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Ingredients
Stew beef or tri tip cut into 1-inch pieces ( you can also use chicken or lamb ) - 1 1/2 - 2 lb
Onion ( diced ) - 1 pcs
Carrots ( diced in small strips ) - 3pcs
Bay leaves - 2-3 pcs.
Garlic (whole head, cut in half ) - 1pcs
Hot water - 3 cups
Black pepper - 1 teaspoon
Kosher salt - 1 ½ teaspoon
Pilaf spices mix - 2 tablespoons ( or you can mix: ½ tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp dry garlic, ½ tsp ground coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp sweet paprika, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper and ½ tsp marjoram )
Dry red pepper - 2-3 pcs
2 ½ cup long grain basmati rice ( ~20 min cook time ) or brown rice ( ~30 min cook time ).
1/2 cup raisins ( optional )
Avocado or Olive oil for frying - 2 tablespoons
Butter ( optional ) - 3 tablespoons ( if selected meat is lean, add butter on top of the cooking meat )
Preparation
Today I am making a very popular Uzbek rice Pilaf. This is a very tasty dish and normally this dish is made in a giant wok and takes quite a bit of time in preparation.
Just like all recipes on my blog, I will give you a simplified version of rice pilaf made under 30 minutes in the Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot.
Step#1
Dice carrots. Normally you would julienne the carrots, but I am saving a bit of time here using a regular box grinder.
Chop onion
Cut garlic top off
Wash the rice really well. I am using basmati rice to speed up the cooking process. But you can also use brown rice, it cooks slightly longer but will keep the shape a bit better then basmati rice.
Step#2
Turn on Sauté mode on Instant Pot
Add oil
When oil is hot add meat and saute for about 6 minutes.
Then add onion and saute for 4 minutes or until onion is translucent
Then add carrots, spices, bayleaf, salt, red and black pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes. I am using store bought rice pilaf spice mix, but you can also mix the spices listed in the description of this video. Optionally you can add raisins.
Step#3
Put the rice on top, but don't stir it in.
Push the garlic heads into the rice cut side down.
Then add 3 cups of hot water on top, so water slightly covers the rice. Make some holes in the rice using a spatula handle, it helps to get the flavor across the entire pot.
Now, set the pressure cooker for the manual at 20 minutes and let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then release the remaining pressure manually.
If you are making this recipe with brown rice, it takes a little longer. Set the pressure cooker for 30 minutes manual cook time and wait 10 minutes for natural pressure release.
After pressure is released, remove the garlic heads, you can leave several garlic cloves inside for additional garlicky flavor.
You can garnish this dish with fresh parsley. It is a super simple and amazing dinner in under 30 minutes, your family will be very impressed.
