Meatless Plov (Rice Pilaf)

No meat, and the tastiest you've ever had! If you're fasting or simply don't eat meat, this meatless plov is a great alternative. You just swap the meat for prunes. That cuts the cooking time way down, yet you still end up with a full, hearty dish.

Maria

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Water (boiling)

500

Rice (for pilaf)

220

Prunes (about 10)

Carrots

Garlic (1 head)

Vegetable oil

Paprika

0.5

Cumin

0.5

Ground coriander

0.5

Ground black pepper

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 7 % 2 g

Fats 4 % 1 g

Carbohydrates 89 % 25 g

118 kcal

GI: 27 / 73 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make meatless plov? Gather the ingredients. You can use long-grain rice, but I recommend a special parboiled pilaf rice—it holds its shape well and doesn't turn mushy. Instead of the spices listed, use whatever you like, or replace them all with a ready-made pilaf spice blend.
Step 2:

Rinse the rice thoroughly until the water runs clear.
Step 3:

Wash and dry the prunes. It's best to buy pitted prunes to begin with; if yours have pits, remove them. If prunes are very dry, they're usually soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes. Mine were on the dry side, but I didn't soak them—I just rinsed them well, first in cold water and then in hot. The time the plov spends cooking and resting is enough to steam and soften them.
Step 4:

Peel the carrot. You can cut it into matchsticks or grate it on a coarse grater—it doesn't matter.
Step 5:

Peel the onion. Usually onion goes into plov chopped (step 7), so you'd dice it small. I prefer to add a whole onion and then fish it out of the finished dish.
Step 6:

Peel the outer papery layers off the head of garlic and rinse it.
Step 7:

Heat the vegetable oil in a deep skillet or sauté pan. Add the carrot (and the onion, if you're adding it chopped) and cook over medium heat until the carrot softens (and the onion turns translucent). Instead of a sauté pan, you can make the plov in a cast-iron cauldron.
Step 8:

Add the paprika, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper to the carrot. Stir quickly to combine.
Step 9:

Add the rinsed rice and the prunes. Stir everything together well with the carrot.
Step 10:

Pour the boiling water into the pan and add the whole onion, if you haven't already.
Step 11:

Cover and simmer over the lowest heat for about 30 minutes. As it finishes, the excess liquid cooks off, the rice swells and absorbs some of the water, and the total volume grows about 2 to 2 1/2 times.
Step 12:

About 5 minutes before it's done, nestle the whole head of garlic into the nearly finished plov. Then turn off the heat and let the plov rest, covered, for 10–15 minutes.
Step 13:

After that, spoon it onto plates and serve. Enjoy!

Since everyone's tolerance for salt, sweetness, bitterness, heat, acidity, and pungency is different, always add spices and seasonings to your own taste! If you're using a spice for the first time, keep in mind that some are especially easy to overdo (chili pepper, for one).
If you use a ready-made spice blend, always check the ingredient list on the package. These blends often already contain salt, so keep that in mind or you risk over-salting the dish.