Plov - Uzbek (Pilav) (Плов)

My dad learned to cook pilaf when he was in the university. It really can be a fundamentally simple dish that cooks itself. Cut up all the ingredients as best you can and then put them in one after another till you got a meal.

This recipe involves a lot of stirring but my dad somehow cooks it without stirring anything at all. His recipe is to put in the meat, then layer the onion rings, then and the carrot layer and the rice. So effectively switching step 5 and 4 here. And he doesn't stir it. His recipe also uses 1L of oil instead of 300 ml offsetting the water. (I haven't tried it this way yet but I have no idea how he keeps the meat from frying to a crisp)

But ignore all that. If you follow this recipe, you should end up with a nice dish. Half the ingredients make two dinners for a family of 4.

Also I don't eat red meat so I use chicken or turkey whichever I happen to get and it works out fine.

But ignore all that. If you follow this recipe, you should end up with a nice dish. Half the ingredients make two dinners for a family of 4.

Also I don't eat red meat so I use chicken or turkey whichever I happen to get and it works out fine.

******** @roamabit

But ignore all that. If you follow this recipe, you should end up with a nice dish. Half the ingredients make two dinners for a family of 4.

Also I don't eat red meat so I use chicken or turkey whichever I happen to get and it works out fine.

But ignore all that. If you follow this recipe, you should end up with a nice dish. Half the ingredients make two dinners for a family of 4.

Also I don't eat red meat so I use chicken or turkey whichever I happen to get and it works out fine.

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Ingredients

1 kgLong Grain Rice
1 kgcarrots
1 kgany meat (cubed) - Traditionally lamb
300 mlVegetable Oil
1 kgOnions
2medium Spicy Peppers (optional)
3 headsGarlic (optional but you really should) or garlic paste
1 tbspbarberry berries (Or handful of diced dry cranberries)
1 tbspCumin
1 tspCoriander
1 tbspSalt - to taste

Saved

Steps

1

Rinse rice for Uzbek pilaf in a cauldron with cold water, changing water several times. The last water after washing should remain completely transparent. Rice is ready.
2

Wash lamb and cut into cubes.
Peel 3 onions and all carrots.
Cut the onion into thin half rings, carrots into long bars 1 cm thick. (Or however you want really)
Peel the garlic from the top husk, but DO NOT divide into cloves.
3

Heat a cauldron or a thick-walled pan, pour in the oil and heat it until a light haze appears (to smoking point). Add an onion scrap and fry well until dark golden brown. Pull the onion out of the pot. (Not sure why this is done, but I skip the frying of a random onion chunk)
4

Prepare zirvak (the basis of Uzbek pilaf). Put the chopped onion into the cauldron and, stirring, fry until dark golden brown for 7-15 minutes. Make sure it doesn't burn.
5

Add chopped lamb to the onion. Stirring with a spatula, fry the zirvak ingredients until brown and golden brown. This may take 10 or up to 25 minutes. (Some people put the meat in first saying it's better to cook it as long as possible and keeps the onions from burning. I do have a hard time keeping things from burning right at the bottom but it just adds a bit of smokey flavor and doesn't ruin the dish imho)
6

Add carrots to the cauldron. Fry without stirring for 3-5 minutes. Then mix the entire contents of the cauldron and cook for 10 minutes, stirring lightly with a spatula.
7

Rub the cumin and coriander with your fingers or pestle (or just by ground spices) Add spices to zirvak along with barberry and salt to taste. you can add a little more salt than you are used to: rice will absorb the excess.
8

Reduce heat to medium and cook until carrots are tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Pour boiling water into the cauldron with a layer of 2 cm. Put in hot pepper. Reduce heat and simmer zirvak for 1 hour.
9

Rinse the rice again, and let it drain.
Put the rice on the zirvak pilaf in an even layer, increase the heat to the maximum and pour boiling water through a slotted spoon into the cauldron so that it covers the rice with a layer of 3 cm. (The goal is to pour in the water carefully so you don't get gaps in the rice)
10

Once all the water has been absorbed, press the garlic cloves into the rice (up to 2/3 of the way). Reduce the heat to medium and cook under a lid until the rice is ready.
11

Lightly hit the rice with a slotted spoon. If the sound from the blow is hollow - (deadened?), make several punctures in the rice with a thin stick to the very bottom so that steam will escape through the holes (maybe so it won't overcook the rice)
12

Level the surface, cover the Uzbek pilaf with a large flat plate, and top with a lid. Reduce the heat to a minimum and leave the pilaf on fire for 30 minutes.