Parcha-Dosheme Plov

(Azerbaijani Pilaf)

September: National Rice Month

As we continue to “cook our way through the calendar/countries” as a personal project to learn about international cuisines, we finally reached the last A country in the alphabet: Azerbaijan. Like its neighboring countries in Eurasia, rice is the staff of life. We tried an Azerbaijani pilaf recipe, which is similar to Indian biryani, and it was a delicious meal in itself. There are more than 40 plov recipes in Azerbaijan and this fruity one with chicken pieces is what we cooked to honor this country during National Rice Month.  

Recipe

(Adapted from AZcookbook.com)

Ingredients

• 3 cups long grain rice, preferably basmati
• 3 tablespoons salt, divided use (1 + 2 tablespoons)
• ¼ cup butter, divided use (2 + 1 + 1 tablespoons)
• 1 cup peeled chestnuts
• ½ cup dried apricots
• ½ cup dried sour plums (we used pitted prunes)
• ½ cup pitted dates
• ½ cup golden raisins
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 10 cups water
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thigh, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/3 teaspoon saffron threads 
• 3 tablespoons hot water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Wash rice in a strainer till water runs almost clear. Set rice and strainer in a large bowl with water and 1 tablespoon salt. Let soak while preparing the fruit mix. In a skillet/pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Sauté the chestnuts for around 3 minutes.

Add the apricots, plums and dates. Stir fry for another 3 minutes. Add raisins and mix for another minute, being careful not to burn the fruits. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

In a large pot, boil 10 cups of water and the remaining 2 tablespoons of salt. Pick up the soaked rice from the bowl and add to the pot. Parboil for 7-10 minutes till the rice is ALMOST cooked (not too hard and not too soft as it will continue cooking with the fruit mix and chicken). In another large nonstick pot, melt 1 tablespoon butter over low heat and add the chicken but do not brown it. 

Scatter onions evenly over the chicken and let it sit for a minute. Turn up heat to medium low and gently stir to mix. Add half the rice over the onion-chicken mixture. Then scatter the fruits over the top. Layer the rest of the rice over the fruits.

Tuck a few pieces of the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter into the rice. Cover with 2 paper towel or 1 dish towel before closing with the lid to prevent more moisture in the rice. Turn heat to low and cook for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, dissolve saffron in 3 tablespoons of hot water and mix until it changes color. Open the lid and pour it into the rice. Cover again with the towels and cook for another 25-30 minutes. Turn off the heat and take off the lid and towels. Ladle the rice onto a large platter or serve gently mixed in individual bowls.

Notes

• We halved the original recipe and it still made a lot for the both of us. We shared some plov with our friends who were interested in tasting different ethnic cuisines and they really liked this rice dish.
• Search our blog for other rice recipes.