Turkish Stuffed Rice Pilaf (İç Pilav)
İç pilav Say it: eech pee-LAHV
İç pilav is Turkey's celebratory rice, the pilaf made for stuffings and festive tables. Baldo grains are toasted in butter and olive oil, then simmered in stock with diced liver, pine nuts, currants, allspice and cinnamon until every grain stands separate. Chopped dill and parsley go in at the end. Sweet-savoury, warm-spiced and faintly rich, it is the rice served at weddings, bayrams and family gatherings, and often tucked inside roast chicken.
Turkish Stuffed Rice Pilaf (İç Pilav)
İç pilav
Pronounced eech pee-LAHV
- Serves
- 6
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Total
- 55 min
- Level
- Medium
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
Rice
Pilaf
Method
Rinse the rice under cold running water until the water runs clear, then leave it to soak in warm salted water for 20 minutes. Drain thoroughly and set aside.
Warm the olive oil and 1 tbsp of the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and toast, stirring, for 1–2 minutes until pale golden, then lift them out with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the onion to the same pan and cook for 5–6 minutes, until soft, translucent and just beginning to colour at the edges. Add the diced liver and cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring, until it loses its pink colour and the pieces are firm.
Stir in the currants, allspice, cinnamon, sugar and black pepper and cook for 1 minute, until the spices smell warm and sweet. Add the drained rice and the remaining 1 tbsp butter.
Toast the rice for 2–3 minutes, stirring gently, until the grains look glossy and the edges turn slightly translucent. Do not let them brown.
Pour in the hot stock and add the salt. Bring to a boil, then cover tightly, lower the heat to its lowest setting and cook for 12–15 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the grains are tender with small dimples on the surface.
Take the pan off the heat and let it rest, still covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork, then fold in the reserved pine nuts, dill and parsley and serve.
Taste for salt before serving — liver and stock vary in seasoning, so adjust at the end rather than earlier.
Regional variant: Bademli iç pilav (almond iç pilav)
Replace the pine nuts with ⅓ cup (40 g) blanched almonds, halved lengthways and toasted in the butter until golden. Some cooks also stir a handful of chopped dried apricots in with the currants for a sweeter festive version. Everything else, including the cooking time, stays the same.
Cook's notes
- Always add hot, not cold, stock so the rice does not stop cooking and turn sticky.
- Do not stir the pilaf once the lid is on; shaking the pan once is enough to keep the grains whole.
- Toasted pine nuts and herbs go in only after resting, so they stay crisp and bright green.
Serve with
Roast chicken or turkey, a spoonful of plain yogurt and a tomato-and-cucumber salad; or serve it as the stuffing itself.
Make ahead and storage
Cool completely and refrigerate for up to 2 days; reheat covered with a splash of water over low heat, then refresh with fresh herbs.
