Rice is considered one of the healthy grains. It contains a large number of proteins (8%), microelements and vitamins that have a positive effect on functionality nervous system and provide the body with the necessary energy. A large number of dishes are prepared from it, but it tastes best in cooked food such as pilaf. Which rice is best to use, since there are dozens of types? The most common ones in our kitchen are: steamed, polished, round and long. Are they all suitable for an oriental dish? Let's look at this issue in more detail.

Steamed or polished? Which product should you prefer for preparing pilaf?

Parboiled and polished rice is a grain that has undergone certain processing to improve the quality of the product. But are both types suitable for preparing oriental dishes?

The heat-treated product is simply created for pilaf. Many housewives are satisfied with its friability, softness and high content vitamins In addition, parboiled rice is more profitable than peeled rice because it absorbs more liquid, which means that the prepared food is obtained in large volumes.

The appearance of raw steamed grain is an amber-yellow hue, but the color changes when cooked. The only drawback is the nutty taste, which is unacceptable in pilaf prepared in the East.

Polished rice is strictly not recommended for preparing pilaf. It has undergone deep processing, after which the grains become smooth, translucent, snow-white, and the content of vitamins and microelements is reduced by half. The polished product is only suitable for making viscous porridge.

Does shape matter? Which one to choose: round or long?

On store shelves we often find varieties of rice according to the shape of the grains. It would seem, what's the difference? But to prepare tasty and aromatic dish these differences are important.

Long grain rice (devzira, scald) is the best product for pilaf. Most often sold in supermarkets or merchants oriental spices and spices.

Attention! Elite varieties very often they fake it by coloring cheap rice with red brick dust. You can recognize a fake only at home by soaking it in water for a few minutes and then looking at the draining water. If it is painted, then it is 100% fake.

The advantages of long grains are:

1. The density of the structure allows it to hold its shape during cooking;
2. Clear separation of grains of the prepared dish;
3. Fast hardening process after cooling;

If you don’t have time to search or money to buy, then regular long-grain rice is quite suitable. It may not be ideal pilaf, but it is certainly more beautiful and tastier than round pilaf.

Round grain cereal is absolutely not suitable for preparing oriental dishes, despite the fact that it is the most consumed rice in the whole world. It contains a lot of starch, which swells and sticks the grains together during heat treatment. The round-grained product is more suitable for making sushi and sweet desserts.

A special type of rice specially created for cooking pilaf

This is a devzira. Having found it on the shelves of a supermarket, the owner will definitely not regret buying it. Rice has sweetish taste with a pronounced hint of malt. Due to the fact that it contains practically no starch, its grains always remain crumbly.

At heat treatment the cereal increases 7 times, absorbing fat, water, the aroma of meat, vegetables and spices.

This variety is easy to distinguish - it is heavy, when squeezed in the hand it creates a characteristic squeak of grains, and an attempt to erase the red-brown stripe will not be successful.

Devzira - rice that is ideal for cooking pilaf

Rules for choosing rice for pilaf

A correctly chosen grain affects not only the taste of pilaf, but also its appearance(crumbiness, fat content). If you choose poorly, the grains will stick together and the dish will look like porridge. Help you avoid an unpleasant incident following rules choice:

• Use only durum varieties rice: Jasmine, Wild rice, Basmati and others. It is not recommended to buy mixed varieties in a pack, since each type has different time preparations;
• Bite the grain with your teeth. You can’t do this procedure in a store, but you can do it at home. Take a grain and bite it with your teeth. If it breaks immediately, it means that such a grain is not suitable for preparing real pilaf. The purchased bag of rice can be left for making milk porridge or soup;
• The smoothness of the grain is not for pilaf. The surface should have a ribbed structure;
• Observe the grain while cooking. If it does not increase in size, sticks to the bottom of the pan and burns, then next time it does not need to be used;
• Study the composition. It is not allowed to contain various flavoring additives and GMOs;
• Pay attention to the structure of the cereal. Each grain should not be broken or cracked; the bag should not contain any debris. To examine the contents of the package on store shelves, choose transparent cellophane.

Attention! You should also pay attention to the expiration date, despite the fact that this is a dry product. Rice can be stored for 5 to 10 years, but it is better to give preference to grains that have been on the shelf for no more than a year.

There is an opinion that properly selected spices will help create an unforgettable tasting dish that takes its rightful place in oriental cuisine. This is partially true, but if you choose a product with high content starch, it is unlikely to get crumbly and beautiful-looking finished rice. The variety of varieties and processing methods lead to confusion when choosing it specifically for pilaf, so you should be especially “picky” about the grain.

How to choose the right rice - video

We wash the beef well, cut it into large pieces and lightly dry it with kitchen paper towels.

Peel the onion and chop it large.


Carrots must be cut into large cubes. If you cut it finely, it will simply boil and turn into porridge.

It is better to take carrots and garlic for pilaf when they are ripe, not young.

Young carrots are more tender and watery when stewed for a long time, as required by the recipe. Uzbek pilaf with beef, it will boil and turn into mush. Ripe carrots have the most rich taste , it retains its shape better during the cooking process.


Ripe (old) garlic has a pronounced taste, which means that the dish with it will turn out more rich and aromatic than with a young vegetable.

It is advisable to cook beef pilaf at home in a thick-walled saucepan, or better yet, in a cast-iron casserole so that the ingredients do not burn when frying and stewing (I cook in it).

Cookware with a non-stick coating in this case is not a very good option, since such a coating does not tolerate high temperatures, begins to crack and fall off. Non-stick coating does not tolerate mechanical stress when stirring food with a spoon or spatula.

The ideal option is to take a cast iron cauldron. It holds heat perfectly and allows the dish to simmer slowly. In aluminum cookware, on the contrary, heat is poorly retained, so it will not be possible to bring the dish to condition by simmering. To ensure that the pilaf is cooked evenly throughout the entire volume, take a cauldron that is spherical rather than flat. A spherical cauldron is heated evenly by fire from all sides. The lid of a good cauldron should tightly cover the pot.

Choose the size of the cauldron based on the number of servings and taking into account the fact that rice increases in volume when cooked. Our pilaf is designed for 6 servings, so a 7-liter cauldron would be optimal.

Pour vegetable oil into the cauldron and heat it well over high heat.


Carefully place the chopped meat into the bubbling oil and stir immediately. Otherwise it will stick to the walls of the cauldron. In addition, boiling water “seals” the meat fibers, preventing them from losing their juiciness. Fry the meat for about 10 minutes.


Add coarsely chopped onions to the meat. Mix.


After a minute, add the chopped carrots.


Next, lay out all the prepared spices and add salt. In the list of ingredients for the recipe crumbly pilaf with beef, we indicated the most popular spices used in Asia - turmeric, cumin, barberry. However, you can add other spices that perfectly enhance the taste. beef meat– red chili pepper, coriander, allspice and black pepper, mustard seeds, ground nutmeg, thyme.


Pour two glasses of water over the meat and vegetables. Cover the cauldron with a lid, reduce the heat and simmer the meat and vegetables for 20 minutes.


After 20 minutes, put well-washed steamed rice into the cauldron. The better you wash the rice, the more starch you remove from its surface (starch helps the grains stick together when cooked). Starch is ideally washed off if you pour grains hot water and drain it immediately. The procedure is repeated several more times (4-5) until the drained liquid becomes clear. Many chefs claim that for proper preparation rice for pilaf, it must be soaked in cold water for 30-40 minutes.

Professional chefs say that the type of rice chosen directly determines how tasty and crumbly the pilaf will be.

The most suitable cereal is one that can well absorb liquid, fats, taste and aroma of the spices used. Real rice for pilaf should hold its shape perfectly, not boil over, and not stick together into a mass. After all, we are not planning to cook risotto; the ideal pilaf is crumbly.

Therefore, chefs advise in this case to purchase long brown rice or red rice, which has undergone minimal processing (steaming, polishing) and retains the maximum useful substances. It cooks for an average of 25-30 minutes. Known rice varieties are Rubin, Samarkand and Devzira, bred by breeders directly for cooking pilaf. White steamed rice of an elongated shape (such as Jasmine or Basmati), which has a golden-transparent color, is also good.

You can buy a mixture of two types of cereals in the store - steamed and wild rice. As a last resort, take a polished one White rice elongated shape. But keep in mind that it is inferior to brown and golden parboiled rice in terms of the content of valuable substances, and you only need to cook it for 15 minutes.

Attention!

Make sure that the rice in the package you purchase is whole and not split, so that there are no debris.

In any case, give preference to long-grained cereals, and round ones (for example, Krasnodar variety) or crushed cereal set aside for cooking porridges, soups, Italian risotto.


Spread the rice evenly over the surface, add a little more salt. We put Bay leaf, insert a whole head of garlic into the middle, stick the peeled cloves around the edges. Pour in water, its level should exceed the rice by 2 cm.

According to cookbooks, the optimal ratio should be: 1 part cereal, 3 parts liquid.

Close the cauldron with a lid and cook the pilaf over low heat until done. Typically, direct cooking lasts 20-25 minutes from the start of boiling water (depending on the type of rice). After this time, the rice should completely absorb the water.

Then turn off the fire and leave the dish to simmer in a hot cauldron for another 15-20 minutes. During this time, the slightly harsh grains of the cereal will acquire the desired consistency, but will not boil. If you continue to cook the rice until cooked over the fire, avoiding simmering, the grain may lose its shape and become too soft.

In Uzbekistan there is a word “shavlya”, which disparagingly refers to a sticky porridge with rice, which only vaguely resembles real pilaf, cooked in a cauldron.

Since the rice cooks faster in the middle than at the edges, every 5-7 minutes you need to open the lid slightly and collect the rice from the edges to the middle. This will ensure the rice cooks evenly. But do not mix the dish too thoroughly, so as not to destroy the integrity of the grains.


That's it, now you know real recipe pilaf with beef and you can cook it yourself at home. Hurry up and invite your family and guests to the table!

In the homeland of the dish, it is customary to serve it this way: from below on large dish Rice with carrots are laid out, and pieces of meat are placed on top. The garlic is left whole, but very large pieces meat is cut into portions. You can sprinkle the top of the dish with chopped herbs - dill, parsley, green onions.


In Central Asia, a large plate of greens is always placed on the table next to the pilaf. It is also combined with a salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers, seasoned a small amount vegetable oil.

If the dish turns out to be very fatty (for example, if it was cooked with lamb and fat tail fat), then you should simply serve chopped vegetables without greasing them with oil. Uzbeks eat pilaf with national flatbread.

At the end of the meal, hot food is placed on the table. green tea(without sweets) – this drink goes optimally with fatty and hearty foods such as pilaf.

It is a popular oriental dish that is very popular in our country. It is worth noting that such a lunch can be made not only from cow meat, but also from pork, chicken or lamb. However, the tastiest pilaf is made from fatty beef.

Recipe for classic pilaf with steamed rice

Required ingredients:

• carrots - three small pieces;
• pepper - 1/3 of a small spoon;
• salt - one full dessert spoon;
• fresh beef - 550 grams;
• greens - a couple of leaves;
• vegetable oil - three large spoons;
• bay leaf - optional;
• onions - four medium heads;
• spices for pilaf - to taste and desire;
• tomato paste - two large spoons;
• steamed rice - one and a half faceted glasses;
• garlic - one whole head.

Beef pilaf recipe: processing meat and vegetables

To make this dish aromatic and tasty, it is recommended to thoroughly fry the meat and vegetables before cooking it. It is worth noting that it is best to purchase beef for real pilaf without bones and with a sufficient amount of fat. Thus, purchased meat must be washed well in cool water and then cut into large cubes. Next, put the beef in a frying pan, add a few tablespoons of vegetable oil and fry a little. After this, you need to prepare the vegetables. Three medium-sized carrots and four heads onions should be peeled and cut into cubes. Then chopped vegetables along with bay leaf, tomato paste, salt and pepper should be placed in a frying pan with meat and also fried a little. After the products are lightly coated golden crust, the dishes should be removed from the heat and begin processing the rice.

Beef pilaf recipe: preparing rice and shaping the dish

To prepare pilaf, it is recommended to use long steamed rice. It is worth noting that such cereals do not take long to cook, and their taste and appearance are much better than other varieties. Before mixing rice with prepared goulash, be sure to rinse it first under hot water and then under cold water. Next, the cereal must be placed in a large cauldron, after which the beef fried with vegetables should be placed there. Both ingredients should be mixed well with a spoon, and then add a little salt, spices, chopped herbs and a whole head of unpeeled garlic. Before putting pilaf on the fire, you need to fill it with boiled water. It is especially worth noting that the liquid should cover the cereal by no more than one to one and a half centimeters. After all, steamed rice does not absorb a very large amount of water.

Beef pilaf recipe: correct delivery to the table

Serve classic pilaf beef for dinner, preferably hot. It is also recommended to additionally prepare a salad of fresh herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions for the dish.

Beef pilaf recipe: useful advice

Before distributing the pilaf among plates, it is advisable to keep it in a tightly wrapped pan for about forty to fifty minutes. This way the dish will reach the end and will be even tastier.

I'll tell you how to cook pilaf from steamed rice with pork. Certainly. You've probably cooked pilaf more than once - each housewife has her own personal recipe. and I’m happy to share mine. You'll like it!

Of course, pilaf is a dish of special importance, and it really takes a lot of time to prepare it. But I still think that every housewife and every owner should try to cook this dish at least once in their life. There is nothing complicated, but the main thing is to follow everything traditional features dishes, including strictly defined spices. I tried to make my recipe for steamed rice pilaf with pork as similar to the classic as possible. I think you'll like it!

Number of servings: 6-8

Recipe Specifications

• National cuisine: Uzbek cuisine
• Type of dish: Hot dishes, Pilaf
• Recipe difficulty: Simple recipe

• Preparation time: 16 minutes
• Cooking time: 1 hour 12 minutes
• Number of servings: 6 servings
• Calorie Amount: 191 kilocalories
• Occasion: For lunch

Ingredients for 6 servings

• Pork - 1 Kilogram
• Steamed rice - 1 Kilogram
• Onion - 1 Kilogram
• Carrots - 1 Kilogram
• Vegetable oil - 1.5 Cups
• Zira - 2 teaspoons
• Barberry - 1 teaspoon
• Sweet red pepper - 1 teaspoon
• Garlic - 1 piece (1 large head)

Step by step

1. Pour the oil into the cauldron and heat it until it boils well. then add chopped onion. When the onion becomes transparent, meat is next. cut into medium pieces, and carrots, cut into strips.
2. The rice is steamed, but we will still rinse it well again so that the water on top of it becomes clear. Strain it out and put it on top cooked meat and vegetables. Fill in about 1.5 liters of water. Reduce the fire.
3. When the added water boils. add cumin and other spices. In the middle we place a head of garlic, peeled but not chopped. Simmer further under the lid over low heat for about an hour.
4. And here you get a beautiful pilaf of steamed rice and juicy meat!

Experienced cooks know what to get delicious pilaf only by choosing the right variety of rice. However, this appears to be a difficult task given the modern selection of cereals offered in stores. How to choose the ideal grain for cooking Uzbek dish?

Which rice to choose for pilaf

The grain that is used to prepare pilaf must have a number of properties, for example, it should perfectly absorb water, aromas, and fats of other products. In addition, the grains must keep their shape and not stick to each other during the cooking process, otherwise the dish will not be crumbly. What rice is best to use for pilaf? It is preferable, according to experts, to prepare it from the Devzira variety, specially bred by breeders. This cereal has a beautiful beige tint, nice smell and slightly sweet taste. Let's look at others rice varieties as ingredients for pilaf.

Brown

This type of grain undergoes minimal processing, therefore it retains maximum useful components and has a slight nutty flavor. Cereals contain copper, zinc, iodine and many other elements necessary to the human body. The average cooking time is half an hour, and the product's shelf life is shorter than that of other types of rice, so it cannot be kept for a long time at home. Another disadvantage of such cereals is its high cost.

Brown rice pilaf is not only different interesting taste, but also low in calories and minimal starch content, unlike white cereals. In addition to the Uzbek dish, you can cook other side dishes and even delicious desserts. Some modern recipes pilafs include a combination of dark and long-grain white rice. Except unusual looking, this solution for preparing a dish is economical.

White

Polished rice has White color, can be translucent and have an oblong or round shape. Since during processing grains lose almost all of their valuable properties, they are significantly inferior in benefits to brown cereals. However, grinding increases the shelf life of groceries. The big advantage of white cereal as a base for pilaf is the speed of its preparation (cooking takes only about 15 minutes). Which rice is best for pilaf:

1. Basmati. Long grains are grown in Pakistan and India. They have a very pleasant taste; when cooked, they swell and become twice as large. At proper preparation The cereal will be crumbly, whole and soft. For pilaf this is very a good option.
2. Arborio. This is medium grain or short grain rice. When cooked, it very actively absorbs the smells and tastes of other ingredients, so it is excellent for preparing pilaf, risotto, and other multi-ingredient dishes.
3. Krasnodar rice. It can be round or slightly elongated. It is used to prepare delicious porridge, it is suitable for cooking soups, pilaf and other dishes, but it is better to soak the grains before cooking.
4. Jasmine. This variety has a beautiful snow-white color and is grown in Thailand. When cooked, the cereal retains its shape perfectly without boiling or sticking together. Prepare delicious rice stands in a cauldron or deep frying pan under a closed lid.
5. Indica. An ideal option for pilaf, since it does not overcook and turns out crumbly, it absorbs broth, smells, and tastes well.

Steamed

Thanks to steaming technology, most of the valuable components in the cereal composition are preserved. After this treatment, the rice grains have a light golden hue, which disappears during the cooking process. The steamed product does not stick together and can compete with brown product in terms of the amount of vitamins/microelements. The disadvantages of parboiled rice are its relatively high price compared to other types of polished grains and the increased cooking time, which is about 30 minutes.

Steamed rice pilaf turns out very tasty, and there is no need to pre-soak the product. You just need to rinse the grains under running water. If you leave them in the liquid for a long time, its structure will collapse and the rice will become too brittle. There are many types of steamed cereals, each of which is designed for preparing specific dishes. What kind of rice to take for pilaf:

• Jasmine or Super Basmati (perfectly saturated with fats and the aromas of spices, so they are ideal for preparing oriental dishes);
• Amber (this variety is specially grown for steaming, has a beautiful golden hue and large oblong grain).

Red

This type Cereals are especially rich in iron, and if the degree of processing of the grains was low, then they retain B vitamins and other valuable components. Rice for Uzbek pilaf of the Rubin variety is very healthy, so nutritionists recommend eating it more often. Thanks to the preserved shell, such grains contain great amount fiber. Gourmets value red cereals for their unusual color (you can see it in the photo) and subtle nutty smell. However, in order for the dishes to turn out tasty, you need to know how to cook the grains, otherwise they will be difficult to chew.

What kind of rice is needed for pilaf in a cauldron? Devzira, a crop growing in the central regions of Uzbekistan, is ideal for this. This is the only variety that is adapted to local conditions (other rice crops do not grow here). In the right season, Devzira is not very difficult to find in Russian markets. The variety has ideal properties for preparing oriental dishes - it perfectly absorbs broth, vegetable juice and the aroma of seasonings, so it is ideal for pilaf.

Long grain

When cooked, such grains increase in size, do not stick together, and retain their integrity. Long-grain varieties can be purchased at any store, but for pilaf it is better to look for real Uzbek Devzira rice. If you don’t have time for this, you can add other types of long-grain cereals to the dish, for example, Laser or Basmati varieties. Their main advantages are:

• ability to retain shape when cooked;
• good absorption of liquids and aromas;
• availability;
• cooking speed.

How to choose rice for pilaf

You can simply take a package of a product from the store that says “For pilaf,” but if you don’t have one, you’ll have to choose the variety yourself. Which rice is suitable for pilaf:

1. To get a crumbly structure, it is better to choose steamed grains such as Basmati or Jasmine. In addition, a mixture of steamed and wild rice.
2. When purchasing, do not hesitate to try the grain: if it breaks apart easily, then it is better to refrain from purchasing (the porridge will turn out sticky and may boil over).
3. When choosing a packaged product, the grains must be visible through the packaging, but they must be whole and free of excess debris.
4. Ideally, the surface of the grains of rice should be slightly rough and ribbed.
5. Round grains are not suitable for Uzbek dishes, so preference should be given to long-grain rice.
6. The product should not have an unpleasant odor.

How to wash rice for pilaf

If you do not prepare the cereal for cooking, you can ruin the entire dish. How to prepare rice for pilaf? The first thing you need to do is remove maximum amount starch, for this purpose the rice is poured with hot water (without soaking) and immediately drained. This procedure is repeated up to 5 times until the liquid becomes transparent. At the same time, you can add turmeric to the last water, which will color it in a beautiful tone and saturate the grains with light pleasant taste.

How to cook cereal? To make it swell, leave the grains (except for steamed ones) in water for 30-60 minutes. If you choose Devzira or Samarkand, it is better to soak the rice longer. Experienced Chefs they believe that to prepare Uzbek dishes will suit almost any variety, the main thing is to prepare the grains correctly, so this aspect should not be ignored.

Ratio of rice and water for pilaf

Proportions should be selected taking into account the method of preparing the dish. For example, according to Uzbek recipe There should be less liquid than other ingredients: for 400 g of meat and the same amount of rice, take up to 700 ml of water (including zirvak - broth). How to cook Azerbaijani dish? The proportions of rice and water for pilaf are calculated differently, since all the ingredients are prepared separately and only at the end mixed in one container. In this case, you should take three times more liquid than cereal. When cooking in a slow cooker, pour water so that it covers the cereal by 2 cm.

The best rice for pilaf

Even knowing suitable varieties rice for pilaf, you can get confused in the store - the range of products from different manufacturers very big. Below is a rating with photos of brands offering quality product. Which rice is better to cook pilaf from:

1. Long grain. The optimal choice for pilaf/risotto is Basmati and Jasmine. Good products are offered by the Mistral and National brands. Jasmine groats can also be purchased from Scotti.
2. Brown. Brown grains are considered the healthiest; in Russia only a few brands specializing in rice offer them. You can buy good products from Agro-Alliance.
3. Red. Good choice For oriental dishes and side dishes are long grain red rice from Fair Platinum.
4. Devzira. It is best to purchase this cereal not in a store, but from market traders.
5. Arborio. Gallo and Mistral have good products. Arborio is ideal for preparing pilaf, as it is well absorbed by the sauce and aromas of other ingredients.

Price

The cost of the product depends not only on the type of grocery, but also on the brand of the manufacturer. It is possible to buy rice for pilaf in an online store, any supermarket or market, where Uzbeks sell it by the glass. In the latter case, you can carefully study the quality of the grains and try them before purchasing. When purchasing through an online service catalog, the product can be ordered directly to your home, while it is more convenient to choose in a supermarket (you can immediately read the information about the product on the packaging). Examples of prices and photos of popular products:

• Agro-Alliance for pilaf – 95 rubles;
• Mistral Arborio – 280 rubles;
• Jasmine National – 150 rubles;
• Ameria Amber steamed – 120 rubles.

Video