Pilaf, or pilau is a rice dish, or in some regions, a wheat dish, whose recipe usually involves cooking in stock or broth, adding spices, and other ingredients such as vegetables or meat, and employing some technique for achieving cooked grains that do not adhere.
Half a cup of slivered almond
3 tbsp pistachio, roughly chopped
1 cup oil
1 cup grated carrot, on the rough side
1 heaped tbsp cardamom pods, slightly cracked
1 cup raisins
Half a cup of roughly chopped dried peach or prunes 1 tsp garam masala powder
1kg lamb, cut into small pieces. I prefer pieces with the bone, which you can discard later 2 medium-sized onions, grated
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp whole clove
1 black cardamom pods
7 whole green cardamom pods 1 x 2cm piece of cinnamon
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
3 tsp ground garlic
2 cups basmati rice
Wash and drain the rice.
Toast the almonds and pistachios in a pan until they emit a nutty aroma. Be sure to toast each nut individually.
Heat 2 tsp of oil in a small pan over medium heat and cook the carrots for 3-4 minutes and add the Raisins. Add half a tsp of cardamom powder and cook for a minute.
Heat the oil in a pan and gently cook the onions until well caramelised.
Add the meat with salt, garlic, black cardamom, green cardamom, cinnamon and cumin seeds and cook for 2 hours on low, adding half a cup of water every 20 minutes.
Once the meat is fully softened, remove the meat from the liquid and strain the broth and keep aside. Boil the rice in salted water until the rice is almost soft when pressed between your fingers.
In another pot, caramelize 3 tsp of sugar until it is a light nutty colour and add in 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom powder and 1 tsp of garam masala powder.
Add in the reserved broth and set aside.
Place the rice in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid, strain half the broth over the rice, mix and top with sprinkled cardamom and garam masala.
Place meat over the rice in a single layer.
Add the reserved carrots and raisins on top of the meat.
Cover pot tightly with a kitchen towel and lid.
Cook for 15 minutes on a medium heat them steam for a further 15 minutes.
Garnish with the toasted slivered almonds, pistachios and raisins and dried apricot.
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