Rice Pilav and Rice with Vermicelli

You can make a plain pilav and easily liven it up with chopped onions, pine nuts, raisins, cooked chickpeas or your choice of vegetables, sautéed in the butter with the rice before adding the water.

The principle of making a good pilav is to sauté the rice in some butter (or oil), before cooking it, covered, with just the amount of water it needs (without draining) – which is to say, one-and-a-half to two times the volume of rice. A little trick for making it even better is to let t