In the eyes of most Chinese people, a bowl of white and moist rice with a little stickiness is a good bowl of rice. There is a type of rice, but the criterion for its success is that the rice grains cooked with various spices and rich soups can still remain light and loose, and the pieces are clear.
Well, I'm talking about pilaf.
Pilaf
01
Pilaf's hometown
/ Iran or India? /
Pilaf is mostly made from rice and meat, fish and various spices. Because most of the people who eat it have the custom of eating with their bare hands, it is often called pilaf or pilaf in China.
Unlike pilaf, which uses rice as a raw material for risotto and porridge, which looks sticky and soft, the soul of pilaf is that when the rice grains or grains are full of spice soup, they can still remain light and loose and distinct.
Indian pilaf
Pilaf has a long history and influence around the world. As for where it came from, there are two speculations: India or Iran.
From the word pilaf, it can be traced back to the Sanskrit word "pulaka", which later evolved into "pulao" in Hindi, and now its sanskrit definition is "withered, empty, bad grain", etc., which seems to have nothing to do with pilaf, but if you look at its verb form, it means "erect /upright", so it is speculated that it may refer to a dish cooked with grains.
However, another group of scholars believe that the origin of pilaf may have been in Iran. Arabic books have already recorded pilaf in the 13th century.
Persian style pilaf
But no matter where the origin is, this way of cooking gradually spreads around the world and combines with local characteristics to form its own unique style.
02
5 styles of pilaf
/ Which one have you eaten? /
Traditional pilaf often uses basmati rice, because this type of rice is more likely to make pilaf light and loose texture, but this is not to say that other types of long-grain rice are not. The first step in making pilaf is to wash the rice and remove excess starch from the rice grains to ensure the grainy texture of the rice grains.
Traditional pilaf is often cooked with water or broth, but before adding any liquid, hot oils are used to add flavor to the rice, followed by spices such as sautéed onions and cardamom, fragrant leaves, and cinnamon. Pilaf is often cooked with meat or vegetables, but it can also be just rice, and on special occasions, colored rice is also used.
Pilaf is often made with long-grain rice
Choose different fats, different ingredients, and different ways to cook rice, and you will eventually present pilaf with very different styles. By the 15th century, five major styles of pilaf had gradually been formed in Central Asia, Iran, India, Turkey and the Caribbean.
Central Asian pilaf
Including Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries. They all follow the simplest and most primitive methods when cooking pilaf.
Sauté onions, meat (mainly lamb and beef, chicken will also appear in the recipe, but it is rare), carrots, add any other spices you want to add (cumin, coriander, red pepper, etc.), add water and simmer. When the meat is cooked, add the rice and cook over low heat until the rice grains are full of soup. The advantage of this traditional pilaf method is that there is always a liquid throughout the process of making pilaf, which can effectively prevent the rice from being burned.
Afghan pilaf
The most common Xinjiang pilaf in China belongs to the category of Central Asian pilaf, and the commonly used raw materials are onions, mutton, yellow radish, rice, raisins and so on. Moreover, the lamb commonly used in Xinjiang pilaf is mostly fatty meat such as the front legs, hind legs or abdomen, and it can also have bones, but the proportion of bones cannot be greater than pure meat. It can be said responsibly that Xinjiang has a very good conscience.
Xinjiang hand pilaf
Iranian pilaf
Unlike the traditional pilaf of Central Asia, Iran is characterized by its fragrant pilaf, which is delicate and elegant. This aromatic flavor can come from lentil soup or vegetables, but the more important source of aroma should be fruits such as cherries, apricots, and quince.
Iranian pilaf
Unlike the Central Asian pilaf cooking method, Iranians put rice on the bottom of the pot and steam it, because Iranians are very addicted to something similar to a pot, called tah dig in Iranian. They usually serve their guests with such golden, crispy rice.
Simple and plain tah dig
Indian pilaf
Pilaf is mainly made from rice mixed with various spices, legumes, vegetables or meats. In India, there are two types of pilaf: biryani and pulao, and the biggest difference between the two is in the production process. To make biryani, the rice is first cooked with spices, and then the rice is fished out and simmered with the finished meat. Pulao, on the other hand, is cooked directly with the finished meat, without the prior treatment with spices.
Indian pilaf pulao
Turkish pilaf
There are many different varieties of pilaf in Turkish style, the three most common of which are rice pilaf, burger pilaf and rice-grained thin-noodle pilaf.
Rice pilaf is pilaf made with normal rice.
Rice pilaf
Not all pilaf is made from rice, and the main ingredient in burger is a variety of different types of wheat. Wheat is cooked by mixing with tomatoes, green peppers, and minced meat.
Burger pilaf
Rice-grained thin-noodle pilaf, which refers to thin rice-shaped noodles made from white flour (mostly) or whole grains, is commonly found along the Mediterranean coast.
Pilaf made with fine noodles in the shape of rice
In Turkey, pilaf is often served as a side dish rather than as a main course. Of course, there is also pilaf as the main dish, which is wrapped in philo dough and grilled, which looks a lot like a rice pie.
The bread was stuffed with pilaf
Caribbean pilaf
In the Eastern Caribbean and other Parts of the Caribbean, there are many different kinds of pilaf. There, pilaf is called "pelau" and is a specialty formed in the Caribbean after pilaf from Central Asia was fused with paella.
Caribbean pilaf is very rich in ingredients, vegetables include beans, peas, green beans, corn, carrots, pumpkins, etc., and meats include beef, chicken or pickled pig's tail. Seasoned meat is usually boiled in a saucepan, after which rice is simmered with rice and other vegetables. Coconut milk and spices are also essential ingredients for this dish on some Caribbean islands.
Caribbean-style pilaf
There are many types of pilaf, but they are different. Central Asian pilaf is enthusiastic, Iranian pilaf is elegant, Indian pilaf is abundant and Turkish pilaf is precise, what about Caribbean pilaf? Maybe it's fusion.
Weekend Xinjiang hand pilaf, arranged!