It’s surprising that such a delicious pilaf was the last of all the traditional Uzbek pilafs to reach me!
The fact is that I have never been to Khorezm, because this region of Uzbekistan is located in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya and is distant not only from Fergana, where I lived for 44 years, but even from Tashkent.
And secondly, when I tried to understand this pilaf from books, nothing came of it at all. Here, for example, is a recipe for Khorezm pilaf according to one of the books:
KHOREZM PILAV\ KHOREZM PILOV (SUZMA PILOV)
Portion per
5-6 people
100 g/
295 kcal
Ingredients:
meat - 800 gr
vegetable oil - 200
ml
carrots - 800 gr
onions - 150 gr
rice - 800 gr
salt and cumin to taste
Preparation:
This type of pilaf is common only in Khorezm. Cut the meat into small pieces and fry together
with onions, add a little water and
cook Place chopped carrots on top of the meat.
brittle 3-4 cm thick, add salt, cumin. Tight
close the cauldron with a lid and simmer for 30-40 minutes
small fire. Then add rice, add water (height
1.5-2 cm above the surface of the rice), add salt and cook as
ordinary pilaf. Before serving, first place the carrots on the dish, and then the rice.
But this is the most ordinary pilaf, not suzma, as the name says. Because for suzma pilaf, rice is prepared using the folding method, that is, it is boiled in a large amount of water, and then thrown into a colander or sieve to drain the water, and only at the second stage is it cooked in a cauldron, under a closed lid, where steaming takes place.
In general, I had to work, consult, search, talk with people who purposefully studied this type of pilaf, which turned out to be incredibly tasty!
Watch and you will find out everything!