A pilaf is in essence, rice cooked in fat, often with a little chopped onion before being simmered in a flavourful (usually meat) stock. Additions such as spices, chicken or lamb, dried fruit and nuts are common and such embellishments make it a meal in itself.

The origin of the word "pilaf", which is the name most commonly used in English, can be traced to the Turkish "pilav" (often mistakenly thought to be Russian) and many other forms of the name such as pilau, pulao, plov and pilaff exist...


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