Azerbaijani plov is popular National dish. True, local housewives cook it most often on holidays. This dish even outwardly differs from the pilaf, as many people imagine it to be.

Azerbaijani pilaf with lamb

The main difference between the Azerbaijani pilaf and other options lies in the original technology of its preparation. According to the rules, rice and stuffing must be done separately. Both parts are connected together only at the time of serving.

Currently, about 40 recipes for this dish are known. The most popular option is the use of lamb meat.

To prepare it, you need the following components:

2 glasses rice groats;
35 grams butter;
0.5 kilograms of fresh lamb;
salt;
1 onion;
pepper;
a little saffron (about 0.25 grams);
¼ teaspoon of cumin.

Pilaf is being prepared in stages:

1. The day before, rice should be soaked in advance. After that, rinse the cereal well, put it in a saucepan, add water, add a little salt 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. Boil a whole piece of meat until cooked, be sure to add salt, a little pepper and an onion to the pan. Slightly cooled lamb arbitrarily cut into pieces.
3. Pour boiling water over saffron in a glass (about 20 milliliters) and let it brew well.
4. To prevent the dish from sticking to the cauldron, local housewives use “kazmag”. It is usually placed on the bottom of the container. As a kazmag, you can use the usual dense dough or a piece of pita bread. This recipe takes fresh potatoes. It must be peeled and cut into slices no more than 5 millimeters thick.
5. Put the cauldron on fire.
6. Put oil on the bottom. It should warm up well.
7. Line the bottom with potato slices and salt. Pieces can be moved a little so that they do not immediately stick.
8. Sprinkle some of the rice on top with a layer of 1 centimeter.
9. Spread pieces of meat on it.
10. Cover the food with the remains of rice and pour over it with saffron infusion.
11. Simmer covered 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 for another 10 minutes.
Rice is laid out first on the dish, and juicy, fragrant meat is already poured on top of it.

How to cook with chicken

Using a similar technology, you can also prepare Azerbaijani plov with poultry meat.

You will need a few ingredients for this:

Part of a chicken carcass (about 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 salted water.
2. Pour boiling water over saffron.
3. Cut the carcass into portions.
4. Fry them on all sides over medium heat with olive oil.
5. Rinse the rice and pour water again in the ratio of 1 liter per 1 cup.
6. Boil it until al dente, and then strain, throwing it into a colander.
7. Put the rice on top of the fried chicken and pour over it with saffron.
8. Simmer for 25 minutes over low heat, putting a towel under the lid.
9. Add butter. Continue simmering for about half an hour.
By tradition, it is customary to lay out such pilaf on a large oval-shaped plate. It looks very nice on the table.

With dried fruits and meat

The classic pilaf in Azerbaijan is a dish in which, in addition to rice and meat, they put a lot of onion and fruits. In 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 be quite large:

1 kilogram of lamb;
150 grams of butter;
7 bulbs;
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 sumac.

To cook a real Azerbaijani pilaf with dried fruits and meat, you need:

1. Rinse the rice thoroughly, then cover with water and boil "al dente". This will take 10 minutes.
2. Put the boiled rice on a sieve and wash cold water.
3. Peel the potatoes and cut into slices.
4. Put a little butter on the bottom of a deep saucepan and melt it.
5. Line the bottom with potato slices.
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 them in a cauldron.
9. Add chopped onion, chopped greens and spices there.
10. Pour all this with water and simmer for 40 minutes.
11. Pour boiling water over dried fruits and let stand for 10 minutes. Transfer the processed products to a cauldron and simmer everything over low heat for another half hour.
12. Add salt, a little pepper and turn off the fire. Let the meat rest in this position for about 15 minutes.
When serving, rice is first laid out on a plate, and a complex filling is placed on top of it. Nearby you can put a couple of pieces of potatoes.

Shah pilaf in Azerbaijani

Local housewives prepare a special dish for the dearest guests.

“Shah Plov a la Azeri” is a dish prepared in the form of a dome with a crispy crust and classic puff filling 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 lavash (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, cumin, paprika, pepper, barberry and turmeric).

Pilaf is being prepared step by step:

1. Put the washed rice into a cauldron mixed with thin pieces of butter. Sprinkle it with turmeric, salt, pour water (1:2) and cook until tender.
2. Cut the meat into small pieces and lightly fry them in vegetable oil in a frying pan.
3. Add diced onion. Fry for another 6-7 minutes.
4. Pour boiling water over raisins with dried apricots for just 5 minutes. After that, they need to be squeezed out, arbitrarily crumbled and added to the meat.
5. Add all the prepared spices here, mix and fry for a couple more minutes.
6. Enter the garlic cut into small pieces and immediately remove the pan from the heat.
7. Cut pita bread into strips 5 centimeters wide.
8. Line the cauldron with them from the inside with a fan so that the pieces of the strips hang outward.
9. Put some rice on the bottom.
10. Cover it with some meat.
11. Continue to lay out layers further. Until all products run out.
12. Cover the filling with the hanging ends of the pita bread.
13. Put the cauldron in the oven and bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees.
After that, the finished pilaf will only have to be laid out on a dish, cut into pieces, like a cake.

Recipe with beef

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 lavash;
2.5 cups of rice;
2 onions;
120 grams of butter;
a pinch of ground cloves;
a bit of cinnamon.

Plov preparation technology:

1. Chop the peeled onion into cubes. Fry them in oil with cinnamon and cloves.
2. Randomly cut the meat into pieces. Fry them also in oil in another pan.
3. Transfer the processed meat to the pan.
4. Cover it with fragrant fried onions.
5. Pour the food with water (750 milliliters), salt and simmer until the meat is soft enough.
6. Cook the rice a little in salt water. Then it should be washed well and strained.
7. Line the cauldron with pita bread from the inside.
8. Pour rice on top, pour oil over it and bring to readiness.
When serving on a dish, rice is first poured into a slide, and then meat is laid on it. Ready meal you can pour over the juice that remains after stewing.

Cooking with milk

Sometimes Azerbaijani pilaf is cooked with the addition of milk. This option is sure to appeal to those who do not eat meat at all.

For work you will need:

0.5 cup rice (round grain);
250 milliliters of milk;
70 grams of butter;
400 milliliters of boiled water;
1 lavash;
60 grams of raisins;
½ teaspoon saffron tincture.

In this case, the cooking method will be different:

1. Pour milk with water into a saucepan and heat (but do not boil).
2. Pour rice and salt there. Cook until the cereal is ready.
3. Then the rice must be washed hot water, strain and pour it on a towel to dry for 15 minutes.
4. Soak raisins in boiling water.
5. Treat the cauldron from the inside with oil and cover with pita bread.
6. Pour dried rice with raisins into it. Simmer covered over low heat for at least 30 minutes.
Pour the finished pilaf in a bowl with hot oil mixed with saffron tincture.

Azerbaijani khan plov

In Azerbaijani cuisine, “khan plov” is also found. This is one of the options popular dish. It is very reminiscent of a "shah-pilaf". True, instead of thin pita bread, dough (“kazmag”) is used, which forms a crust and prevents the filling from burning.

For this recipe you will need:

400 grams of long grain rice;
For Kazmag:
0.5 kilograms wheat flour;
150 milliliters of water;
220 grams of ghee;
10 grams of edible salt.

For filling:

0.5 kilograms ground beef;
15 dates and the same number of dried apricots;
20 chestnuts;
250 grams of onions;
1 handful of raisins (preferably "kishmish")

To cook khan pilaf in Azerbaijani style, you need to follow these steps:

1. First make a kazmag. To do this, collect all the products in one container and mix thoroughly. Ready dough roll out into a layer 3 mm thick.
2. Grease a deep pan from the inside with oil. You can add some sesame seeds for flavor.
3. Line the pan with dough so that there are no gaps.
4. Combine minced meat with chopped onion, 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. As soon as all the moisture has evaporated, put in the oil and start frying.
7. Introduce washed dried fruits and hold on minimum heat for no more than 10 minutes.
8. Now you can start assembling the pilaf. First, pour the rice into the bottom of the pot. The thickness of this standing should be no more than 3 centimeters.
9. Put a little roast on top of it.
10. Repeat layers several times. Rice should end up on top. It must be poured with oil and tincture of saffron.
11. Add a little water (70-80 milliliters) and wrap the edges of the dough. It turned out to be a kind of cake.
12. Bake it for 2 hours in the oven at 160 degrees.
On the table, this dish looks very festive. Cut it very carefully, because inside the pilaf still remains crumbly.

Centuries-old traditions of the Azerbaijani people and borrowings from Georgian, Turkish, Persian and Arabic cultures have given us original dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine. Pilaf in lavash, or, as it is also called, shah-pilaf - royal Azerbaijani pilaf, is the pride of Azerbaijani cuisine.

Each region of the country has its own peculiarities of its preparation, but the main ingredient is “gazmakh” - this is a crispy crust of lavash, in which it is cooked. Time-honored proportions juicy meat, crumbly rice, fragrant spices and dried fruits in a crispy lavash crust reveal the hospitality of the East. Such pilaf is prepared for dear guests and for the most solemn occasions. Let's cook shah-pilaf according to a step-by-step recipe with a photo.

Recipe with a photo of shah pilaf in Azerbaijani

Kitchenware: cauldron or thick-walled pan, cutting board, brush, knife, frying pan, saucepan, bowl.

Ingredients

Step by step cooking

Preparing the Ingredients

Cooking

1. Put the pan on the fire and add 5-6 tablespoons of melted butter to it. When the pan is hot, sauté the onion until caramelized and add 1 teaspoon of turmeric.
   
2. Put the meat on the onion and lightly fry it. Salt.
   
3. When the meat is fried, add prepared dried fruits to the pan: dried apricots (150 g), raisins (150 g) and roasted peeled chestnuts (6-8 pieces). Mix everything and fry a little.
   
4. Thin pita breads (4 pieces) with a brush generously grease with melted butter on both sides and cover the cauldron so that the sheets hang from the edge of the cauldron. This is necessary to then cover the pilaf from above.
   


5. Put all the contents of the pan on top: meat with onions, chestnuts and dried fruits and pour the resulting juice.
   


6. Cover the surface with hanging edges of pita bread and pour 5-6 tablespoons of melted butter. Cover the cauldron with a lid.
   
7. Put the covered cauldron in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 1 hour.
   
8. Serve hot on a large platter, cutting the toasted pita bread into petals.
   

Recipe video

It is only at first glance that the recipe for making shah-pilaf in pita bread seems complicated and incomprehensible, but after watching the video, you will see that this is not so. Watch, cook and surprise dear guests.

Choosing the Right Ingredients

The main ingredient of pilaf is rice, so pay special attention to its quality. The most suitable is the Fergana rice "Devzira", but its absence can be replaced with Basmati or Krasnodar rice. In the most extreme case, you can use any steamed rice.

Choose firmer varieties of long-grain rice. It is not necessary to soak the rice, it is only necessary to sort it out and rinse it well.

To acquire pilaf of a pleasant yellow color, add saffron to the water when boiling rice. Just remember that any spice should be added in a small amount. This is especially true for saffron: if you overdo it with it, then the pilaf will come out bright orange and unpleasant in taste.

The best dish for cooking pilaf is a cauldron or a thick-walled deep frying pan with a tight-fitting lid. If you want to make sure of this, cook it, and if you like chicken meat more, then.

Not so long ago, modern housewives have a new excellent assistant - a slow cooker. It greatly facilitates cooking and saves time, and pilaf cooked in it turns out to be crumbly and rich. Try cooking or.

I told you how to cook shah-pilaf, and I think you will definitely want to gather friends, your family and relatives at a large round table and treat them to such a noble and rich treat. Bon Appetit.

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 1 The long-awaited Novruz holidays have come, preparations for which have been going on for four weeks.

The Novruz holiday is annually celebrated in Azerbaijan for five days, including March 20 and 21, the day of the spring equinox. The holiday is celebrated in honor of the arrival of spring and the renewal of nature.

On the days of Novruz, according to folk tradition, bonfires are lit, various sweets (shekerbura, baklava, gogal) are prepared, khoncha (treats collected on a tray) are dressed up, semeni are planted, painted boiled eggs etc.

However, the main attention is usually paid to the festive table.

The pride of the table, of course, is the festive pilaf, and the main of all its varieties is shah-pilaf.

Pilaf, or "Shah of ceremonial tables", as it is otherwise called, is the main pride of Azerbaijani cuisine. This national dish has many variations and each region of the country has its own type of this delicious dish. The main attribute of "Shah" pilaf is gazmah - an appetizing crispy lavash crust in which pilaf is cooked.

For thousands of years, the combination of juicy meat, rice, raisins, dried apricots, in a crispy golden crown of lavash, has been verified for thousands of years, revealing the real hospitality of the East.

To learn all the subtleties of cooking shah-pilaf, we turned to a local housewife, mother and grandmother, Zeynab khanum.

She told us that the main secret in the preparation of shah-pilaf is selected high-quality and fresh ingredients. She advised using long-grain basmati rice, pitted dried fruits and chicken meat. Zeynab khanim gives preference to trusted producers, such as the local chicken “Mərcan”, which, in her opinion, is ideal for pilaf, as palatability, as well as useful properties for all family members.

“I noticed that the texture of Mərcan chicken meat is somewhat different from other manufacturers. After cooking, it tends to diverge into fibers, unlike other brands, when their meat turns into a kind of pasty mass during the cooking process, and it also has a sharp, unpleasant fishy smell. In the preparation of pilaf, such products are simply unacceptable, ”the hostess shares.

“There are no trifles in the preparation of pilaf, so even water should be used not chlorinated, without foreign odors. Rice should be soaked with water at a strictly defined temperature. From my own experience I will say that the most crumbly is rice soaked in salted water at a temperature of 60 degrees. Rice should also be washed in a special way: do not rub it between the palms, as it may break. The main thing is that the starch comes off the rice. I rinse until the water runs clear.”

The next secret from Zeynam khanum was the sequence of frying the ingredients for the gravy. “You need to start cooking gravy with frying onions. The mistake of many is that they first fry the chicken, and then they wonder why the onion does not get the desired shade. But properly fried onions give the smell of pilaf. Then they put meat, and only then dried fruits. The mixture is not strongly fried, as it will still languish in the pilaf itself. I use melted butter when frying.

According to the hostess, rice is cooked until half cooked in salt water.

A cauldron, greased with butter, is covered with pieces of pita bread. According to Zeynab khanum, the dough itself also needs to be smeared with ghee, otherwise a crispy crust will not form.

Alternately, rice and govurma (gravy) are laid out on pita bread in layers, pouring with melted butter and saffron tincture. From above, rice is also covered with pita bread, which also needs to be greased with butter. Shah pilaf should languish for 30 minutes in the oven, after which it will be ready to decorate the table for Novruz.

The hostess emphasized that for the Novruz family feast, it is better to give preference to chicken govurma for pilaf. She told us interesting fact which probably not everyone knows about. It turns out that it is not customary to cook cattle meat for Novruz. The fact is that in the spring the breeding stage begins in cattle, and during this period it cannot be cut. Therefore, on the festive table, according to tradition, there are dishes of fish (a symbol of prosperity) and chicken on the table.

She advises choosing trusted local producers, such as Mərcan, not only to make plov for Novruz tasty and appetizing, but also for the safety of all family members, because during production chicken meat use only natural feed without chemical additives, GMOs, antibiotics, anabolics and hormones.

Bon appetit and happy holidays!

Rinse rice and pour water overnight, rinse in the morning, boil for 3 minutes, put on a sieve. Can be boiled in a slow cooker in the "Cereals" mode.

Dried fruits - raisins, prunes, dates, dried apricots, dried berries washed, large cut into small pieces. Put in a bowl, mix and pour boiling water.

Cut the lamb flesh (I have chicken fillet) in small pieces.

Fry the prepared meat in vegetable oil, pour more than usual so that the finished pilaf is not dry. Cook for strong fire, stirring constantly. When the pieces of meat are lightly fried, add the chopped onion and fry for a couple of minutes. Cut the carrots into cubes and add to the pan, fry everything together for another 2 minutes. Add your favorite spices to your liking.

Pour dried fruits, salt, cook, stirring for a couple more minutes.

Mix the rice with the contents of the pan. We taste, add salt, pepper and other spices, if necessary. Remove the pan from the heat and add the finely chopped garlic.

Dense thin pita bread (4-5 sheets) cut along the longest side into strips of about 5 cm wide. The length of the strips should be enough to cover the pilaf from above. Brush each strip with softened butter.

We pour out the pilaf, compact it a little and cover it on top with strips of pita bread. Additionally, you can "strengthen" the bottom and sides with pieces of pita bread.

Lubricate the top sheets of pita bread with the remaining butter. Turn on the "Baking" mode, cook pilaf for 1 hour. After the pilaf is cooked, let it stand in the bowl for 5 minutes so that the pita bread dries up and turn it over onto a wide dish. Make sure that the pita crust is well dried and reddened, otherwise the pilaf on the dish will not hold its shape.

Shah pilaf - original dish who is guaranteed to be a star holiday table. We are sure that your guests have never tried anything like this and will be delighted. In fact, this is the same pilaf, but cooked in a completely different way. All ingredients are processed separately, then collected in common dish and go to the oven.

Pilaf in pita bread in the oven

An unusual look plus a chic taste - what else is needed to win hearts?

Ingredients for shah-pilaf in pita bread

We give a list of components based on a glass of rice and half a kilogram of meat. You can choose pork, beef, lamb, chicken - in any case, the meat is very soft and tender.

Also prepare:

• lavash - thin Armenian (some housewives use unleavened dough);
• three large onions;
• two large carrots;
• a pack of butter;
• vegetable oil;
• a large head of garlic;
• a large harvest of raisins;
• a tablespoon of dried barberry;
• red pepper, saffron, smoked paprika - to taste, but focus on 5 grams of each spice;
• black pepper, salt.

How to cook shah-pilaf in pita bread

Boil rice in salted water. When it boils, add a tablespoon of butter. Hold on the window for 10 minutes, then turn off the stove and leave to infuse under the lid.

Boil rice in salted water

Cut the meat into medium-sized pieces. Choose cubes, then it is convenient to divide the dish into portions. Fry the meat in vegetable oil until half cooked, then add the onion to it (cut as you like).

Cut the meat into medium-sized pieces

Soak the raisins in boiling water first. When the onion becomes translucent, squeeze the raisins and transfer to the pan. Add barberry, saffron and red pepper there. Immediately salt as it should, when the dish is assembled and set to be cooked, it will not be possible to add salt.

Read also:

pig ears

Soak the raisins in boiling water

If the meat is ready, transfer everything to a bowl, and send the carrots to the pan. It is cut into thin strips. It is important to fry, not stew. Add wig and salt. It will take 5 minutes to cook.

Send carrots to the pan

Now we collect the dish.

Take a deep bowl that can fit all the ingredients. Cut pita bread into wide strips and lay them out in a mold, as shown in the photo. Brush generously with pre-melted butter.

Lavash cut into wide strips

Put half of the rice in a saucepan, carefully tamp and level.

Place half of the rice in a bowl.

The next layer is fried carrots.

Then meat.

The final layer is again fig. The surface is leveled and greased with butter.

Now close the dish with the free ends of the pita bread. Brush generously with oil on top.

Brush generously with oil on top.

Preheat the oven and put the mold to bake.