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Usually stews are cooked in pots, but cunning cooks have adapted to use them for different dishes. The reason is very simple - food in a pot turns out to be very tasty and fragrant, but it does not require constant supervision. Put the pot in the oven and you're done. But like everywhere, pots also have their own subtleties that can make food in them even tastier. The filling rule is very simple - all ingredients must be cooked evenly. Do not put foods with different cooking times in the pot. Another important point is to prepare the pot for the oven. Cooks usually use water or pre-boil.
What to cook?
Almost anything can be cooked in pots in different combinations. Dishes are languishing, not boiled, baked or stewed. Therefore, dishes prepared in this way have such a unique flavor. The only restrictions are ingredients that are too different in cooking time or very exotic combinations. What you can definitely not put in pots is fats. The specificity of pottery is such that food will not stick to the walls and bottom, and will not burn. Therefore, food from a pot is also very healthy - no carcinogens and extra calories.
Preparing dishes
Ceramic dishes, which are pots, are quite delicate, so it is necessary to carry out a number of preparatory measures before placing food in them. So, you need to pour cold water into the pot for 15 minutes. This will balance the amount of air in the pores of the clay and further keep all the juice of the dish inside. Another precaution is to boil water in a pot. The clay container must be placed in a cold oven and bring the water in it to a boil.
Advantages
Dishes in pots can be a real salvation for a family whose members have radically different addictions. During the preparation of an ordinary dish, it is difficult to please everyone - both those who love spicy, and those who always think that they have salted too much. Three different pots with the same dish will solve the problem. With the same ingredients, you can add different amounts of salt, pepper and a different set of spices. Another advantage of pots is that they do not require constant supervision. Leaving them in the oven for an hour and a half, you can get down to business while dinner cooks itself.
Precautionary measures
Clay pots are a special type of dishware that requires special treatment. First, they cannot be washed in the dishwasher. Secondly, porous clay does not tolerate a sealed state during storage. If you forget to remove the lid, the pots will get moldy very quickly. Thirdly, no detergents, otherwise you risk forever leaving the smell of bleach or flavoring in the pores of the pot. Finally, observe the temperature regime. You can not put a cold pot in a hot oven and a hot one on a wet or too cold surface.
Chanakhi recipe
Ingredients for 4 servings
500 g lamb
2 bell peppers
2 eggplants
2 onions
4 potatoes
3 garlic cloves
4 tomatoes
A bunch of fresh herbs
Salt and spices to taste
Cooking
Sprinkle the eggplants cut into large pieces with salt and let stand aside so that the bitterness disappears. Cut the onion into half rings, and the pepper and peeled potatoes into cubes. Cut the meat into small pieces. Fry everything separately until golden brown. Put the ingredients in layers in pots - meat, a little salt, onions, eggplant, potatoes, bell peppers and fresh tomatoes cut into slices, finely chopped garlic, salt, herbs and spices. Close the pots with lids and send for 1.5 hours in the oven. No need to add water, vegetable juice will do the job.