Armenian pilaf
- Nutrition Facts
- Calories: 349
- Protein: 10
- Fats: 8
- Carbohydrates: 57
- Information
- Time: 45 mins
- By: Ilili-bbog
- Ratings 5
- Your ratings:
Easter sweet Armenian pilaf with Ararat dried fruits. Since ancient times, Armenians have been preparing a special sweet pilaf Ararat for Easter. This name for the dish is very symbolic, because Ararat is the symbol of Armenia. And the fact that in the last century, at the conclusion of a peace treaty between Armenia and the Republic of Turkey, Ararat remained on Turkish territory, became a tragedy for the Armenians, they have not come to terms with this fact so far, they sing their love for their symbol in songs, write about him poems, and assign his name to delicious dishes. And thanks to the snow-white rice, folded in a slide, Ararat pilaf really strongly resembles the snow-capped peak of the famous mountain.
And dried fruits, simmered in butter or ghee, give the dish a special elegance and festivity. How to cook this magnificent dish, which is considered special in a number of dishes of Armenian cuisine, will be shown by our photos of the step-by-step preparation of sweet pilaf with Ararat dried fruits.
History of the dish
Traditionally, for Easter, Armenian women prepare special dishes symbolizing Christian values, among them sweet fragrant pilaf with Ararat dried fruits. There are several varieties of this magnificent dish, but it is Ararat pilaf that represents the soul of the Armenian people, its values, because Armenians adopted Christianity several centuries earlier than all other peoples.
Each ingredient of this dish has its own symbolic feature, and all together personify the resurrection of Christ. So, rice grains in pilaf represent humanity, and the raisins of those elect who believed in the resurrection of Christ. Each housewife decorates the dish in her own way to her taste, it can be dates, and prunes, some fruits, nuts. But the principle is always the same - snow-white rice and fragrant dried fruits. To give rice a special whiteness, many housewives specially boil it in milk, but this is all individual.
Ingredients:
- Steamed rice - 100 grams
- Raisins - 10 grams
- Dried apricots - 100 grams
- Dates - 100 grams
- Nut kernels - 80 grams
- Butter - 100 grams
- Lavash Armenian sheet - 1 sheet
- Salt - 20 grams
- Water - 1000 grams
The process of cooking pilaf Ararat
- Cooking Armenian Ararat pilaf, let's start with cooking rice. First, let's sort out the rice, clean it of possible debris. To give rice a special friability, it should first be soaked for 2-3 hours so that excess starch comes out of the rice. After we wash the rice in several waters until the water remains clear.
First, let's deal with rice: sort it out, soak it for a couple of hours in cold water, and then rinse it thoroughly until the water becomes clear
- Put the washed rice in a saucepan with a thick bottom and cook in salted water according to the variety for about 20-30 minutes.
Rice must be boiled in lightly salted water for 20-30 minutes
- As soon as the rice is ready, put the cooked rice in a colander and rinse again in running water so that it does not stick together.
Ready rice is discarded in a colander and washed under cold running water
- Lubricate the baking dish with a thick layer of butter.
Grease a baking dish with butter well
- We cover the greased form with a sheet of Armenian pita bread, carefully distribute the pita bread over the entire baking dish, turn off the tips of the pita bread.
At the bottom of the greased form, lay out a sheet of thin Armenian pita bread and wrap the ends around the edges
- Divide the rice into equal parts and put it in the mold in this order: spread the first part of the rice, spreading it over the entire surface of the mold, put the butter on top, then put the second part of the rice, and put the butter again, so we continue to spread the rice and butter in parts until run out of rice and oil.
Now we conditionally divide all the boiled rice into equal parts and lay it out sequentially, the first part of rice, butter on top, again part of rice, butter again and so on until the ingredients run out
- Rice is completely closed with pita bread "envelope", covering the rice completely.
We completely cover the top layer with cast pita bread with an "envelope", as in the photo
- Close the baking dish tightly with a lid and send the rice to the oven to simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Close the baking dish with a lid and send it to the preheated oven for 20 minutes
- Now let's deal with dried fruits. We sort the raisins, clean them from dry stalks.
We sort through the raisins
- Pour boiling water over the dried fruits, steam them for 5-7 minutes, then rinse them under running cold water.
Steam dried fruits with boiling water for 7 minutes, and then rinse them with cold water
- We spread the dried fruits on a napkin so that the water is glass.
We shift the dried fruits on a napkin and get rid of excess water
- Put the butter in a separate pan.
Put butter in a saucepan
- Melt the butter.
Butter must be melted.
- Put dried fruits and dates in melted butter. Fry dried fruits in butter, leave them to simmer while rice is cooked in the oven for our swim.
We put the steamed dried fruits and dates in melted butter and sweat them so little
- Chop and peel the walnuts. It is better not to grind the kernels, but to leave them large.
We clean the nuts and chop them into pieces
- When all the ingredients are ready, let's combine them in a distributing plate - put the boiled rice in a slide (in the form of Mount Ararat), put dried fruits and nuts on top. You can add pomegranate seeds if you like. Armenian pilaf Ararat is ready! Enjoy your meal!
Now all the components of the Armenian pilaf are ready, it's time to form the dish. We lay out a slide of rice, then we place dried fruits, nuts, and on top, if desired, pomegranate seeds.
- Pilaf is ready - it's time for the table!
Pilaf is ready - it's time for the table!
The benefits of pilaf
Among the many dishes of Armenian cuisine, Ararat pilaf is especially useful. After all, all its ingredients are prepared separately, do not pass strong heat treatment, all the useful properties of its components remain almost in their original form. Rice does not contain gluten, so it is recommended even for people prone to allergies. Rice is also rich in B vitamins, which is also important for the human nervous system, and, accordingly, is recommended for people prone to diseases of the nervous system.
Also, one of the properties of rice is enveloping, which is very important for the human digestive system and is useful for people with high stomach acidity. Dried fruits are also of great utility, because they are a storehouse of vitamins and minerals for the human body. Dried fruits are rich in iron, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, other micro- and macro-elements necessary for visual impairment, anemia, cardiovascular diseases. Armenian pilaf Ararat is a healthy, tasty and low-calorie dish that will perfectly complement your diet with the necessary elements.
