Meat? Shir Ali put 3 kg of mutton with internal fat, which was cut into portions. I began to fry them. The meat began to highlight its juices, a pleasant aroma was floating in the air.
However, his activities were disclosed. The home counterintelligence service was already standing in the doorway and was looking at him reproachfully. It was his beloved Grandmother!
"Well, what mischief ?! You can't get over it, your grandfather is sleeping, but I woke up! I immediately understood from your rolling eyes that you started something like that!" She looked at him with a smile!
"Did you take a pumpkin from your neighbors"? she asked.
"Yes, Grandma do not worry, I promised on Saharlik to bring pilaf to them, they are waiting for me!" her grandson answered immediately with a tongue twister.
"Well, I won't disturb you, prepare and don't forget to leave us! I'll wake up and you and I will eat a prayer. And your grandfather will sleep, he's an old communist, and therefore he's an atheist. He honors traditions, but a communist at the same time! " Grandma waved her hand and went to sleep.
Shir Ali, at the same time, did not forget to flip the meat to the other side so that it would not burn on high heat.
The lamb acquired a golden color, the meat was covered with a delicious crust. The spirit hovering around the cauldron glowed. The whole house was cleaned, dark energy disappeared from the corners. The house came to life with bright colors, warm oozing from the kitchen.
Nearby windows burned with light. There, too, someone was preparing fast food for the early morning.
There was peace in the quarter. Local police patrolled the streets of the block. Each quarter had its own self-government body with a chairman and 7 assistants. Usually, the chairman was elected at the city hall, an old communist with experience in party work, or a veteran of the police or the state security department. In each quarter, there were 5 policemen who were paid by the fund of the quarter. There was one inspector in his car. And also 4-5 vigilantes, usually these were the chairman's grandchildren. After they had been vigilant for two years, they were admitted to the police academy without an exam.
The salary of an engineer in Small-An was 130 US dollars, the salary of a professor, doctor of sciences was about 400 dollars. A police soldier received 250 dollars and the second lieutenant was 750 dollars. He could retire at 40. He would have a pension of $ 300.
When the meat began to acquire a brown hue, then Shir Ali threw the onion into the pot, mixing it with the meat. Until the onion became transparent.
And after that, he carefully laid out, chopped pumpkin.
Which also mixed, until it became soft. Then he threw a little sea salt in order to make the meat softer and tastier. And after he threw a whisper of cumin.
In other pilafs, at this moment you need to pour hot boiling water. But in this pilaf, it was necessary to pour boiling pumpkin juice.
As the old people said, Shir Ali often liked to repeat this, that pilaf includes four cooking methods:
the first stage is frying
second stage - cooking
the third stage - soaring
the fourth stage is quenching.
Even the British, who arrived one day after the collapse of the communist system in Small Ahn, admired pilaf. True, they said that for a European, this food is too dangerous. Well, everyone has their own food traditions.
As they say, one man's meat is another man's poison.
Well, as the ancient healers said, everyone should eat products that grew in his country, his region, or ate them for centuries.
Small-An was lucky with this, as the country was in the very center of the Silk Road. Therefore, tropical vegetables, fruits, nuts were known in this country, the last 1000 years as a minimum!
Pouring oil, with meat, onions and pumpkin, juice, the noise "fuh" was heard, everything started to grit, the spirit began to hover more dense over the kettle.
Shir Ali did not forget to put in boiling juice, five heads of garlic, a handful of barberry, four halves of quince, and a handful of brown raisins.
Closing the lid, he waited for a boil, and then he reduced the heat so that the juice slightly reddened. Closing the lid, the pot, Shir Ali, left it cooked for 30-40 minutes.
The aromas emanating from the pot pleasantly caressed all five senses. And the neighbors sighed delightedly, what is it preparing in Sakharlik's house in the house of Feruza's business! But he is then a communist! Only his wife is cooking something!
Meanwhile, Shir Ali set about preparing rice for pilaf. And for this, it was necessary to prepare saffron water to give the rice a special aroma and taste.
In a cup of 120 ml, 10 saffron stamens were put and filled with boiling water. Water gradually turned a golden hue. With a pleasant aroma.
The choice of rice was difficult. In the original recipe, unpolished rice was present. And it was green rice, not ripened.
Where will you find him? Already polished but not polished rice was sold on the market, there were polished grains. Very rarely it was possible to find brown rice, not polished rice, but brown.
This prompted Shir Ali to think that it was necessary to come into direct contact with farmers. But you need to interest them so that they sell him for example 100 kg of rice, green. But for this, you need to choose the degree of ripeness or immaturity for pilaf. And this is all an experiment, money, expenses, tests, tests, errors, and searches for the right solution!
And the rice was still rounded, 5 mm each, and Shir Ali himself liked 6 mm long-grain rice.
As far as the 8-year-old boy knew, there were 25,000 varieties of rice in the world, about 700 are now known.
There is Asian rice and it is African.
Everyone has their own taste, their own characteristics of cooking behavior, with different cooking methods, rice can behave differently. Everywhere their subtleties, their knowledge, their taste are needed. Need to try! Such a way of a real gourmet!
Possess encyclopedic knowledge, be versatile, have a good memory, be able to search, select, organize, process information. Be able to analyze and make a decision. It is not easy, it requires knowledge of various culinary schools, the ability to use different types of cuts, knives, cooking methods. Know everything about products, their characteristics, taste, aroma, texture. How they change their taste and aroma, their healing properties, interacting with other products. This is all very painstaking work!
Being a foodie is not easy! You need to have a sense of taste! And also know the different types of cooking.
The path is long and not easy, but how much new he is destined to try, learn, digest, analyze, and come to new knowledge!
Rice must also be washed to leave starch. Shir Ali washed it three times until the wash water became clear. Some cooks also soak the rice for several hours. And some for a day. It all depends on the cooking method.
Meanwhile, 40 minutes passed, and Shir Ali carefully removed the lid from the pot. He took out the heads of garlic and quince. And then in a circular motion laid out the rice. After he poured saffron water on top of it and closed the lid again for 20 minutes.
After he chopped quince into quarters ...