Rice with Mushrooms: Georgian Shilaplavi Recipe
The simple, unpretentious cooking traditions of the Caucasus have given us world-famous dishes such as rice with mushrooms, shashlik, satsivi, kharcho, cheese khachapuri and so on. Simple dishes mean cooking from simple ingredients using simple techniques.
If a country raises sheep, it knows how to cook pilaf. A friend of mine said that. And if people know how to cook pilaf, they know how to cook it without meat too. And if they don't, the best option is potatoes with mushrooms.
In Georgia they don't say “pilaf”, they cook shilaplavi. Everyone says shilaplavi is Georgian-style pilaf. True, the way shilaplavi is made is very similar to pilaf, but shilaplavi is more like a very sticky, thick porridge than a fluffy pilaf.
If there is lamb, shilaplavi is made with lamb and meat broth. During Lent, or when there is no meat, mushrooms take its place very successfully, water replaces the broth, and you get a porridge with wild mushrooms.
Shilaplavi is a typical dish only in the eastern regions of Georgia. Rice porridge with mushrooms is easy to make, just like pilaf with mushrooms.
You need wild mushrooms and round rice, the kind that cooks down well. Plus a few ordinary, easy-to-find vegetables: carrot, onion, garlic, hot pepper (fresh or dried). If you like, you can always add some fragrant herbs.
Pickles to serve with
Ingredients
2 servings
- Rice (round) 1 cup
- Wild mushrooms (porcini, bay boletes, slippery jacks, birch boletes) 400 g
- Onion 1-2
- Garlic 1 head
- Carrot 1
- Hot pepper, fresh or dried to taste
- Vegetable oil 50 ml
- Salt, cumin, black pepper to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- Surprisingly, it turned out that round rice of unknown origin works best for rice with mushrooms. The very kind whose package just says “Rice”, without saying what type it is, how long to cook it or what the variety is called. I would never have thought so.
- Rinse the measured rice thoroughly under cold running water until the water runs completely clear. Ideally, let the rice sit damp, but not in water, for at least half an hour.
- Cut the onion into thick strips and dice the carrot. By the way, a coarse cut of vegetables is very welcome in Caucasian rice porridge. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the chopped vegetables until soft.
- Add 0.5 tsp of cumin and the unpeeled garlic cloves to the vegetables.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and add a whole hot chili pod, fresh or dried. It will give the rice porridge its aroma. If you want a pleasant heat, cut the pod in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. How much hot pepper to use is entirely up to you.
- Next, add the mushrooms, coarsely chopped or even whole. I used birch boletes, boiled beforehand. As they fry, the kitchen fills with a mushroom smell that makes your head spin and your mouth water. The smell of fried mushrooms simply drives you crazy.
- Keep frying everything together over medium heat for 3-4 mins, stirring constantly. Then add the rinsed rice.
- Stir and, after frying briefly, add 2 cups of boiling water. Bring to a boil and simmer covered over very low heat. Round rice cooks in about 20 mins. During this time it will absorb all the liquid and be done.
- IMPORTANT! The frying pan must have a tight-fitting lid that lets almost no steam escape. All the liquid should go into the rice, not evaporate into the air. A tight seal comes first.
- After 20 mins the rice with mushrooms will have absorbed all the water, and it needs to be stirred. Keep it over the lowest heat for another 15 mins. During this time the porridge will finish cooking and become even, with no traces of liquid. Wrap the pan of porridge in a wool blanket and leave it for 20 mins.
- Ready rice with mushrooms is served only hot, and that matters.
- Divide the rice with mushrooms among plates. If you like, sprinkle with finely chopped cilantro and add pepper to taste.
| Yield: | 2 servings |
| Calories: | 120 kcal per 100 g |
| Prep: | 40 mins |
| Cooking: | 1 h 20 mins |
| Ready in: | 2 h |
| Category: | Main Dishes › Rice and Grains |
| Cuisine: | Caucasian cuisine |
| Rating: |
⭐
⭐
⭐
⭐
⭐
4.5
(7)
|