Achar
- Nutrition Facts
- Calories: 189
- Protein: 7
- Fats: 8
- Carbohydrates: 21
- Information
- Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- By: Ilili-bbog
- Ratings 5
- Your ratings:
Acharov plav is a traditional dish of the Armenian holiday table. Achar can be cooked in chicken broth or water. Plav on chicken broth is usually served with boiled chicken, and cooked on water is cooked with mushrooms. "Plav" is in no way connected with the word "pilaf", as in Armenia they call all crumbly dishes, be it cereal or pasta dishes. And achar is the Armenian name for groats, known to all of us since childhood according to the fairy tale of A.S. Pushkin, spelled. Spelled is a wild ancestor of wheat known to all of us, in contrast to the cereal familiar to all of us, spelled has a tougher skin and a subtle nutty flavor.
For a long time, this valuable, vitamin-rich cereal crop was unfairly forgotten. And this is partly because the processing of spelt is much more labor-intensive than that of its wheat descendant. Therefore, it is very pleasing that the Armenian culinary culture has preserved recipes for cooking dishes from this healthy cereal. And our step-by-step recipe with a photo will help you cook fragrant chicken achar and enjoy its taste.
History of the dish
"Armenian treasure" - this is what the people call the achar. Groats for cooking traditional dishes of Armenian cuisine are obtained from wild-growing spelt, the grain is not peeled from the hard skin, and this gives the dish a "zest". Due to the special way of processing achars, plav was usually prepared especially for the holidays. Then the Armenian women gathered in the evening, sorted out the grain, washed it in several waters, and soaked it overnight.
At the same time, women sang traditional songs, often danced, so acharov plav turned out to be special, saturated with the warmth of the hands that prepared it, saturated with positive energy. And in the morning, after slightly drying the grain, they began to prepare this delicious dish. Achars were often prepared in tonir. A cauldron with achar was placed on the coals, and a carcass of meat was hung from above, the fat from the meat flowed into the achar, the dish with achar melted and fragrant. Now it is difficult for us, city dwellers, to observe all the customs of our ancestors, however, you should definitely try to cook this healthy, satisfying and tasty dish of Armenian cuisine and fall in love with it once and for all.
Ingredients:
- Domestic chicken - 1 kg
- Achara groats - 1.5 cups
- Onion - 5 pieces
- Chicken broth - 600 grams
- Butter - 150 grams
- Sunflower oil - 100 grams
- Salt - 30 grams
- Allspice black pepper - 20 grams
Cooking process:
- Let's sort out the Achar, rinse several times until the water becomes clear.
First of all, we sort out the achar and wash it until the water is clear
- Soak the groats for several hours in cold water.
Now we soak the cereal for a couple of hours in cold water
- Now let's cook the chicken. The calculation of the ratio of chicken and achar is approximately 1 kg of chicken per one and a half cups of dry achar. Rinse the chicken carcass well, cut off the skin in the neck area, cut off the claws on the wings, and remove the tail. The insides should be pulled out and blotted with a napkin.
For this dish, we also need chicken. For a glass of dry cereal, you will need about 1 kg of chicken meat. The chicken should be cleaned, rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
- Fill the carcass with water and set to boil. The first broth should be drained, rinse the chicken and refill with water. As soon as the broth boils, add salt and reduce the heat. We cook the chicken on a quiet fire.
Fill the chicken with water and set to cook until tender. Do not forget that you should drain the first broth, rinse the chicken again and then cook over low heat in salted water until cooked
- Put the achar in a colander, let the water drain. After the water drains, transfer the achar to a frying pan with high thick walls.
Meanwhile, we discard the soaked achar in a colander and transfer it to a pan with thick walls
- Add butter to the achar groats.
Add butter to the groats
- Remove the chicken broth from the heat.
It's also time to remove the chicken from the fire
- Add the broth to the pan with the achar.
Add chicken broth to the pan with cereal
- There should be enough broth so that it is one finger higher than the cereal, lightly add salt.
Pour the broth on the finger above the cereal
- Cover the pan with a lid and put on a slow fire.
Now cover the pan with a lid and put it on the fire
- Onion cut into half rings.
Peel the onion and cut into half rings
- After the chicken has cooled, put it on a cutting board.
Place the chicken meat on a cutting board
- Divide the chicken carcass into parts.
Divide the carcass into pieces
- Cut the meat into cubes of about 5-7 cm
The meat should be chopped into square pieces of 5-7 cm
- In a second frying pan, heat the sunflower oil, lightly fry the onion.
In a separate frying pan, heat the vegetable oil and fry the onion
- Put chicken meat in a pan with onions, mix.
Put chopped meat into fried onions
- When the liquid boils away in the pan with the achar, check the groats for readiness.
When the liquid boils away in the pan with the achar, check the groats for readiness.
- Put the meat with onions on the achar.
Put meat and fried onions into the finished cereal
- Cover with a lid and let the melt sweat on a quiet fire.
The assembled dish should be closed with a lid and then simmered over low heat
- After 15-20 minutes, the acharov melt is ready. We put the finished dish on serving plates and serve it on the table!
In about 20 minutes the pilaf will be ready and it will be ready to be served at the table
- Bon appetit!
Bon appetit!
The benefits of acharov melt
The traditional Armenian acharov plav is not only hearty and tasty, but also a very healthy dish. The benefits of achar cereal are obvious - it contains a complex of B vitamins, vitamins E and PP, as well as potassium, magnesium, zinc, sodium, copper, selenium, and phosphorus. In addition, achar helps to improve hair, nails, skin, strengthens memory, relieves anemia, helps to improve digestion and balance weight, strengthens the immune system, and improves blood circulation.
Achar is also a dietary cereal, but it contains gluten, so people suffering from allergies should carefully eat it. Acharovplav is cooked in chicken broth, which is also good for digestion. If acharov plav is prepared with mushrooms, it is useful for vegetarians, or in fasting, as the main course of any meal. Achar is good as a side dish for many dishes, it is very tasty with tyal and tender kyufta.
