The king of Azerbaijani cuisine - Pilaf or how to cook rice deliciously

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Azerbaijani cuisine This is simply incredibly delicious pilaf - aromatic and tender, the rice is crumbly, soaked in butter, the meat melts in your mouth, the fruits add a sweet and sour accent. Ingredients: Lamb or beef or pork - 600 -700 g, Rice - Basmati -1 glass, Butter - 100 g, Onion - 1 pc., Carrot - 1 pc., Bell pepper 1/2 pcs., Apricots, raisins, cherry plum (barberry ), chestnuts are desirable and very tasty. I replaced it with Brazil nuts -6 pieces, turmeric, salt, spices for pilaf Preparation: Apricots and raisins, preferably seedless, cherry plum or barberry add a distinct sourness. Wash the rice and cook until half cooked, before finishing, add a little turmeric to the rice, according to your taste, you don’t need a lot, otherwise the rice will taste bitter and the color will be ultra yellow and bright. Place in a sieve and let the water drain. Transfer to a separate bowl and add 50g butter. We cut the meat into regular small pieces, just like you cut it into pilaf. We prepare the meat as for regular pilaf. In a preheated frying pan or cauldron, melt the fat tail fat or heat the butter.

Place meat in heated oil or fat, fry until golden brown, add salt and pepper, remove from heat. Add spices.

In a separate pan, fry onions, carrots, and bell peppers. Fry and remove from heat.

Pour boiling water over the apricots and raisins for 5-10 minutes, depending on the degree of drying, drain the water. Let's collect our Shah-pilaf. Grease the casserole generously with oil.

Line the cauldron with rolled out dough.

Drizzle the bottom with a few tablespoons of melted butter. Lay out some of the rice. Raisins, dried apricots, cherry plums. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with spices (be careful with the spices, just a little!). Place meat on rice.

Place a third of the rice on the meat again, pour oil, a little spice, and place raisins and apricots on top.

Place the remaining rice on top, pour oil, add some spices.

Cover with dough and pour in oil. I kneaded the dough as for dumplings, 50/50, with sour cream and kefir 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup kefir, added salt, 2 cups flour and added 2 zhmenki.

Close the cauldron with a lid and place in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees, for 1-1.5 hours.

Holding the pilaf with a spatula, pour the oil over the edge of the cauldron (there will be little of it, but there will be some), then turn the cauldron onto a dish. Cut into petals using a sharp knife. Don’t think, it won’t be a casserole, this is a real crumbly pilaf, it just wakes up on the dish!

The centuries-old traditions of the Azerbaijani people and borrowings from Georgian, Turkish, Persian and Arab 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 remains “gazmakh” - this is the crispy crust of lavash, in which it is cooked. Proportions of juicy meat, fluffy rice, aromatic spices and dried fruits in a crispy lavash crust, proven over centuries, reveal the hospitality of the East.

. This kind of pilaf is prepared for dear guests and for the most special occasions. Let's prepare shah-pilaf according to a step-by-step recipe with photos.

Recipe with photo of Shah-pilaf in Azerbaijani style

Kitchenware:

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

Ingredients

Step-by-step preparation

Preparing the ingredients

Preparation

1. Place the frying pan on the heat and add 5-6 tablespoons of melted butter. When the pan is hot, fry the onion until caramelized and add 1 teaspoon of turmeric.
2. Add the meat to the onion and lightly fry it. Add some salt.
3. When the meat is fried, add prepared dried fruits to the frying pan: dried apricots (150 g), sultanas (150 g) and fried peeled chestnuts (6-8 pieces). Mix everything and fry a little.
4. Using a brush, generously brush thin pita breads (4 pieces) with melted butter on both sides and cover the cauldron so that the sheets hang over the edge of the cauldron. This is necessary in order to cover the pilaf on top later.
5. Place the entire contents of the pan on top: meat with onions, chestnuts and dried fruits and pour out the resulting juice.
6. Cover the surface with the hanging edges of the pita bread and pour 5-6 tablespoons of melted butter. Cover the cauldron with a lid.
7. Place the covered cauldron in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 1 hour.
8. Serve hot on a large platter, cutting the toasted pita into petals.

Ingredients for Shah Plov in Lavash

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

Also prepare:

• lavash – thin Armenian (some housewives use unleavened dough);
• three large onions;
• two large carrots;
• a stick of butter;
• vegetable oil;
• large head of garlic;
• a large bag 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.

Choosing the right ingredients

The main ingredient of pilaf is rice, so pay special attention to its quality. The most suitable is Fergana rice “Devzira”

, but its absence can be replaced with Basmati or Krasnodar rice. As a last resort, you can use any steamed rice.

Choose firmer long grain rice varieties. It is not necessary to soak the rice, you just need to sort it out and rinse it well.

To give your pilaf a pleasant yellow color, add saffron to the water when boiling rice.

. Just remember that any spice should be added in small quantities. This especially applies to saffron: if you overdo it, the pilaf will turn out bright orange and taste unpleasant.

The best utensils for cooking pilaf are considered to be 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 prefer chicken, then...

Not so long ago, modern housewives got a new excellent helper - a multicooker. It makes cooking very easy and saves time, and the pilaf cooked in it turns out crumbly and rich. Try cooking or.

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

Shah-pilaf. 1. Boil the rice until half cooked in a large amount of salted water, add a little saffron or turmeric to the water so that the color of the water is yellowish. Take long grain rice, basmati or jasmine variety. Just not steamed. It is important. Drain in a colander. 2. Meat (lamb or beef, cut into pieces larger than regular pilaf). You can also have chicken or turkey. A duck and a rabbit will not work. Wash the meat, put it in a cauldron, add a little salt. Cook over low heat without seasoning until cooked, almost in its own juices, without water. Once cooked, remove from the cauldron and place in a cup. 3. While the meat is cooking and the rice is cooking, prepare the most important thing - the sauce. Place 3-4 tablespoons of melted butter in a frying pan, add pitted cherries, chopped apples or apricots, currants, etc. Any fruit that will yield juice. Over low heat, simmer the fruit until soft, almost puree, add sugar so that the taste is sour-sweet, more sour. Or whatever you like. 4. Prepare the dough for the flatbread - kazmag. Place 1 egg yolk, without white, in a glass, add warm water, add salt, a little yeast and knead the dough into an elastic dough. 5. If you plan to cook pilaf in a cauldron in the oven, then roll out a large circle of dough. Thickness is approximately 0.5 cm or less. If you cook pilaf in a cauldron on the stove, then roll out the circle larger than the bottom of the cauldron by 3-4 cm. 6. Now we assemble the pilaf, having salted rice and ready-made meat, and dough for kazmag. 7. Pour melted ghee onto the bottom of the cauldron, sprinkle with a little cumin (cumin). Place the thinly rolled out dough so that the edges hang over the edges of the cauldron or spread a circle onto the bottom if the pilaf will be cooked on the top plate. 8. Pour a little melted butter onto the dough - 3-4 tablespoons, sprinkle with cumin (cumin). Place half of the meat. 9. Pour in the rice without compacting it, not tightly. 10. Sprinkle generously with raisins, barberries if desired, cumin and pour 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter. 11. Place the remaining meat, 12. Pour in the rice, without compacting it, not tightly. 13. Sprinkle generously with raisins, barberries if desired, cumin and pour 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter. 14. Cover with dough, brush with egg and place in a hot oven over very low heat for 1-1.5 hours. Check the readiness by the color of the dough. 15. If you cook on the top stove, then place the cauldron on the divider and very low heat. 16. When the dough is browned, simply turn the cauldron over onto a large dish, and you get pilaf baked in the dough, the shape of a cauldron. Cut it like a cake. 17. The flatbread - kazmag - is served on a plate, and from the middle there is rice with meat. If desired, pour the fruit sauce directly on the plate or just on the edge of the plate with 2-3 spoons of sauce. Proportion:. 1 kg of meat, for 1 person 1 glass of rice, which means approximately 1.5-2 kg of rice, approximately 200 g of raisins (preferably light royal), melted ghee approximately 300-400 grams, 50 g of barberry. Sauce: 500 g pitted cherries, 5-6 apricots or 2 peaches and 1 apple. (this is the most delicious version of the sauce in my opinion). You can use any fruits and berries that will give juice. All the same things can be done without meat, with raw pumpkin, cut into large pieces of 6-8 cm. It’s tastier than with meat. At first glance there is a lot of fuss, but in reality not much. But very tasty and impressive. Good luck!

It is known that cooking is the most ancient art, and pilaf is one of the oldest dishes prepared by man. The first recipes for this dish appeared simultaneously with the period when people began to cultivate grain crops. There is a famous saying in Turkey that there are as many recipes for this treat as there are cities in the Muslim world. In the East there are other proverbs and folk sayings associated with this dish. However, even in this diversity there are recipes that can rightfully be called masterpieces of world cuisine. One of these amazing dishes is generally recognized as Shah pilaf - a royal dish worthy of the most solemn event.

Baku pilaf with dried fruits has long gained immense popularity all over the world and still remains the main dish of Azerbaijani cuisine. It is impossible to imagine any special event in this eastern country without khan pilaf.

It is prepared for weddings and birthdays, and placed on the table when meeting close friends.

An incredibly tasty and stunningly beautiful treat always takes pride of place at the feast. The peculiarity of this dish is that when served it looks more like a delicious pie than traditional pilaf. Rice with meat and dried fruits is inside a royal crown made of dough.

There are several recipes for Azerbaijani Shah pilaf: it can be cooked with meat, with fruits or with a combined filling. Regardless of the composition and main components of this treat, its form always remains the same. All products are inside a thin dough, which is baked until golden brown.

PILAV with meat, dried apricots, raisins and chestnuts IN KAZAN. WIDTH OF PLOV. Azerbaijani cuisine. PLOV

PILAV with meat, dried apricots, raisins and chestnuts IN KAZAN. WIDTH OF PLOV. AZERBAIJANI CUISINE 1) CHESTNUTS FOR THE WINTER for pilaf and more: youtu.be/5CIMyfsoKxs 2) PILOV with meat, dried apricots, raisins and chestnuts IN KAZAN. WIDTH PILOV: youtu.be/NP9XXE3Oxk0 3) PILOV WITH CHICKEN IN A CAST IRON KAZAN: youtu.be/s35FHuswziY 4) KUFTE PILOV with minced meat, chickpeas: youtu.be/mzNLF6NV2MQ 5) AZERBAIJANI PILOV IN PUMPKIN (in the oven): youtu.be /C0w02py3GUs 6) PILAF FOR DIABETICS youtu.be/4y2bJEdvjOs 7) PILAM WITH BROWN RICE IN A FRYING PAN youtu.be/FxqGun31N9A PILAM WITH BROWN RICE IN A Crock-Pot youtu.be/E5FunGkysLQ 9) SHIR IN PILOV (PILOV WITH MEAT, dried apricots, raisins: youtu .be/DVJ8Hs-eo-Y 10) Dosheme pilaf (with chicken, narsharab and walnuts) youtu.be/BlnJ6H05RRE

11) BURNING A CAST IRON CAULDRON for home use. All the intricacies of firing a cauldron for home use: youtu.be/xMnzFeiBZuo

12) A website with all the information about cast iron cauldrons, skimmers, ladles, lagans, as well as white and brown rice HERE: uzbekkazan.ru

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Ingredients

Azerbaijani royal pilaf is usually prepared from young lamb meat. If desired, it can be replaced with any poultry or veal. Shah pilaf can also be prepared in a sweet version, without adding meat at all, but this will no longer be a classic recipe, but one of its variations.

To prepare 6 servings you will need

:

• Lamb - 1 kg;
• Devzira or basmati rice - 1 kg;
• Butter - 3-4 tbsp. l.;
• Onions - 1-2 pcs.;
• Carrots - 2 pcs.;
• Dried fruits, raisins, chestnuts, dried apricots - 350 g;
• Salt - to taste.

For the test

:

• Flour - 2 cups;
• Ghee - 150 g;
• Water - 1/2 cup;
• Salt - a pinch.

Baku pilaf

One of the most delicious and beautiful Azerbaijani-style pilaf with meat is “Shah” pilaf, which is decorated with pita bread. To prepare this dish you will need 1 kg of rice, 400 grams of ghee.

Pilaf should be prepared step by step.

1. Cook the rice.
2. Grease 5 pieces of medium-sized pita bread with melted butter.
3. The container in which the pilaf will be cooked should be greased on all sides, including the bottom, with oil. Place the greased pita breads one on top of the other on the bottom of the dish; the sides of the cauldron or other dishes should also be covered with pita breads. In total, it takes about 30 medium-sized pieces to completely cover the cauldron with pita bread.
4. Using a slotted spoon, place a layer of rice on the pita bread, then sprinkle chestnuts, dried apricots, sultanas on it and again a layer of rice. On the top layer of rice, if desired, you can put almost cooked chicken, fried over high heat on both sides, and then rice again on top, and again chestnuts, dried apricots and sultanas on top of it. The last layer should always be rice. Then close the side pita breads, put 5 more oiled pita breads on top of the rice and bake the whole thing for 3.5-4 hours. Cooked rice is used as a base, but it is more raw than regular pilaf.
5. Pita bread should be periodically poured with melted butter.

“Shah” or “royal” pilaf is a dish prepared for special occasions, and the photo clearly demonstrates that this type of pilaf is covered with pita bread on top, forming a crust.

How to cook Shah pilaf

Before preparing pilaf, preheat the oven well, otherwise it may turn out dry.

The classic shah pilaf is decorated with ruddy gazmah - a thin, delicate dough crust, but in some versions you can prepare this dish using thin pita bread. To make a treat according to a real Azerbaijani recipe, first of all, gazmah is prepared from flour, oil and water. Place the oil in a convenient container and heat it well. When the butter has cooled to room temperature, add salt, flour and water and knead into a soft, elastic dough. You can find out what consistency the dough for gazmakh should be by looking at the recipe with a photo. Wrap the resulting dough in a plastic bag and set aside for 40 minutes until it becomes smooth and pliable. After this, you can divide it into several small parts, roll it into a thin layer and place it in a baking dish for pilaf.

Azerbaijani pilaf is a ceremonial national dish. Unlike Uzbek, it belongs to the Iranian, and not to the Central Asian type.

Rice for pilaf is prepared and served completely separately from the other ingredients (meat, game, fish, eggs or fruits and herbs, collectively called gara), without mixing with them even on a platter during meals.

Since rice makes up the basis and more than half of the volume of pilaf, the taste of the entire dish largely depends on the quality of its preparation. The art is to ensure that the rice does not crack during boiling, does not become overcooked and does not become sticky - each grain of rice should remain intact, only slightly and evenly swell during cooking. Only in this case is the rice tasty on its own, although it seems that it remains neutral in taste. To do this, rice is boiled mainly by steaming in metal tyndyrchiks or other traditional cooking methods are used and, in addition, not just any, but special, often local varieties of rice are used for pilaf.

Thus, Azerbaijani pilafs consist of three separate parts, which together make up one dish. All these parts are prepared separately.

Ingredients

For the ghar (base):

• 750-1000 g young lamb (breast),
• 6-8 onions,
• 2 grenades,
• 2-3 cups fresh cherry plum,
• 0.5 cups raisins.

For rice: 1.5-2 cups rice, 100-150 g butter, 1 tbsp. spoon of saffron infusion. For kazmag: 1.5 cups flour, 1 egg, 1 tbsp. spoon of water, 25 g of oil, 0.5 teaspoon of salt.

Preparation of kazmag.

When transferring half-cooked rice from a pan to a cauldron for further finishing, the bottom and walls of the cauldron are lined with kazmag, that is, with a thin layer of unleavened dough. Prepare Kazmag in the same way as noodle dough, roll it out into a layer 1 - 1.5 mm thick and cover the inside with oil, then put rice on it. In the process of cooking rice, kazmag not only protects it from burning, but also turns it into a crispy crust, which is brushed with melted butter.

Pilaf recipe

1. Pour rice into a large amount of lightly salted boiling water in an enamel pan and cook until half cooked, all the time skimming foam from the surface of the boiling water. When the grains of rice still retain some hardness inside, drain the rice in a colander and rinse with cold boiled water. Then line the bottom and walls of the cauldron with kazmag and put 1-1.5 cups of boiled rice mixed with half the norm of melted butter on the kazmag, leveling this mixture into a thin layer; pour the rest of the rice on top, put the remaining oil on it, close the lid tightly and simmer over low heat for about half an hour (until the rice is cooked).
2. Cut the lamb into small pieces with bones, fry in your own fat with the addition of 2 tbsp. spoons of butter in a frying pan over high heat, then transfer everything into a cauldron with thick walls, add onion, chopped into large cubes, pomegranate juice, raisins,
3. cherry plum, pitted, half a glass of boiling water and simmer over low heat (on the stove) under the lid for 30-45 minutes or keep in the oven.

Serve the pilaf with spicy herbs: green onions, young garlic, mint, watercress.

Variation of pilaf: the composition of the main part of the pilaf can be modified - either leave the lamb to be fried only with onions, garlic and herbs, or add fried pumpkin and chestnuts to the specified composition.

Serving and eating Azerbaijani pilaf also has its own traditions. Rice is never served completely hot, but so warm that the oil in it does not cool. At the same time, the meat or meat-fruit part of the pilaf and separately herbs are served on a separate dish. The meat is eaten with rice (or rice wrapped in pita bread) and then with herbs. Only those pilafs, the meat part of which is replaced by the egg part, are served differently - first, rice is placed on the dish in an even layer, and egg-vegetable seasoning is placed on it, which they try to take from the dish so that there is an equal amount of both in the spoon.

Step-by-step recipe for Shah pilaf

Cooking royal pilaf step by step in the oven will help even a beginner make a tasty treat. Unlike classic cooking options, when using a cast iron casserole, you can use any baking dish. It is better if it has a round shape, then it will have the traditional appearance of a large pie or the crown of a Shah (king).

Shah pilaf in Azerbaijani does not require the preparation of zirvak - meat gravy with vegetables and spices.

Separately, cook the rice in lightly salted water. After the grains are half cooked, carefully drain the water through a strainer or colander, leave the grains for 10-15 minutes to cool slightly. You can cook rice cereal in bags, then put it on a plate in which it will have to cool to room temperature. Rice should be cooked in plenty of water so that the grains will not stick to each other. Heat the water separately and after cooking, rinse the cereal well and let the excess water drain. Heat some of the melted butter until it is slightly warmer than room temperature. Place the rice in an even layer on the prepared dough and coat it well with oil.

When making a large portion, you can lay out the rice in several layers, each of which should be lightly oiled.

It is not recommended to stir the cereal; it should lie in an even but loose layer. Don't forget to oil the mold in which the dough is placed. If thin pita bread is used for the crust, it should be spread on a table or cutting board and cut into several thin strips, 5-6 centimeters wide.

Sweet shirin pilaf

This pilaf is prepared with dried fruits and turns out very sweet. In addition, no meat is added to pilaf; it is made exclusively with sweet products. The Azerbaijani shirin pilaf itself comes from Baku.

Ingredients:

• 300 g long grain rice.
• 70 g dates.
• 70 g raisins.
• 70 g dried apricots.
• 1 tsp Sahara.
• 1 tbsp. sour cream.
• 50 g flour.
• 200 g ghee cow butter. For vegetarians, you can replace it with a vegetable one.
• 0.5 tsp dried saffron.

How to cook:

1. Rinse the rice several times in cold water. Pour boiling water, add a pinch of salt and leave for half an hour.
2. Pour off the boiling water. Pour fresh cold water (600 ml) over the rice and boil until tender.
3. Mix a tablespoon of butter with sour cream. Add flour little by little, kneading the dough.
4. Roll out the dough into a thin flat cake. Alternatively, you can just take ready-made lavash from the store - it will be easier and just as tasty.
5. Soak dried apricots and raisins in hot water for 10 minutes.
6. Cut dried apricots and dates in half.
7. Fry raisins, dates and dried apricots in oil, adding sugar and 1-2 tbsp. water. Stop frying when the dried fruits swell slightly and become saturated with oil.
8. Grease the cauldron with oil and place flat bread or pita bread.
9. Layer rice and dried fruits so that the first and last layer is rice. Drizzle the layers with oil from the frying pan.
10. Dissolve saffron in a few tablespoons of water and pour over pilaf.
11. Close the cauldron with a lid and wrap it in a towel. Keep on high heat for 5-10 minutes. Then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Cook over the fire for another half hour. Turn off the heat, let the dish stand for another 10-15 minutes under the lid, and then place the pilaf on plates.

Preparing the filling for Khan's pilaf

Let's prepare the filling with which we will fill the royal pilaf in pita bread (or dough). Cut the meat across the grain into medium pieces 3-4 centimeters wide. Place pieces of tail fat in a dry frying pan and render the fat well (the cracklings must be removed so that they do not give the finished treat the taste of burnt meat). Add a piece of butter and, when it is well heated, add the prepared lamb to the fat. You can replace it with young veal. When the meat is fried until golden brown, cover it with a lid and reduce the heat so that it simmers slightly and becomes softer. Place it on a separate plate. Peel the onion, chop it into thin rings and fry until soft in hot oil. Add cumin, spices and a little salt, stir. Chop the carrots into strips, add them to the onions, stir and let them brown slightly for 1-2 minutes. Add the fried meat, the rest of the dried fruits, spices and seasonings and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, you can add a little water if necessary. Cook until the liquid evaporates; place the filling on the rice.

This pilaf recipe can be changed by removing meat and vegetables from the ingredients, and adding a little honey or sugar syrup instead of salt and spices. This way you will get another wonderful treat - sweet pilaf made from dried fruits.

Spread the filling over the entire surface and carefully fold the edges of the dough so that it completely covers the contents of the mold. If necessary, trim off excess dough from edges. If you are using pita bread, wrap the strips clockwise, overlapping them. Place the pilaf in the oven and cook for 50 minutes at a temperature of 150-160 degrees. When the crust is slightly dry, remove the pan and grease with the remaining piece of butter. For even oiling, it is better to use a pastry brush. Increase the temperature to 180 degrees and bring the treat until fully cooked (the top crust should be a beautiful golden color). It is recommended to serve pilaf on a round or oval-shaped dish, cutting the dough into 8-12 pieces in a circle into equal sectors (like a cake). Carefully bend the edges of the dough to make a semblance of a crown and serve the royal treat to the table.

The traditions of the Azerbaijani people are inextricably linked with national cuisine. There are many recipes for khan pilaf - every city and village has its own specific way of preparing this wonderful treat. However, there are certain rules that every cook adheres to. According to legend, it is thanks to special subtleties that only folk pilaf makers know about that a real culinary masterpiece worthy of a royal table is obtained.

• Instead of bread, pilaf is served with pieces of fried crust, which can be carefully cut off before serving the dish. If the treat is being prepared for a large number of guests, it is cut into equal triangular pieces, after which the filling can be placed in heaps on a plate, and pieces of fried pita bread or dough can be used instead of bread.
• To give the rice a beautiful yellow hue, you can add a pinch of turmeric or saffron to the water during cooking. If saffron is used, it is enough to add 1-2 thin threads. Since the spice has a rather specific taste, it needs to be added in small quantities, otherwise the aroma of rice will overpower the smell and aroma of other components.
• The most suitable utensil for preparing any pilaf has always been considered a cast iron cauldron. However, in this case, it is best to prepare the treat in a round baking dish (you can use a mold for jellied pies or sponge cakes; a cast iron frying pan with a removable handle is suitable. However, please note that the bottom and walls of the dish must be thick so that the crust fries but does not burn .
• At home, you can make a dish for 6-8 servings using a convenient kitchen appliance - a multicooker. Using this modern device, it is best to use ready-made thin pita bread instead of dough. The dish is prepared in the pilaf mode for 40 minutes, after which it is carefully turned over and brought to readiness for another 20 minutes. This way the treat will have a beautiful golden brown crust on both sides.
• In the homeland of this wonderful treat, in Baku, the festive dish is prepared in a wood-burning oven. In urban conditions, it can be prepared in both an electric and gas oven. In order for the dish to be ready, but not burnt, it is important to change the temperature regime in time. For the first 40 minutes, pilaf is cooked at +130°C-+150°C, after which it is increased to 180°C.
• When cutting the top crust, be careful not to press on the rice filling. For convenience, you can take culinary scissors, carefully pierce the crust in the middle and move towards the edges. After the entire upper part is divided into sectors, carefully open the resulting petals as well, from the middle to the edge. Before serving, you can add fresh pomegranate seeds on top of the filling - this will make it look even more impressive.
• You can use more than just meat and fruit as a filling. If desired, you can prepare sweet pilaf from dried apricots, nuts and prunes. In some cases, it is prepared only from rice. In this case, all spices and seasonings are added to the water in which the cereal is cooked.
• If poultry is used for the filling, it is pre-marinated. This makes the meat more juicy and flavorful. The simplest version of marinade for chicken or turkey: ripe tomatoes are crushed into puree, a few drops of vegetable oil, salt and spices are added. Place the meat in the tomato marinade (preferably in a large piece) and leave for 3-4 hours. Before frying, the meat is cut into portions. Marinade can be added to stew meat.

Touh pilaf

Real Azerbaijani delicious pilaf, which is prepared with fried chicken.

Ingredients:

• 350 g long grain rice.
• 2 grenades.
• 4 onions.
• 1 chicken carcass.
• 150 g figs.
• 150 g raisins.
• 150 g dried apricots.
• 250 g plums. oils
• 500 g peeled chestnuts.
• 0.5 tsp turmeric.
• Kazmag or lavash.

• Salt.

How to cook:

1. Rinse the rice. Pour hot water, add a pinch of salt and leave for half an hour. Then drain the water.
2. Boil 1.5 liters of water and put rice in it. Let it simmer for 6-7 minutes, then drain it in a colander.
3. Grease the walls and bottom of the cauldron with oil and line it with kazmag. Grease the top with oil too.
4. Place half the rice, pour half the oil. Top with the rest of the rice and the remaining butter. Cover with a lid and keep for half an hour on the lowest heat.
5. Divide the rice in half and place it in two pans.
6. Mix saffron with a tablespoon of hot water and a tablespoon of oil. Pour the resulting mixture into one half of the rice and stir.
7. Place chestnuts in boiling water for 7 minutes, then cool. If you don’t have chestnuts, it’s not critical - cook without them.
8. Separate the seeds from the pomegranates and squeeze out the juice.
9. Coarsely chop the onion.
10. Rinse figs, raisins, dried apricots with hot water.
11. Cut the chicken into small pieces. Fry in oil until browned.
12. Set aside the meat and fry the onion in the same pan for 3-4 minutes.
13. Return the meat to the onions, pour in the pomegranate juice. Simmer for half an hour covered.
14. Add salt, chestnuts, figs, dried apricots, raisins. Stir and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.
15. Now all that remains is to lay out the Azerbaijani toukh pilaf for serving. Traditionally, a large flat dish is used for this. Place saffron rice and regular rice on it in strips. Place chestnuts with chicken in the middle and drizzle with butter.
16. Serve with the flatbread, torn into pieces by hand.