Ankara tava is a variant of pilaf (Turkish rice), although it doesn’t necessarily include rice.
Pilaf is the general name of a group of Turkish dishes prepared with rice, bulgur, or pasta (like orzo or vermicelli) or a mixture of two or more of the ingredients.
➡️In Turkey, a meal without pilaf is considered incomplete.
➡️Ankara Tava is preferably prepared with lamb, but also with sheep or beef and with “arpa şehriye“: tiny pasta pieces similar to orzo, traditionally used for pilaf, soups, salads, hot sides, and main dishes.
➡️➡️But arpa şehriye can be replaced with rice or angel hair-like vermicelli called “tel şehriye”.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4People
- Cooking methods: Slow cooking, Stove
- Cuisine: Turkish
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 lamb shanks
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 green peppers
- 2 tomatoes
- to taste cumin
- 1 1/4 cups rice (long-grain or orzo)
- to taste olive oil
- to taste salt
Steps
Brown the lamb in a pan with oil.
Place the meat in a pot with onion and garlic. Cover with water and cook for 3 hours.
In a pan, add oil, chopped peppers, cumin, pepper, and tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes.
Toast the rice (or orzo) in a pan with oil, add the pepper and tomato mixture, 3 cups of water, and salt. Let it dry.
Serve with the rice base and the meat on top.
As in the video, you can cook the meat in a crockpot for 3 hours on HIGH mode.
