A modern oven, with any of its technical capabilities, is a convenient kitchen invention that expands the cooking possibilities of almost all products, without exception.
But any model of this technology still remotely resembles a Russian stove, in its principle of operation, with the only difference that “in the old steam oven” there was no touch control panel and the hostesses determined the temperature for cooking cabbage soup, cereals and breads, drying vegetables and fruits its only known methods.
For those who at least once tasted the food cooked in the Russian oven, the advantages of such a heat treatment are undoubtedly clear.
Urbanization and technological progress have long replaced in Russian cities this Russian miracle on a stove complete with an oven.
The modern stove, although it has not fully replaced the old ovens, but still the dishes cooked in the oven have some superiority over other methods of cooking food.
Pilaf in the oven - the basic technological principles
Given the ancient oriental origin of the dish and its traditional technology of cooking on an open fire, pilaf in the oven is an innovative idea.
On the one hand, any dish cooked in the oven has a richer taste and aroma, because it is cooked in the confined space of the oven and its smell does not evaporate. In addition, the set temperature provides uniform heating of the dishes, in which pilaf is cooked, from all sides. The difficulty of cooking lies in the fact that for the sequential addition of components, it is necessary to take the heated tank from the oven each time, which is not very convenient. That is, the technology of preparation of the Central Asian type of pilau, where the ingredients are added gradually, one after the other and in the same dish, is not suitable for the oven. It’s not even the case that in order to cook Fergana or Tajik pilaf, you will have to repeatedly take out a container for laying onions, meat, carrots and other components. After all, to check their readiness will also have to open the door, which, of course, breaks the temperature and reduces all the advantages of cooking in the oven to zero. But there is also a second method of classical cooking of pilau, in which the oven can be used to bring ready-made components together: zirvaka (stew with vegetables) and cooked rice, previously cooked on the stove to the stage of semi-ready.
Definitely it can be said that only the method of separate preparation of pilau ingredients is suitable for cooking in the oven. There are quite a few such recipes, since all national cuisines of the peoples of the East, Oceania and the Mediterranean have worked on their creation for thousands of years.
As for the categorical statements of all sorts of experts that pilaf is only that which is prepared in a large cauldron, only from mutton and devzira rice, and that the opinion of these specialists is the ultimate truth - do not believe! If only because the translation from Sanskrit clearly indicates that the pilaf in any combination is boiled rice. A later, Central Asian version offers quenching rather than boiling rice. Cook as convenient, as tasty, as you see fit.
1. Plov recipe in the oven based on Armenian cuisine
This version of sweet pilaf does not pretend to the originality of the Armenian dish, which no wedding or other significant event can do without, is very convenient for cooking in the oven, because it does not require step-by-step reporting of the dish components: they can be immediately loaded into cleaned and prepared for roasting pumpkin. The duration of cooking will depend on the size of the fruit, well, and of course, on the variety of rice.
Ingredients:
Pumpkin, round (medium size)
Round rice 300 g
A set of dried fruit 350 g
Butter 50 g
Nuts (almonds and walnuts) 200 g
Orange Peel 50 g
Honey 100 g
Tangerine juice 200 ml
Cooking:
For this original, incredibly useful fruit pilau, you can choose any combination of dried fruit. The citrus scent is especially suited to the pumpkin. Add dried cherries, raisins, candied fruits, any nuts. Butter will accentuate the taste of rice and enhance the fruit flavor. Nuts should be slightly roasted and chopped, but not too much. Washed dried fruit cut, if necessary. Boil the prepared rice until half cooked and drain. Wash it. Combine the filling and add honey dissolved in the juice, softened butter, fresh zest and other spices as desired. Salt a little. Cut off part of the pumpkin at the base of the tail. Peel the pumpkin from the inside by removing the seeds and fiber. Stuff the fruit, but not tightly and leave about 1/4 of the space inside the pumpkin. Cover the stuffing with the cut part and wrap the pumpkin in foil. The rice will be ready after 15 minutes, when baking on average, but the main thing is to determine the readiness of the pumpkin. Try to pierce it with a wooden stick: if it easily enters the pulp, the oven can be turned off and after 20 minutes you can get pilaf from the oven. Cut the pumpkin into slices. To her, you can apply any fruit sauce with herbs.
2. Recipe of vegetable pilaf in the oven
Ingredients:
Onion 0.5 kg
Squash 500g
Clove, ground 10 g
Tomatoes 700 g
Pepper (colorful), salad 350 g
Bay leaf
Sugar
Red carrot 300 g
Salt
Chilli (ground) 20 g
Long grain rice 600 g
Ground coriander 25 g
Garlic 50g
Celery root 120 g
Dill, parsley (fresh leaves) 100 g
Cooking:
My vegetables are allowed to drain. Tomatoes blanch, remove the skin, cut, removing seeds. Peeled peppers, carrots, zucchini and onions are cut into cubes and individually fried to a ruddy color in deep heat-resistant dishes and put on napkins or a sieve to remove excess oil. Ground spices, garlic, sliced tomatoes, grated celery root, sugar and salt are added to the remaining butter. Tomatoes are stewed until thick.
The rice washed and soaked in water is boiled until half cooked, tilted and washed. The prepared grain is gently mixed with vegetables and put into greased, ceramic pots, filling them with 3/4 volume. The pots are covered with a lid or foil and put in a cupboard heated to 180ºC for 20 minutes. After sprinkle with chopped greens.
3. Grandma's pilaf recipe in the oven with chicken drumsticks and dried fruit
Ingredients:
Carrots 300 g
Prunes 150 g
Chicken broth 900 ml Salt
400 g rice
Bay leaf 20 g
Sugar 50 g
Garlic 40g
Onions 300g
Raisin 150 g
A mixture of pepper, ground 25-30 g
Chicken drumstick 1.6 kg
Vegetable oil, refined 200 ml
Cooking:
Boil prepared shins in slowly boiling water, remove from the pan and strain the broth. Fry vegetables in hot oil, adding sugar for caramelization and a little later - prepared rice, washed dried fruits. Prune pre-cut straws. Stir, adding spices, transfer the whole mass into a suitable for the oven dishes, without a lid. Put boiled chicken meat on top, pour in the broth and continue cooking in the oven at 180ºC until the liquid evaporates and a golden crust is formed on the chicken legs.
4. Recipe of pilaf in the oven with raisins and apples
Product Composition:
Rice, thin and white 300 g
Cinnamon 20g
Ghee 70 g
Sugar
Apples 500 g (peeled)
Salt
Raisin 200 g
Cooking process:
Lubricate the inside of the baking sleeve with oil. Prepared raisins and peeled and chopped apples should be folded into one container, add rice (aged in cold water), cinnamon, salt and sugar to them. Stir and pack in the sleeve, not tight. Bake in the oven about rice readiness.
5. Recipe of pilaf in the oven with duck and cranberry in orange juice
Ingredients:
Musk duck fillet 800 g
Onions 300g
Orange Juice 500 ml
Cranberries 200 g
Rosemary 5-6 sprigs
Clove, ground 5 g
Garlic 20g
Muscat 20 g
Wild rice 400 g
Pepper Mix
Sugar 30-40 g
Salt
Butter, melted and vegetable - 50 g each
Cooking:
Soak the washed rice in cold water for at least three hours. Rub the pieces of duck pulp with ground spices and pour over the juice of oranges, also for 3 hours. Fry the onion cubes to a golden color in the oil mixture. Put the finished onion on a separate plate. Fry the duck pieces, pour in the juice, in which she marinated and let it boil. Crush the garlic, chop the rosemary and put all the ingredients in the roaster. Put rice and washed cranberries on top. If rice is not covered with juice, then add hot broth or boiling water. Put pilaf in the oven and cook until ready.
Pilaf in the oven - Tricks and tips
- The main difference between plov and cereals is the crumbiness of the cereal part, from which it would not consist. If you want to cook pilaf in the oven, then follow not only the temperature, but also the ratio of the liquid used to cook rice.
- After washing, the rice is soaked to, firstly, bind the starch in the grain, and, secondly, the rice absorbs water, which evaporates when heated, at the same time increasing its grain size and changing its structure to the desired consistency. Unprepared rice will stew longer.
