way, as if returning yesterday's pilaf to its original taste and aroma. I liked this method and I applied it already on my "yesterday's pilaf". Try it if you can.

Do it like this (based on one serving). First, half the average onion head is finely chopped.

The part of the pilaf that needs to be heated is transferred to a frying pan, the onion is mixed with the pilaf and the dish is heated for several minutes over intense heat (with gentle stirring). Then the temperature is reduced to a minimum, the dishes are tightly covered with a lid and left for 15 minutes.

The second half of the onion can be used on a small salad with "participation" of tomatoes. That's the whole way.

This well-known dish is prepared everywhere and everyone believes that it is his cooking method that is correct. Today we will tell you how to cook a delicious Ferghana pilaf and take as a basis a step-by-step recipe from Stalik Khankishiyev, as we think, this is the perfect way. Having mastered the preparation of this delicious oriental dish at home, you will have another reason to invite guests and treat them with a culinary masterpiece.

Real Ferghana pilaf is cooked in a cauldron, on a fire. Not everyone has the opportunity to cook dishes with smoke, and most have to limit themselves to the kitchen and stove. Of course, you can cook Uzbek Ferghana pilaf in a pot or pan, but if you want to make it really tasty and proper, get a good cauldron.

Real Ferghana pilaf is cooked in fat tail fat (lard from the back of a fat tail sheep), but if you don’t like this product or you have nowhere to buy it, then cook it in vegetable oil.

How to cook Ferghana pilaf

To cook a real Uzbek Ferghana pilaf, we need lamb, tail fat, dev-zera rice, onions, carrots and spices. Remember that the taste of pilaf is determined by three things: it is high-quality water, the oil on which the ingredients are fried and rice.

Ingredients:

• Lamb (fillet) - 1 kg.
• Lamb ribs - 3 pcs.
• Fat tail fat - 300 gr.
• Rice dev-zera - 1 kg.
• Carrots - 1 kg.
• Bulb - 3 pcs.
• Garlic - 2 heads
• Capsicum - 2 pcs.

Step 1.

Let's start cooking Ferghana pilaf with the preparation of one of the main ingredients of this dish - carrots. For pilaf, it is necessary to use only ripe, not too juicy and not young carrots. We cut it into long strips, no use of a grater and a food processor.

Step 2

Cut the lamb sirloin with fat into medium-sized pieces, lightly beat the ribs and salt.

Step 3

Cut the fat tail fat into cubes.

Step 4

Peel the onions and cut into half rings.

Step 5

Take rice and rinse thoroughly in cold water. A signal that the rice is well washed will be clear water. Now pour warm water over the rice and set aside.

Step 6

Cooking a real, festive Ferghana pilaf, let's start with frying fat tail fat. Place the previously cut pieces in a red-hot cauldron. According to Stalik's advice, it is not worth mixing, the fat should be turned over only once. When roasting is completed, carefully pull it out with a slotted spoon.

Step 7

There should be more than enough fat and dip the divided lamb ribs into it. Fry them over high heat for 6 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon.

Step 8

Dip the chopped onion into a cauldron and fry until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Step 10

We continue cooking the Ferghana pilaf and at this stage add the carrot, spread it in an even layer and fry for 3 minutes. Stir and continue cooking for about 12 more minutes. Add seasoning "zira", pour in warm water, it should hide the contents of the cauldron by 1.5 cm.

Step 11

It's time to put the fried ribs, whole garlic and pepper. We wait until the water boils and reduce the fire to almost a minimum. Cook for 60 minutes, the water will gradually boil away and acquire a pleasant red-brownish color, at this time we salt and increase the heat to the maximum. The resulting mixture is called zirvak, in which we will continue to cook pilaf in Fergana style, namely rice.

Step 12

We take out the ribs again and put them on a plate with the fat. These ingredients will no longer participate in the preparation of pilaf.

Drain the water from the rice and place in an even layer in the pan. Carefully add boiling water, it should completely hide the rice, but do not overdo it, it is better to add more in the process. We are waiting for it to boil and turn off the fire again to a minimum.

Step 13

Boil the rice until cooked, the cooked rice increases in size well and does not crunch on the teeth. add water little by little, or increase the heat as needed. At this stage, it is very important not to mix anything.

Step 14

After the rice is cooked, turn off the stove, add more cumin and cover the cauldron with a lid. After about 20 minutes, the Uzbek Ferghana pilaf will be completely ready, carefully remove the garlic and pepper from it, arrange on plates.