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Turkish Food – Pilav Recipe

You cannot travel around Turkey without trying pilav. It comes with almost every meal; some might say it’s essential Turkish food.

Turkish Food - Pilav.

Pilav or rice is a traditional Turkish side dish. Unfortunately, in the restaurants, it has largely been replaced by bulgur or bread, since rice is so much more expensive.

The Turks take great pride in their rice. I have to agree, it’s buttery and often contains small pasta, like orzo and sometime pine nuts.

Here is a recipe for Turkish Pilav:

Soak 1 cup of rice in enough salted water to cover it for 30 minutes prior to cooking. Take a skillet and melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the rinsed rice and stir in hot pan until glossy and translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 1/2 cups of hot water. You can also add a chicken boullion cube if desired. You can also add the pine nuts or orzo at this point as well. Cover skillet and simmer for at least 10 minutes.

Hint: Most people prepare their rice first, then let it sit while the other foods are being prepared. If you do this, place a paper towel between the pan and its lid for the wait. This will prevent the rice from getting sticky.

I want to thank my good friend, Füsün, for contributing such wise and trusted advice and recipes to me.  She has other recipes on this site, to include: bulgur and fasulye.  Check them out.  What do you think?

Author Bio: Corinne Vail is a travel photographer, food lover, and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 14 years. For many years she lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands teaching the children of the US. military. She’s visited over 90 countries, and she’s not stopping anytime soon.

corinne

Wednesday 3rd of October 2012

Hi Ayfer! Hi Cengis! Hi everyone! Jim and I miss you so so much. We love you too!