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Shah-plov Azerbaijani style
Eastern cuisine is rich in centuries-old authentic recipes, and one of them is Shah-plov Azerbaijani style. In each region of the country, there are its own peculiarities in its preparation, but the presence of a crispy, oil-soaked crust made of thin lavash remains unchanged, under which a lot of dried fruits, meat, and crumbly rice are hidden.
Preparation time: 2 hours 40 minutes.
Ingredients
Show ingredients
- meat (lean lamb, or veal, or turkey thighs) – 480 g;
- long-grain rice – 400 g;
- white onion – 250 g;
- dried apricots – 80 g;
- raisins – 80 g;
- dried figs – 80 g;
- butter – 150 g;
- lavash – 1 package;
- turmeric – 1/2 tsp;
- spice mix for pilaf – 2 tsp;
- chili pepper – optional;
- salt – to taste;
- carrot – 150 g;
- odorless vegetable oil for frying – about 60 ml.
Preparation
- Prepare the ingredients for making Shah-plov Azerbaijani style. We use turkey thigh meat, but it can be replaced with veal or lamb. The butter should be melted in the microwave or in a water bath. It is better to take a rectangular shape of lavash, making it easier to work with later.
- Rinse the rice thoroughly.
- Pour a large amount of water over the rice and boil it for just 5 minutes until semi-cooked.
- Then rinse thoroughly under running water and leave in a colander to dry a bit.
- Pour boiling water over the dried fruits, then rinse under running water.
- Cut the carrot into fairly large pieces.
- Cut the onion into arbitrary cubes.
- Cut the meat into medium pieces.
- Now that all the chopping is done, you can start frying. In heated oil, keep the onion until it becomes lightly translucent.
- Add the carrot and fry everything for about 3-4 minutes.
- Cut the large dried apricots and figs into long pieces.
- Add them to the vegetables in the pan and sauté together for about a minute.
- Transfer the sauté to a plate, and return the pan to the heat.
- Sauté the pieces of meat in a little vegetable oil (regardless of the type of meat, this will take about 5 minutes).
- Add the sauté to the meat. Do not turn off the stove.
- Add salt and seasonings to the mixture. Keep everything on the heat for about a minute and turn off the burner.
- Cut the lavash lengthwise into 3 parts. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees with both upper and lower heating.
- Grease any heatproof container that will hold the rice and sauté (this can be a pot, pan, or springform) with melted butter on all sides.
- Place the first strip of lavash inside so that the edges hang over or at least one edge does. Grease this preparation well with oil.
- Lay the remaining strips, overlapping them on top of each other. Thoroughly grease them with oil.
- Place half of the rice on the bottom. Level it out and salt it. No need to tamp it down. Add a couple of spoons of melted butter.
- Next, distribute all the meat with dried fruits. If desired, add chili pepper.
- Cover this layer with the remaining rice, which, like the first half, should also be salted and drizzled with oil.
- Place the hanging ends of the lavash on top.
- Brush the top with the remaining oil.
- Cover the pot with foil and place it in the middle of the preheated oven.
- After 1.5 hours, remove the foil and keep the dish for another 20 minutes at the same temperature to dry the lavash until crispy.
- Turn the preparation onto a dish and remove the pot.
- Shah-plov Azerbaijani style is ready. When cutting the crispy crust, the entire construction unfolds like a flower, revealing the center, which is filled with crumbly rice and dried fruits. This treat is prepared only for large holidays or for dear guests. Try it yourself, enjoy your meal!
