Wash the pumpkin. Cut off the top. Carefully remove seeds and fibers. Make frequent cuts into the flesh with a knife.
Pour boiling water inside the pumpkin, cover with the top and leave until the water cools completely.
Wash the apples, cut into 4 parts and remove the core. Cut the pulp into slices. Rinse raisins, prunes and dried apricots thoroughly with warm water. Mix apples and dried fruits in a bowl. Sprinkle with sugar and mix again.
Divide the rice into 3 approximately equal parts. Place a layer of rice on the bottom of the pumpkin, then half of the fruit. Add a layer of rice and remaining fruit again. Place the remaining rice on top.
Melt the butter, add salt and pour this mixture into the pumpkin. Add hot water until it covers the top layer of rice.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease the outside of the pumpkin with vegetable oil, cover with foil and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes. In 30 min. until ready, remove the foil and cover the pumpkin with its top. Before serving, mix the rice with the fruit and pumpkin pulp, scraping it out with a spoon.
step by step recipe with photos
Pumpkin with pilaf baked in the oven is a satisfying, healthy and not difficult to prepare dish. At the same time, it is considered festive because it looks very impressive. You can serve aromatic pilaf in a beautiful bowl of ruddy pumpkin along with a salad of fresh vegetables and herbs.
Ingredients
- wide pumpkin – 0.5 pcs.
- brown rice – 100 g
- chicken breast – 1 pc.
- carrots – 1 pc.
- onion – 1 head
- garlic – 2-3 cloves
- salt – 1 tsp.
- sweet paprika – 1 tsp.
- vegetable oil – 50 ml
Preparation
1. In order for the baked pumpkin dish to turn out delicious, you need to choose a ripe vegetable. Sweetness does not matter in this case. The main thing is that the crust is free of cracks and other damage. It should be firm to the touch. It is very convenient to cut a large pumpkin in half and use each part as a bowl for pilaf. It will be convenient to fill it with pilaf. Scrape out the seeds and fibers from the pumpkin with a spoon. They should not be thrown away; it is better to dry them, rinse them, separating the seeds from the pulp, and lightly fry them. After this, the seeds can be added to salads or baked goods. The prepared pumpkin should be greased on the outside with a small amount of vegetable oil. Instead of a lid, cover it with foil and place it in the oven, preheated to 190 degrees, for 30 minutes.
2. Chicken fillet must be separated from skin, cartilage and bones. Then it needs to be cut into small cubes.
3. Chicken breast should be fried in heated vegetable oil. The pieces need to be stirred periodically so that they turn white on all sides as quickly as possible.
4. Then the meat must be transferred to a plate, leaving the released meat juice in the frying pan. Place chopped onions and carrots into it.
5. Fry them until soft and remove from heat.
6. Brown rice should be boiled in salted water until half cooked. Then you need to drain it in a colander to drain off excess liquid.
7. Prepared rice, vegetables and chicken breast must be mixed, salt and pepper to taste. If desired, you can add ground black pepper, cumin, coriander, and saffron to the pilaf.
8. The pumpkin should be removed from the oven. It usually contains some liquid. It is needed to make the pilaf juicy. If there is no liquid or very little liquid, you can pour in 100 ml of warm water, vegetable or chicken broth. The pumpkin must be filled with pilaf, compacting it tightly. Stick garlic cloves or a whole, unpeeled head on top.
9. Cover the pumpkin again with foil and return it to the oven for another 45 minutes. To prevent it from burning, you need to pour 100 ml of hot water onto the bottom of the baking sheet. When serving pilaf, you can add butter, herbs or cheese.
Pilaf in pumpkin is suitable for any autumn-winter holiday; if you are already tired of eating potatoes, we offer this option for the main dish.
There are dishes that look very festive and solemn, but also require a lot of effort. Today's pumpkin pilaf is easier to prepare than it seems at first glance.
The specified amount of ingredients will yield 8-10 servings.
Watch the cooking video here:
Ingredients
- Pumpkin - 4.5-5 kg
- Long grain rice - 300 g
- Meat - 500-600 g
- Onion - 2 pcs.
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 1 head
- Prunes - 6-8 pcs.
- Vegetable oil - as needed
- Turmeric/ pilaf seasoning - 1.5 tsp.
- Salt - 1 tsp.
- Pepper - to taste
- Bay leaf - 1-2 pcs.
- Water - 200 - 300 ml
Cooking process
A mixture of durum rice varieties (long grain, steamed, wild) is well suited for pilaf. But you can only get by with long-grained one; it is ideal for preparing pilaf.
Rinse the rice well, the water should be clear.
Pour 200 ml of water into the washed rice. Leave the rice to soak in the water until needed. Rice can be poured several hours before cooking, then it will cook faster.
The most difficult thing in this recipe is to carefully cut out the top of the pumpkin :) If you can keep the top with a stem like a handle, your dish will look even more impressive.
Before cutting out the top, use a knife to draw an even circle along the surface of the pumpkin, and then cut along these marks.
Remove all the pulp from the pumpkin, trim the fillet of the pumpkin with a knife or spoon, if necessary.
When you cut, make sure that the knife does not accidentally pierce the bottom of the pumpkin, otherwise it will be impossible to cook pilaf in such a pumpkin; all the juice will leak out during the cooking process.
Cut the onion into cubes, grate the carrots. Wash the prunes, pour boiling water over them, let them swell a little and also cut them into small pieces.
Wash the meat and cut into small pieces. Those parts of meat that contain a high content of gelling substances, such as shoulder, brisket, and cartilaginous parts, are well suited for pilaf.
Heat vegetable oil in a dry frying pan, add onion, fry for 2-3 minutes with the lid open.
Add carrots, stir, fry for 3 minutes.
Add meat to the vegetables, salt and pepper, stir and fry until the meat is cooked.
Wrap the pumpkin in foil. It’s convenient to do it this way: place two pieces of foil crosswise and lift it to the top, according to the principle of how you would pack a flowerpot for a gift. By wrapping the pumpkin in this way, it will be easy for you to check the stage of readiness.
Add slightly swollen rice to the prepared pumpkin along with the water it was in. The water should cover the rice; there is no need to completely fill the pumpkin with water; the rest of the juice will come from the pumpkin during baking.
Salt the rice well and add turmeric.
Add meat with vegetables and prunes, mix a little.
Wash the garlic and that’s it. In this unpeeled form, add garlic to the pilaf.
Place a bay leaf in a pumpkin casserole with the pilaf.
In general, the entire filling should fill 2/3 of the pumpkin volume.
Place the pumpkin in the oven preheated to 220 degrees. Bake for the first 15 minutes with open foil in the cutout area, covering only the pumpkin skin. Next, you need to completely cover the pumpkin with foil and bake for another 1.5-2 hours.
After 1.5 hours, the pumpkin should already release juice, and the rice should already be cooked in it. Taste the pilaf. If the rice is already soft, stir the pilaf and cook for another 15 minutes. At the same time, you can add salt if necessary.
When the cooking time is over, let the pilaf stand for another 15 minutes in the oven, covered with foil.
Baking time may be longer or shorter depending on the size of the pumpkin and the type of rice you use. You need to focus on appearance and taste. First, the pumpkin will warm up, then the juice will release, you will notice how liquid will appear in the pumpkin to the very top, and this will mean that the pilaf will be ready in about 30 minutes.
Pilaf in pumpkin, cooked in the oven, turns out very tasty, the taste of pumpkin is not intrusively pronounced, only a slight sweetness reminds of pumpkin, which goes very well with meat.
Pumpkin is the real queen of autumn. You can prepare many healthy dishes from it - sweet porridge, soup, stew. And pilaf in pumpkin can even decorate a holiday table. In this case, the pumpkin is used as a baking pot. And the pilaf itself can be cooked with meat or chicken. Or you can make a vegetarian option.
To make pumpkin pilaf successful, you need to choose the right ingredients. The pumpkin should be ripe and have a firm rind without damage. If the pumpkin is large, you can cut it in half and use the halves to make pilaf.
Don't throw away pumpkin seeds; they are very healthy, especially when eaten raw. But you can fry the peeled seeds a little and add them to cereals, salads and baked goods.
It is necessary to remove some of the pulp, but do not leave too thin a layer on the walls, otherwise the pumpkin will fall apart during baking.
Another important ingredient of the dish is rice. There are many varieties of cereals, but not all are suitable for making pilaf. Pilaf, unlike porridge, should be crumbly, not viscous. Rice for pilaf should contain a minimum amount of gluten.
Basmati, Jasmine, and Krasnodar rice varieties meet these conditions. You need to choose varieties with long grains. A steamed version of cereal, as well as brown rice, is also suitable. Less commonly, pilaf is prepared from other types of cereals - pearl barley, bulgur.
Interesting facts: pumpkin began to be used for making dishes in ancient times. They were used to make jugs for storing water and milk. It was believed that milk stored in pumpkin jugs lasts much longer.
Pilaf in pumpkin, cooked in the oven
For pumpkin pilaf cooked in the oven to be tasty, you will need a round pumpkin with a dense crust weighing about 2.5 kg.
- 1 pumpkin;
- 1 kg boneless;
- 1.5 cups rice;
- 1 onion;
- 80 ml vegetable oil;
- 25 gr. butter;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- salt, pepper to taste.
Choose a suitable pumpkin and wash it thoroughly. We cut off the top of the lid; if desired, you can cut the lid into a shape, for example, in the form of an asterisk. Remove seeds and fibers, as well as some of the pulp. We have a “pot” in which we will make pilaf.
Let's start cooking on the stove. Place a cauldron or thick-bottomed pan on the fire and pour in vegetable oil. Place the meat, cut into cubes, into the heated oil. Fry until a crust forms.
Chop the onion finely, cut the carrots into thin strips. Add the vegetables to the meat and cook everything together until the vegetables are soft. Salt and pepper to taste.
Rice needs to be boiled until half cooked. Be sure to add salt during the cooking process. Then place in a colander and rinse.
Place meat and vegetables on the bottom of the pumpkin. Gently distribute the rice on top. There is no need to add water; there is enough moisture in the pumpkin for the cereal to cook until cooked. Place pieces of butter on top. Press two cloves of garlic (whole) into the thickness of the rice. You can sprinkle pilaf seasoning on top or add a little saffron.
Read also: Pumpkin fried in a frying pan – 10 recipes
We cover our pumpkin with the previously cut lid. Can be covered with foil. Bake at 190 degrees for 1 hour.
Pilaf with chicken in pumpkin
Let's prepare brown rice pilaf with chicken; we'll cook it in pumpkin.
- half a round wide pumpkin;
- 150 gr. brown rice;
- 300 gr. ;
- 1 onion;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- 1 teaspoon salt;
- 1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika;
- 50 ml vegetable oil.
Cut a large pumpkin in half and use one bowl to make a bowl for preparing pilaf. If the pumpkin is not very large, then simply cut off the lid and also cut out the seeds and part of the pumpkin pulp. Grease the outside of the pumpkin with vegetable oil, cover the top with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 190 degrees.
Cut the chicken fillet into small cubes. Fry the fillet in heated vegetable oil. Fry until all the pieces change color. Then take out the meat with a slotted spoon, and put finely chopped onion and carrots cut into strips into the frying pan. It is advisable to cut the carrots with a knife, and not grate them. As a last resort, you can use a grater to prepare Korean salads.
Fry the onions and carrots in a frying pan until soft, remove from heat. Wash brown rice and boil in salted water until half cooked. Then place in a colander and rinse.
Mix rice, chicken fillet and vegetables, add spices and salt to taste. You can add a ready-made spice mixture, or you can limit yourself to a pinch of cumin or a small amount of ground coriander.
Remove the pumpkin from the oven and carefully remove the foil. A certain amount of juice should form inside the pumpkin “pot”; there is no need to pour it out, it will make our pilaf juicy. If for some reason there is no juice in the pumpkin, then you need to add about 100 ml of water or broth.
Fill the pumpkin with the prepared mixture of rice, vegetables and meat, compacting it with a spoon. We “bury” a few cloves of unpeeled garlic on top of the pilaf.
Cover the pumpkin again with foil and place in the oven for another 45 minutes. To prevent burning, you need to pour a little hot water onto the baking sheet. When serving, you can add butter or grated cheese to the pilaf. You can sprinkle the dish with fresh herbs.
Recipe in Azerbaijani
To prepare Azerbaijani-style pilaf in pumpkin, in addition to meat and rice, you will need dried fruits, as well as honey. Thanks to such additives, pilaf acquires a surprisingly harmonious taste. Ideally, pumpkin pilaf should be cooked in a closed ceramic oven over coals, but you can try making it in the oven.
- 1 round pumpkin weighing about 2.5-3 kg;
- 600-700 gr. good boneless;
- 2 onions;
- 600 gr. basmati rice;
- 50 gr. dark raisins;
- 50 gr. light raisins;
- 50 gr. dry albuhara (this is a yellow plum with delicate sweet and sour pulp);
- 200 gr. solid ghee;
- 1 tablespoon honey;
- 2 liters of milk;
- 2 liters of water;
- saffron infusion (grind dry saffron and brew like tea);
- 0.25 teaspoon turmeric;
- salt, pepper, ground cumin and coriander to taste
You need to start preparing the pilaf the day before. Wash the rice in several waters and soak in clean cold water for 12 hours. Let's prepare the dried fruits in advance - wash and dry.
Read also: Potatoes in a slow cooker - 12 simple recipes
Mix milk with water, bring to a boil and add strong salt. Cook rice in milk
Until half-ready. The grains should remain firm inside.
Cut the lamb into small pieces, sprinkle with salt, pepper, cumin and coriander, mix with your hands, trying to rub the spices into the meat. Fry the meat in a little melted butter until a crust appears. There is no need to fry until done; the meat will cook together with the pumpkin in the oven.
Wash and dry all dried fruits. Fry the onion, cut into thin half rings, in a small amount of melted butter. When the onion begins to fry, sprinkle it with turmeric, add both types of raisins and albuhara. We greatly reduce the heat and simmer, adding a little saffron infusion, under the lid. Turn off the heat and mix with the fried lamb.
Wash the pumpkin well, cut off a fairly large lid on top (about a third of the height). Select the seeds and part of the pulp. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, place a baking sheet and a wire rack over the baking sheet. Place the prepared pumpkin on the grill, cut side down, and bake the lid for about 15 minutes. The inside of the pumpkin should “grab” a little and dry out. Grease the inside of the pumpkin with a small amount of melted butter.
We place the bottom part of the pumpkin in the form, use the form in which it will be served. It is better if the baking dishes are ceramic or glass.
Fill the still warm pumpkin with filling. Divide the prepared rice into three parts, the filling of meat, onions and dried fruits into two. We put some of the rice into the pumpkin, then lay out the filling, repeat the layers, the top layer will be rice. There is no need to tamp down the food too much; just let it lie in a small mound. Cover the top with the top of the pumpkin like a lid. Cook at 160 degrees for 1-1.5 hours, the pumpkin should become completely soft.
Now you need to remove the mold and very carefully remove the lid from our pumpkin pot with two spatulas. Place the remaining melted butter and a spoonful of honey on the pile of pilaf. Pour in a small amount of saffron infusion. Cover the pumpkin again with a lid and place the dish in the oven for another 10-15 minutes. We serve the dish directly in the mold, since the pumpkin is very soft and can fall apart.
Pumpkin can be used to prepare countless dishes - from soups, stir-fries and salads to delicious desserts and baked goods.
Stuffed pumpkin is always very elegant. The very contemplation of a bright beauty, adapted for edible utensils, is pleasing. Beauty! But the taste of chicken pilaf, when cooked inside a pumpkin, always turns out to be unusually interesting!
In preparing this pilaf, I used chicken, two types of rice, and seasonings - turmeric and aromatic garlic. The pumpkin in which this miracle was baked became very tender, giving the products a slightly sweet, even caramel-like flavor.
Garlic is added to this dish unpeeled, making its aroma especially subtle and delicate. But keep in mind that pilaf with chicken in pumpkin will take time: for the pumpkin to be thoroughly baked, it needs to spend almost 2 hours in the oven.
Cooking time: about 2.5 hours
Ingredients
(based on stuffing a pumpkin with a diameter of 20-21 cm):
- 2 chicken thighs
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 third cup wild rice
- 2 thirds cups long grain rice
- 1 whole head of garlic and another 3-4 cloves
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- salt, pepper - to taste.
Preparation
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First you need to boil the rice until half cooked. To do this, boil a liter and a half of water in a small saucepan, adding a little salt to it.
When the water boils, add rice to it.
Cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Then drain the rice in a colander to drain all the water. Place it in a deep bowl.
Heat the frying pan.
Cut the meat from the chicken thighs and cut it into pieces about 2 cm in size. There is no need to remove the skin - it will fry and give the required amount of fat, which will make the dish juicier and more nutritious.
Fry the meat over high heat until it begins to turn golden.
Then transfer the meat to a bowl with rice. Try to remove the meat so that the fat remains in the pan - it will come in handy later.
Peel the onion, cut it into cubes and fry in the fat remaining after cooking the chicken.
Grate the carrots on a fine grater.
When the onion turns golden, add the carrots to the frying pan and fry over low heat for 2 minutes.
Place the finished fry in a bowl with rice and chicken. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, then season them with salt, pepper, turmeric, and also add unpeeled garlic cloves (don’t touch the whole head yet).
Now is the time to prepare the “shape” - the pumpkin. Carefully remove seeds and fibers from the fruit. It is most convenient to use a spoon and a small knife. If the pumpkin is not very stable, cut a small layer off the bottom to prevent it from flipping over while cooking in the oven.
Stuff the pumpkin with half the prepared pilaf, compacting it a little inside. There is no need to add water - the pumpkin will give the required amount of liquid.
Once the rice and chicken are in place, insert a head of garlic into the center, making it a little deeper.
Wrap the pumpkin in foil and place in the oven preheated to 200 degrees. Bake the dish for 1.5 hours, then remove the foil and increase the temperature to 220 degrees.
Bake pilaf with chicken in pumpkin for another 20-25 minutes.
Serve the finished dish directly in the pumpkin, adding your favorite herbs. Bon appetit!
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