Pilaff

A pilaff is essentially a rice dish in which each grain of rice, when cooked, remains separate and fluffy. Though the cooking method originated in the Middle East, you will find many versions of pilaff around the world: polo in Iran, pilav in Russia, pulao in India, pilaff in Turkey and purloo in the deep south of America. And it is not only rice that is used as a base — pilaff can be based on other grains, such as burghul, barley, buckwheat, quinoa or even lentils.