Plov is a very popular dish in Uzbekistan. I now know why. It’s a festive dish of tender lamb, rice, carrots, onions and spices. It’s like combining delicious risotto with scrumptious lamb stew.
Plov hails from ancient times and some of the steps in the cooking process – like poking holes in the rice and submerging whole heads of garlic down into it & the gentle pouring of the water over a wooden spoon – are unusual enough that at times I felt like I was performing an ancient cooking ritual.
I cooked this Plov the traditional way, with lamb, carrots, onions, and spices. But I broke with a couple of Uzbek traditions in adapting this recipe for Panning the Globe. Firstly, I didn’t use the rendered fat of a sheep’s tail to sauté my meat and vegetables. As delicious as I’m sure that is, I opted for Canola oil, which is more readily available. Secondly, I (a woman) cooked the meal, whereas in Uzbekistan the cooking of Plov is generally the man’s task.
You never know what you will learn while cooking Plov. I was curious about why the rice in this dish is rinsed several times and drained before cooking. Turns out rinsing rice washes away a lot of extra starch and leaves you with grains that cook up tender but don’t stick together. That is the perfect consistency for Plov.
I also learned why many packages of rice don’t suggest rinsing before cooking: there is a law in the USA which mandates that any rice that might be sold to a school and served to children must be fortified with vitamins and iron. The law also says that the rice must be packaged really well so no foreign matter gets in and thus nobody needs to rinse it, which would wash away all the added vitamins.
You can cut the carrots any way you want for this dish, but julienne is traditional and I think it’s kind of fun. Here’s how, if you don’t know: first cut the carrots into 2-inch lengths; in each piece, cut four flat thin slices lengthwise. Then you end up with flat rectangular pieces of carrot that you can easily cut into strips.
I can see why the Uzbeks consider Plov their king of dishes. My family was in awe when that mountain of Plov, topped with the whole garlic bulbs, was set before them.
This is Panning The Globe’s first recipe post. I’m excited to find delicious recipes and culinary inspiration from every single country and to start I decided to spin the wheel and see where it landed. It landed on Uzbekistan. I knew nothing about the country or its food. I was thrilled to find this wonderful blog-worthy Uzbeki dish!
Plov is delicious, festive, and it taught me some things about cooking and about the world. I hope you enjoy it too!
If you try this recipe I hope you’ll come back to leave a comment and tell me what you think!
PrintPlov Recipe
Deliciously spiced lamb and rice pilaf
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 6
- Category: Festive Main Course
- Cuisine: Uzbekistani
Ingredients
- 2 cups Basmati rice
- 3 small heads garlic
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 pounds boneless lamb leg or shoulder, trimmed of fat, cut into 2-inch cubes
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and julienned
- 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon hungarian hot paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (for color)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- several grinds of fresh pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh or dried barberries (middle eastern grocers)
- 3 cups boiling water
Instructions
- Rinse and drain the rice in several washes of warm water, set aside
- Wash the whole garlic heads and slice off about 3/4 of an inch from the top of each head, exposing a cross section of the cloves. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a Dutch Oven or heavy casserole over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add lamb pieces (in batches, if necessary, to avoid over-crowding) and brown on all sides, about 7 minutes total (or per batch)
- If you have cooked meat in batches, return all meat to the pot and add carrots and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the vegetables have softened.
- Add the next 7 ingredients: cumin seeds, paprika, hot paprika, turmeric, salt, pepper, and barberries. Stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup water, cover pot and turn heat down to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes.
- Uncover the pot and using the back of a wooden spoon, flatten the meat and vegetables into the bottom of the casserole. Add the rice, creating a flat even layer with the help of the wooden spoon.
- Push the garlic bulbs, exposed side first, down through the rice till only their bottoms are exposed.
- Pour the 3 cups of boiling water slowly over the wooden spoon, letting it fall gently into the pot so as not to disturb the rice layer on top. Poke a few holes in the rice layer with the handle of the spoon, cover the pot, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Pull out garlic bulbs and stir rice and meat together. Mound the Plov on a serving platter with the garlic heads on top.
Vincent
I had the privilege of visiting the US embassies in Tashkent and Dushanbe in 2013 for their 4th of July receptions. In Tashkent, the email served chili to local officials and explained that it was like plov in America. In Dushanbe, my host family went out and got takeout plov, serving it in the customary Tajik style with naan and leaves of lettuce.
I have been using this very recipe ever since I got back from that trip. I only use regular paprika and I can’t find barberry anywhere (maybe the author could provide a link to an exact description) but it always comes out just as I remember it.
★★★★★
Nancy
You mean barberries, not bayberries.
Albert H Fine
Made plov as outlinedexcept for bayberries, which were not available in the 2 middle eastern stores in my neighborhood.. Culminated with greatly overcooked lamb that was dry and undercooked rice, presumably due to too short cooking time after rice added to dish. Since finished dish is comprised of blended content, why not just mix it all together and cook for initial cooking time? Found overall flavor to be mild and relatively indistinct.
★★★
Sue
I was recently in Uzbek and had some amazing plov. I was told the secret was cottonseed oil… if you can get it.
Lisa Goldfinger
That’s interesting! I’ll have to look into that next time I make Plov. Thanks Sue!
kara
I am excited to try this dish. I went to Uzbekistan during college it was a wonderful experience and this was by far my favorite dish. Thanks for the post!
Krista Low
This looks fabulous. My husband had this dish when he was in Russia and loves it! I will be making this soon 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing a fabulous recipe, and I enjoyed reading the history too. This is my first time to your blog. Love it! Krista @ A Handful of Everything
Vicky
This looks and sounds delicious! Plov is seriously my favorite dish of all time and I’ve made it a few times before by my grandmother’s recipe. Will have to try it your way next time! I always grate the carrots to save time but will have to try julienning them to make the plov the real authentic way next time!
Lisa
I’m impressed that you’ve made Plov before! This was my first recipe for the blog and I decided to choose an obscure recipe from an unfamiliar country to boost my confidence in this project. Is your grandmother from Uzbekistan?
Lori
This looks delicious, and I’m going to try it. I’m not a huge lamb fan. Do you think it would work with chicken?
Lisa
Yes, definitely. I would suggest thighs, because they won’t dry out. Plov has hundreds of varieties, including chicken and vegetarian. Let me know how it turns out.