Pilaf

My husband loves pilaf very much, so I cook it regularly. The main feature of cooking this dish is that the ratio of meat, rice and carrots should be 1:1:1. But my husband criticizes me that the pilaf is too meaty. That's why I put less meat in my recipe. I also put less carrots, because otherwise the pilaf turns out to be too carrot-like for me. So here's my pilaf recipe.

Ingredients
🍚 pork ham on the bone 700 - 800 g

🍚 onion 1

🍚 carrot 600 - 700 g

🍚 extra virgin olive oil 175 ml

🍚 rice 800 g

🍚 garlic 1 head

🍚 cumin 1 tsp

🍚 brown raisins 2 tbsp

🍚 barberry 2 tbsp

🍚 turmeric 1 tsp

🍚 saffron 0.5 tsp

🍚 salt 2 tsp

Stage one.
Roasting.

Place the cast-iron cauldron on the stove over high heat to warm up.

The ham.

Separate the meat from the bone, leaving some meat on the bone. Set aside the bone. Cut the meat into 2x2 cm pieces.

During this time, the cauldron warms up, and pour olive oil into it. First, fry the bone on all sides until golden brown. Remove and set aside.

In portions, without overloading the bottom of the cauldron, fry the ham pieces until golden brown. Set aside each portion of fried ham. When the last portion is fried, return all the meat to the cauldron.

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A small remark 
While the bone and meat are frying, I peel and chop the onions and carrots so that I can put them in the cauldron in time.
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Vegetables.

Cut the onion into feathers, carrots into medium-thick bars, not into strips or thick bars.

So, when all the meat is put back into the cauldron, we put the onion first. Stir and fry until the onion is golden brown.

Add the carrots and cook, stirring, until soft (it will take about 10 minutes).

Stage two.
Zirvak.

Preparation of spices.

Grind 1 tsp of cumin in a mortar, add 2 tsp of salt. Wash and peel the garlic clove, but leave it intact.

Boiling.

When the carrots are soft, add the spices and mix. Add the stone and garlic. Pour water so that it covers the vegetables and meat to the thickness of two fingers (about 2 cm). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for 40 min - 1.5 hrs, depending on what time you have.

Rice.

I use Kenzha rice for pilaf. But another round-grained variety, not ground or steamed, is quite suitable. Rinse the rice under running cold water until the water becomes clear. Then pour 50 - 60 ° C water and leave it while the zirvak is being prepared.

The final stage.

Add cumin, turmeric, saffron, raisins, and barberry. Drain the water from the rice and put it into zirvak, smooth it out. Pour about 1.5 liters of boiling water, turn up the heat to high.

Wait until almost all the water is absorbed. It is not allowed to stir at this stage. You can use a spatula to separate the rice from the walls of the cauldron, dragging it down to the bottom. 

When all the water is absorbed into the rice, turn off the heat, cover the cauldron with a lid. Wait for 15 minutes, then stir and serve.